Merchants Of Air
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Albums
    • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Interviews
  • Giveaways
  • Playlists
  • Shop
    • Merchants Of Air releases
  • About us
    • About Us
    • Writers Wanted
    • Logos and banner
    • Advertise
    • Mailinglist

IIVII - Colony

3/9/2015

Comments

 
ambient
Consouling Sounds
facebook
WIN TICKETS FOR THE IIVII, OSMAN ARABI AND ASHTORETH SHOW IN ANTWERP
Picture
Foto
After all the brutal metal assaults I've been undergoing in the past few days, there has been one album that has been playing on multiple occasions, usually to evoke a calm atmosphere and relax a little.  Of course, originally the album was meant to be reviewed but it has become of those gems that found the way to my speakers a lot.  In fact, I had no idea what to write about, besides mentioning that this is a mesmerizing piece of ambient, brought by a highly talented individual.  So after the ninth listen I figured out it was finally time to start writing this thing.

IIVII is Josh Graham, multi-instrumentalist, composer and founding member of Red Sparowes and Battle of Mice.  He's also a welcome guest at performances by Jarboe, Tombs and Tribes Of Neurot.  So if that doesn't get you up and running to the nearest (quality) record store, I hope the rest of this review will.  Of course you can also order it online, download it for now and have a couple of exciting days of anticipation.  That's up to you.  All I'm suggesting is: give it a try.

There are seven tracks on this album, each of them being a great piece of science fiction inspired ambient.  Opener 'Signals From Home' for instance, drives on sublte soundscapes and a deep, minimal and slow beat.  It's the longest track on the album and it gruadually evolves into an elaborate sonic dream which is quite irristable.  By the end of the songs, the strange, cosmic atmosphere takes over through eerie sounds, like signals and voices from places unknown.

From there on the album gently moves forward on these electronic soundscapes, sometimes nudging towards the drone-genre, sometimes coming up with electronic pads, sequences and percussion.  'Transmissions Illumine I' for instance, sounds like Biosphere meets Bersarin Quartett, using a number of strings over a minimal but rhythmic click.  Though it's clearly an ambient song, it has a strong sense of tempo and gradually incorporates more and more layers of sounds and samples.

The combination of electronics, modern classical elements and a deep ambient makes this album somewhat unique and definitely worthwhile.  Often IIVII layers them on top of each other, creating an intense sound and barely avoiding the noise-factor.  This is quite remarkable and it keeps the album enjoyable for the entire duration.  Besides, there's plenty of variation.  'Black Galaxy', my favorite track, is probably one of the most uptempo ambient tracks I've heard, mainly because of the immersive sequence and great percussion.

I can't wait until Incubate where IIVII will perform this magic live.  Although I'm quite curious about how he pulls it off on stage, there's no doubt in my mind that this will be an amazing concert.  With my eyes closed, 'On the Shores of Markarian 335' will surely take me on a strange but beautiful mental trip through space, passing Saturn and all the other heavenly bodies.  In fact, I'm going to play the album again and to exactly that: close my eyes and fade away...

...or something like that.



Serge
Comments
    subscribe to our newsletter

    Genres

    All
    Acoustic
    Alternative
    Ambient
    Avant Garde
    Avant-garde
    Black Metal
    Blues
    Children
    Classical
    Country
    Crust
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Jazz
    Darkwave
    Death Metal
    Doom
    Dream Pop
    Drone
    Drum & Bass
    Dub
    Dubstep
    EBM
    Electro
    Electronic
    Ethereal
    Experimental
    Folk
    Folk Metal
    Funk
    Gothic
    Grindcore
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Hip Hop
    Hip-hop
    Idm
    Indie
    Industrial
    Instrumental
    Jazz
    Krautrock
    Martial
    Math Rock
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Neo Classical
    Neo-classical
    Neo Folk
    Neo-folk
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Noise-rock
    Nu Metal
    Nu-metal
    Opera
    Pop
    Post Metal
    Post Punk
    Post Rock
    Progressive
    Psychedelic
    Psytrance
    Punk
    Reggae
    Rock
    Score
    Shoegaze
    Singer/songwriter
    Sludge
    Soul
    Southern Rock
    Speed Metal
    Stoner
    Symphonic Metal
    Synthpop
    Techno
    Thrash
    Triphop
    Trip-hop
    World

    Archives

    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

Find us on

facebook
google+
twitter
tumblr
​
minds

About Us

Contact
FAQ
Logos and banners
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.