drone / dark ambient
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"Consouling Sounds, Consouling Sounds everywhere"! In the past few days we have been listening to several albums by this Belgian label and I have no idea how anyone manages to release so much good stuff. So yeah, you might see that name appear here very often in the next few weeks. Besides, you can also read the label owner's Songs With Stories (here) but for now, let's focus is this gloomy masterpiece.
Daghraven is the dark alter ego of classical / ambient act Illuminine. In that aspect, there might indeed be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on here. While Illuminine is responsible for beautiful and soothing songs, Daghraven comes up with dark, haunting soundscapes and a crushing atmosphere. Visions of cold, dark forests and dystopian landscapes are never far away with music like this.
If you like old horror soundtracks, those eerie soundscapes from the seventies, this album surely is your thing. From opener 'Hoort De Engelen Wenen' over the deep, droning 'De Admiraal Heeft Geschoten' to the mysterious 'Ten Halve Gekeerd, Ten Hele Gedwaald', this whole album is a perfect soundtrack for a psychological thriller or a dark adventure game. Other acts that come to mind, include Lustmord, Treha Sektori and Vidna Obmana.
The music on this record is recorded after dark, in the blackness of the Belgian nights. It oozes, crawls and creeps and it will probably be terrifying for children. It resembles a world which should never see the light of day, even though there is a (nonetheless brilliant) track named 'De Zon Schijnt Toch Ook Voor U', which translates as 'The Sun Also Shines For You'. There is very little sunny about this music.
More suited might be the beautiful classical piano piece 'Ten Dans In Tranendal', which in its turn loosely translates as 'Dancing In The Valley Of Tears'. This one is a little breather in an overwhelming array of drones and soundscapes and a damn good one too. Pieces of Illuminine do shines through, but still hidden behind a cloak of angst. That aspect is also present in 'Op De Laatste Rij, Daar Zwijgt Ge Niet', which brings Le Seul Element to mind.
Anyway, this is an inspiring album from a highly talented Belgian act, one which I obviously recommend to dark ambient fans. For those in Belgium, be sure to be in the neighborhood of Ancienne Belgique on the 26th of March. On that day, Daghraven will perform this piece of work live, which will shroud our capital city in absolute darkness.
Serge
Daghraven is the dark alter ego of classical / ambient act Illuminine. In that aspect, there might indeed be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on here. While Illuminine is responsible for beautiful and soothing songs, Daghraven comes up with dark, haunting soundscapes and a crushing atmosphere. Visions of cold, dark forests and dystopian landscapes are never far away with music like this.
If you like old horror soundtracks, those eerie soundscapes from the seventies, this album surely is your thing. From opener 'Hoort De Engelen Wenen' over the deep, droning 'De Admiraal Heeft Geschoten' to the mysterious 'Ten Halve Gekeerd, Ten Hele Gedwaald', this whole album is a perfect soundtrack for a psychological thriller or a dark adventure game. Other acts that come to mind, include Lustmord, Treha Sektori and Vidna Obmana.
The music on this record is recorded after dark, in the blackness of the Belgian nights. It oozes, crawls and creeps and it will probably be terrifying for children. It resembles a world which should never see the light of day, even though there is a (nonetheless brilliant) track named 'De Zon Schijnt Toch Ook Voor U', which translates as 'The Sun Also Shines For You'. There is very little sunny about this music.
More suited might be the beautiful classical piano piece 'Ten Dans In Tranendal', which in its turn loosely translates as 'Dancing In The Valley Of Tears'. This one is a little breather in an overwhelming array of drones and soundscapes and a damn good one too. Pieces of Illuminine do shines through, but still hidden behind a cloak of angst. That aspect is also present in 'Op De Laatste Rij, Daar Zwijgt Ge Niet', which brings Le Seul Element to mind.
Anyway, this is an inspiring album from a highly talented Belgian act, one which I obviously recommend to dark ambient fans. For those in Belgium, be sure to be in the neighborhood of Ancienne Belgique on the 26th of March. On that day, Daghraven will perform this piece of work live, which will shroud our capital city in absolute darkness.
Serge
