AMN Reviews: Kloob & Onasander – Mundus Patet (2020; Winter-Light)

Mundus Patet is a solid piece of dark ambiance from Dani Kloob and Maurizio Landini (Onasander). The album title refers to an ancient Roman myth that, for three days out of the year, a gateway is opened between our world and that of the dead, allowing passage therebetween.

Across eight haunting tracks, the duo employs drones, evolving synth waves, and pulses of varying textures. Accompanying these are a variety of processed sounds that present themselves as crackling, dripping, and animal (or worse) noises. While this amalgam is not uncommon in the genre, Kloob & Onasander manage to make it sound fresh and compelling. Case in point, Living Deities is eight minutes of layered drones and walled patterns with a dominant rumbling element. This serves to evoke the unease of a mysterious underground. Blessed are the Dead add hints of more traditional analog synth lines along with indeterminate percussion.

It should not be surprising that Mundus Patet adds up to a cinematic and menacing journey, one that can be enjoyed at low or high volumes and with or without headphones.  Highly recommended for fans of dark ambient as well as anyone looking to explore.