Unexplained Sounds Group

The Unexplained Sounds Group is an experimental label run by Raffaele Pezzella (who records as Sonologyst). Eighth Tower Records, Reverse Alignment, and Zero K are its sublabels focusing on experiment and acousmatic ambient recordings. Seemingly from out of nowhere, these platforms have emerged as primary sources of underground electroacoustic and post-industrial music from various corners of the world. Particularly of note are their compilations, often focusing on a specific geographic region or set of inspirational source material.

We have reviewed a number of these albums over the years. All are republished below. These reviews were written by Mike Borella except for those that indicate otherwise.

Capricorni Pneumatici – Al-Azif (1987/2024; Eighth Tower Records)

Not unlike the 2022 reissue of Nibbas, Al-Azif is a long-ignored tape from Italian sound artist Capricorni Pneumatici. Here, the recordings were made in an underground assembly of cement tanks that serve not merely as a backdrop but as an integral component of the sound. The tanks varied in size and were equipped with openings above and below ground level. This architectural peculiarity provides the album with an unusual resonant palette.

In generating the auditory landscape, Capricorni Pneumatici applied a mix of implements including sheets of metal, hammers, PVC pipes, air compressors, and corrugated tubes. The natural acoustics of the space produced the end result without the aid of post-production enhancements or overdubbing. In other words, the space itself was a hidden yet important instrument in developing the overall sound.

The fruit of this effort includes booming and echoing percussion with rattling and scraping subtexts. The resonance of the space allowed these sounds to reflect and build upon themselves and one another in constructive and destructive patterns. The space also served as a natural delay with previous “notes” spreading into white noise that accompanies newer ones. Characteristic sounds include the rubbery twangs of the PVC pipes, repeating motifs that resemble the output of a didgeridoo, and drones with indeterminate sources.

The “playing” of resonant spaces has recently had a resurgence, with musicians using conventional instruments in tunnels and water tanks, for example. Al-Azif is a much earlier document of this general approach albeit with a set of tools and construction materials used as found-object instruments. Nonetheless, the album sounds surprisingly modern despite being recorded over 35 years ago.

David Lee Myers / Sonologyst / Lars Bröndum – Unus et Trinus (2024; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Unus et Trinus (one and three) is an aptly titled release from collaborators Myers, Sonologyst (Raffaele Pezzella), and Bröndum. All are well-established sound artists, with Myers having a legacy of several decades. This offering features a 20-minute trio piece as well as a pair of shorter solo works from each artist.

On the trio effort, Myers, Pezzella, and Bröndum begin with a quietly lilting soundscape riddled with bells, effects, and a voiceover. Watery electronics follow with other kosmiche sounds. This evolves into grittier textures accompanied by drones and disjointed synth melodies, as well as quiet passages with haunting percussion. There is a certain spatial character to this track, as if it was the result of a walk through a shifting sonic environment.

The two Myers contributions are in the musique concrete vein, almost industrial in nature. But Myers adds a human element with his manipulations and twiddling. There is an improvisational randomness to this approach not unlike his early influence, Tod Dockstader.

As Sonologyst, Pezzella’s pieces employ oscillations, echoes, textured drones, and sculpted static. Less aleatoric than Myers, Pellezza also explores a darker space that evokes machinery following a pre-established logic that does not consider the outcome of its acts.

Bröndum’s heavy and granular drones are coarse and discordant, accompanied by subtle percussion. Other passages are comprised of a busy soup of electronics. The result is cinematic yet mildly distributing – a representation of states and events that lead one or question the veracity of their senses or underyling reality itself.

Vyormouth – Between Planes (2024; ZeroK)

Between Planes is a three-hour excursion to desolate spaces. Grounded in the Berlin School and its progeny, Vyormouth’s latest effort consists of multiphonic drones and synth layers that slowly evolve. A sequel in spirit to last year’s Liminal Places, it offers an immersive journey into the depths of dark ambient music.

Tuning into the album is a haunting experience, akin to entering a parallel universe in which everything is slightly askew. One can capture flickering glimpses of counterparts in other dimensions.

Deep, pulsing drones form the bedrock of Vyormouth’s sound, with lilting chords and airy structures coming in and out of focus. Other sounds whoosh and echo through the foreground. A Space Between Places (Building 212) takes the album in a more claustrophobic direction, with relentless drones that softly grind away and manipulated feedback. As the track progresses, the drones take on a rumbling, atmospheric nature. The Barbed Town is the quietest piece but remains detailed. With a boost of your volume settings, it becomes apparent how much attention Vyormouth put into this piece. Wafting chords, scraping electroacoustic elements, and gentle sequencing add up to a strangely disquieting mix.

Released on March 14, 2024, Between Planes delivers a nuanced and enveloping listening experience. It presents a compelling exploration of ethereal and disquieting auditory terrains.

Nerthus – Silent Monuments (2024; Eighth Tower Records)

An old philosophical thought exercise asks “if a tree falls in an unpopulated forest, does it make a sound?” While the question has implications in quantum physics and notions of perceived reality, Nerthus would likely answer it with a resounding “Yes!”

Silent Monuments is a gritty post-industrial slab of ambient and mechanical noises. These dark, hazy soundscapes are littered with non-organic “life” in the form of long-abandoned machines that periodically generate clangs, static, drones, and humming. The sound palette on these tracks pulses and ebbs with haunting constructs and the occasional subdued wail of mid-range feedback. Sparse rhythmic pounding establishes a baseline for a variety of dense passages and shifting synth chords, some sounding breathy or cello-like in tone.

Slow-moving and not particularly harsh, Nerthus’s approach on this album is thoughtful and moody. It imagines a far future in which remnants of human technologies populate an otherwise bleak topography.

The Tapes – A Touch of Despair (1986 / 2024)

A Touch of Despair is a field recording and sound art project from 1986. While the album was released that year, it languished in obscurity since. This reissue combines the two-part, 45-minute title track with an additional 20-minute piece, Entrance.

The Tapes consisted of Giancarlo Drago, possibly with some assistance from unnamed collaborators. He recorded this album when he was in his late teens, using low-end analog equipment including keyboards, an echo processor, and various toy instruments. His technique was to not edit out incidental sampling or environmental noises captured during recording. As such, voices, hums, squeaks, and thuds appear throughout and become important parts of the atmosphere.

This atmosphere is represented by the album cover, a blurry photograph of industrial rooftops viewed from Drago’s bedroom window (the very site of the recording). It is a haunting, spectral reflection of industrialism that represents the album’s focus and its musical forebears as well – most notably the experimentalism of Throbbing Gristle, GRM, and early Pauline Oliveros.

Musically, each of the two longer tracks consists of several roughly discernable “movements”. These passages employ the liberal use of loop-like echos as sound elements that break and fade. Captured vocalizations add feelings of uncertainty and anxiety to an already eerie mix, while the synth provides hazy melodic structures, none of which stick around for long. The sound palette is limited but rarely repetitive, as Drago coaxes different textures from his source material throughout.

Entrance is more structured and rhythmic. It begins with sequenced patterns that grow ominous in tone. Drago slowly incorporates watery abstractions, again with heavy use of echo. The final part incorporates hazy drones, fragments of melodies, and reverberating percussion.

Despite being recorded nearly four decades ago, A Touch of Despair is a profound auditory journey that facilitates solitary, reflective moments of introspection. With few resources and equipment that is primitive by today’s standards, Drago captured the essence of an era while simultaneously transcending it.

P.U.M.A. – Red Winter (2024)

P.U.M.A. is a project of sound artist Luca Valisi with contributions from Monica Calanni Rindina. Valisi is an accomplished “conventional” musician, but here he explores various types of musique concrete and drone. In particular, he combines hazy yet haunting synth tones, field recordings, echoing voices, sequencing, and other elements with a heavy degree of processing. As might be expected from such an amalgam, the original sources – whether musical instruments or not – melt together into shifting masses of sound.

Thus, Red Winter is a tapestry with influences that compactly span decades of artistic exploration – from early tape experiments to modern computer-assisted composition. This gives it a retro feel without being derivative, but also makes it difficult to tie the album to any particular prior artist or movement.

Case in point, the title track begins with oscillating drones accompanied by obscured voice recordings. A bassy pattern is added to the mix along with foreground synth chording that is mysterious and cosmic. This morphs into sweeping tones, complex walls of noise, and free-form passages.

Listening to Red Winter is like exploring a secret passageway where each turn reveals a new, carefully arranged soundscape. Its labyrinthine structures are subtle and inviting despite their singular oddness. In this offering, Valisi and Rindina have created cinematics that are reminiscent of both post-industrial landscapes and futuristic worlds.

Richard Bégin – Lavrador (2024; Reverse Alignment)

Parts of Lavrador from Canadian sound artist and composer Richard Bégin could be generative. The opening shimmers and wafts over slow-moving bass notes, exploring a defined space with a particular sound palette. But as the album progresses it evolves into an exploration of synth-heavy drone accompanied by rhythmic patterns and hazy elements.

Bégin’s chording and tone are purposely evocative of frozen landscapes sparsely populated with human presence. Inspired by the climes of northern Canada, Lavrador is more than just an ecological statement. Yes, the subject lands exhibit a juxtaposition of beauty and danger that is both fragile and majestic. But the album also is a statement on the isolation and solitude that we all experience from time to time. The so-called “epidemic of loneliness” is about feeling on one’s own even in urban areas – it is a lack of meaningful connection with other human beings regardless of physical proximity.

To that point, a form of musical polysemy is apparent in the album with Bégin exploring stark soundscapes that are carefully adorned with samples and effects. While analogous to its geographic inspiration, the emotional content is conveyed in a minimalistic and subdued manner. Thus, he communicates subtle yet profound feelings of aloneness and detachment in a similar fashion to how these emotions grow incrementally until they are undeniably present.

This psychological grounding can be heard on Temps sidéral moyen, Zurbryger, and Mallory in particular, three shorter tracks that vary between restrained melancholy and more intense passages. Each exhibits electroacoustic percussion of a slightly different character.

Perhaps there is a third meaning to Bégin’s works. We necessarily engage with music alone and on an individual level. While music is largely a social activity for many, deep listening requires time, quietude, and a degree of withdrawal. To fully appreciate Lavrador, one must be willing to undergo an extent of self-imposed sequestration, and doing so closes the circle on the album’s main theme.

Various Artists – IDIL Music Award 2024 (2024; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Avant Music News is proud to have been part of this project. Its goal was to release a compilation of dark experimental music from leading artists worldwide. Unexplained Sounds Group called for submissions and we co-sponsored a modest stipend for artists. Along with several other music websites, publishers, and reviewers, we participated on a jury that selected the winning entries.

The submissions were of high quality and varied in texture, focus, and instrumentation. This made it hard to select the winners but the group’s voting provided the following results:

First Place – Richard Bégin
Second Place – Ignoto Militi
Third Place – The Black Monolith

The album containing all 26 submitted tracks was released on January 25, 2024. Rather than review it as a whole, I’ll focus on the pieces to which I gave the highest scores. But I want to reiterate – the tracks not discussed here are also quite good and worthy of attention.

Hans Castrup – Plexyphoresis

Plexyphoresis is a densely packed set of synth layers accompanied by field recordings, sculpted sounds, and even snippets of what sounds like a trombone. I’ll admit that I’ve only recently discovered Hans Castrup, but this piece has me looking forward to hearing more from his discography. It has a lot going on, and the bassy drones create a tense and suffocating environment. Castrup received my #1 vote.

Richard Bégin – Mouvements Cycloniques des Regions Temperees

With an anthemic three-note repeating pattern over static-laden atmospherics and subtle guitar strumming, this track from Canadian cinema professor Bégin is both weird and yet catchy. I have come to appreciate his works over the last few years as being distinctive even in the experimental music context. It is not surprising this this track won the first-place award.

Henrik Meierkord – Mörk

Henrik Meierkord is another recent discovery for me. His approach is compelling in that it is based on his cello playing, but manipulated to produce droning soundscapes. This short track is slow-paced and melancholy, falling just short of being ambient.

Ignoto Militi – Il Nemico Sotto di Noi – Monte Cimone

Here is another pleasant surprise. The martial drumming that pervades this piece is compelling and a grounding for Militi’s doomy electronics. Very much in the soundtrack vein, ominous synth chords ebb and flow as a main theme. Militi won second place for good reason.

Mombi Yuleman – Burning Down the Outpost

Mombi Yuleman is a favorite in these parts. Many of his recordings explore strange events like alien abduction and hauntings. Here, he uses a combination of instrumentation and effects to generate a busy and dynamic amalgam of sounds.

The Black Monolith – Creating The Door

Finally, I would be remiss to not discuss The Black Monolith’s submission, which landed in third place. I ranked it highly because it executes well on a basic idea – thick droning chords. These textured elements are relentless and smothering, an excellent representation of dark ambient music.

Various Artists – Witchcraft And Black Magic In The United States (2024; Eighth Tower Records)

The United States is an enigma. We are a world leader in science, yet we are awash in superstition. A sizable portion of our population is prone to believing in blatant misinformation and engaging in hypocrisy. Our so-called “rugged individualism” is a marked outlier amongst world cultures. This unique psychological myth leads us to value ourselves in terms of the capital that we produce and control, and is often used to justify abject cruelty. Our leaders tout “freedom” but we have always been and we remain a caste system in which certain individuals and groups have far less freedom than others.

These contradictions are not new – they have been carved in the American DNA going back centuries. Waves of gullibility, religiosity, irrationality, and panic are littered throughout the last 400 years of our history. One of the most well-known is the Salem Witch Trials, but there were many others.

Witchcraft And Black Magic In The United States is an exploration of related concepts by a lineup of musicians who employ experimental ambient techniques. These 11 tracks, each roughly in the 5-7 minute range, include slow-moving drones, acousmatic elements, and odd vocalizations. While some artists are from the United States, others are not.

The album begins auspiciously enough by referencing Salem in The Ballad of Goody Ayres by Mark Hjorthoy. It includes an unsettling, oscillating tone accompanied by primitive chants as well as sporadic crunchy drones. On the other hand, Rapoon’s Footsteps in the Ash is based on tuned percussion and wandering lines of bassy synth. A few fragments of voice creep into the mix.

Michael Grunditz’s Shadows of Delusion uses deep voice-like drones with foreground effects that sound as if a chorus from Hell has taken over an abandoned ruin. On It Comes with the Fall, Mario Lino Stancati provides a busy sonic architecture with a cracking substrate, haunting and tormented vocalizations, and synth moving in and out of the foreground.

Also included are a pair of dark ambient recordings from Vyormouth and the duo of Morgen Wurde and David Strother. The former is darker and features ritual percussion toward its end. The latter is airy and includes abstract violin passages from Strother.

All said, if the goal of these tracks is to provide spooky soundscapes, they have accomplished their mission. With some exceptions such as the Stancati piece, Witchcraft And Black Magic In The United States does not elicit terror per se – its atmospheres are chilling rather than shocking.

Perhaps this compilation reflects a more enlightened view of the horror genre. Even here in the United States, there has been a growing reappropriation of superstition away from its Machiavellian uses and toward – for lack of a better word – fun. One can approach modern horror works from a skeptical point of view and still appreciate them as art (though with a few obligatory chills down your back).

This is not unlike how many of us approach experimental ambient, drone, and post-industrial music. The darkness is a compelling factor that somehow manages to be uplifting.

In any event, Witchcraft And Black Magic In The United States can serve the above purpose as well as potentially many others. It is an excellent collection and comes highly recommended.

Joel Gilardini / Lars Bröndum / Mombi Yuleman / Vongoiva – Black Programs Facility (2023; ZeroK)

This is a 4-album set from ZeroK, a label that has been a consistent purveyor of quality experimental ambient music over the years. Each album is from a different artist and any connections between them are not apparent other than previously being featured on the label. Nonetheless, Black Programs Facility manages to provide a cohesive mood across several hours of sound sculpting.

Joel Gilardini – Nocturnal

Gilardini is a Swiss guitarist who runs his playing through loops and effects. Nocturnal was a live improvised performance from June 2022 that features long-held notes, drones, and synthesized percussion over one short and two long tracks. The guitar parts are gentle enough to be taken for keyboards at times, though they can be mildly unnerving. The overall feel is that of the Berlin School, with nods to the synth-driven works of both Klaus Schulze and Steve Roach. And yet that description does not quite do the album justice – Nocturnal is compelling and easily holds up to multiple listens.

Lars Bröndum – Wall of Darkness

Wall of Darkness is a set of electroacoustic pieces – sculpted sound art – that employs layered tones, oscillations, and percussion. Bröndum finds a satisfying middle ground between structure and lack thereof that gives his creations coherence but also the feeling that anything could happen. He uses composition elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm merely as a scaffold on which to construct textural, aleatoric, or improvisational passages. As just one example, Aeon begins with a hazy static that quickly incorporates a pattern from what sounds like a hand drum before evolving into an amalgam of ululating sound walls. Bröndum then incorporates pointillistic percussion elements, sweeping synths, and abstract loops. There is a lot more to Wall of Darkness – this is just a taste.

Mombi Yuleman – Abductee

Mombi Yuleman returns with another UFO-themed release. These haunting, synth-laden soundscapes are based on reported alien abductions (not unlike 2022’s Lost Hours). The textures are hazy and gritty with judicious use of synthetic percussion and sequencing. The result is varied and cinematic, with effects, recorded snippets, strange vocalizations, and other background noises. But the dominating feature is the use of long-held synth chording, which produces dense, suffocating atmospheres.

Vongoiva – The Fabric of Space and Time

Composer Heikki Lindgren and videographer Ville Westerlund are Vongoiva. Here, of course, one can only listen and not see their output. Nonetheless, The Fabric of Space and Time is an odd take, and different from the three other albums in this set. Notably, it employs a large extent of field recordings and percussive elements that appear to be cut-ups and/or musique concrete arrangements. Perhaps representing how some scientists believe that spacetime is constantly tearing itself apart and reforming on the quantum level, these manipulations have an abstract post-industrial feel. Brief melodies repeat and fade. But as the album continues it heads in a more drone-oriented direction, culminating in a 29-minute final track of background rumbling and static punctuated by fortepiano dynamics.

Yudol – Anthems of Nonexistence (2023; Reverse Alignment)

Anthems of Nonexistence could be lumped into the ritual ambient or post-industrial categories. But it is so much more.

Over the course of seven long tracks – ranging from 8 to 22 minutes, the Yudol collective meticulously crafts disorienting aural atmospheres that explore psychedelic and hypnogogic states. These pieces are densely packed with rich electronic and acoustic features – drones, field recordings, effects, voices, and other instrumentation. There is a certain degree of looping and sculpted white noise but without undue repetition.

Each track takes on its own dominant character. Some are shimmering and echoing soundscapes, while others involve throat singing with didgeridoo, or are mainly differentiated by their percussion-driven passages. Several exhibit an airy, collage-like nature but fall short of being noise walls, instead appearing to be loosely composed. Nonetheless, most of the material on Anthems of Nonexistence was recorded live despite some pieces coming across as being based on studio manipulation.

The result is an album of thick, fricative rumblings with foreground elements that ebb and flow. The music showcases an intricate dance of deconstruction and reconstruction – a journey where the static and dynamic coalesce seamlessly.

Various Artists – The Necronomicon Pages (2023; Eighth Tower Records)

Eighth Tower Records returns to its exploration of all things Lovecraftian with a new compilation of 12 tracks from experimental ambient artists. The album is accompanied by an anthology of 8 Lovecraft-inspired stories.

The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire that first appears in Lovecraft stories, but was also referred to by other writers of the time. This gave it a certain credibility that led some to believe that it actually existed and others to create hoax and fake copies. In his writing, Lovecraft only provides a sparse description of its contents, perhaps knowing that what we imagine it to be is likely much darker than anything he could dream up. It is an old but effective technique in the horror genre – the less you disclose about a mysterious supernatural entity the scarier it seems.

Regardless, The Necronomicon Pages is a strong collection of pieces. The general theme involves moody synth and drone elements heavily treated with field recordings, voices, and electroacoustics. This is readily apparent just on the first three tracks. The Khronos Deathcult provides shadowy cinematics with a blend of organic and inorganic sounds. Plamen Večnosti’s piece involves a slowly repeating rhythmic structure accompanied by indiscernible whispers and growled, throaty voices. Caldon Glover – who is always a treat in these parts – contributes a creepy effort laden with delay and reverb that crawls into your psyche and could easily double as a horror soundtrack.

Other tracks of note include those from Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse (great name!), which is along the lines of classic dark ambient with long-held chords and erratic yet booming background percussives. In contrast, the contribution from Infinexhuma is largely focused on ritual drumming and chanting with bells and drones. Mombi Yuleman’s piece exhibits ominous drones and a reading of Lovecraft’s text that evolves into a more upbeat sequenced pattern with repeating vocals.

A horrible person in real life, Lovecraft’s influence on music is profound and multifaceted as artists have reappropriated his works and recontextualized them with new meanings and interpretations. But at their core, Lovecraft’s stories focus on an indifferent universe, wherein ancient and powerful entities exist beyond human comprehension. To represent such notions, these artists incorporate vast, droning sounds, echoing voids, and dissonant tones as well as non-music effects and voices. The emphasis is on a pervasive atmosphere of dread and unease rather than overt horror tropes.

To this end, The Necronomicon Pages is a remarkably successful endeavor.

Various Artists – Music For Haunted Asylums (2023; Eighth Tower Records)

Over the last 70 years there has been a movement in many countries called deinstitutionalization, which aims to transfer people with mental challenges and illnesses out of large, long-term psychiatric hospitals and into community-based care settings. This shift was driven by concerns about the inhumane conditions and practices in some of these asylums, the advent of more effective psychotropic drugs, a recognition that institutional social isolation was actually harmful to patients’ mental health, and a desire to promote these patients’ rights and autonomy. As a consequence, most asylums have been remodeled and repurposed, or remain abandoned. The latter are effectively haunted houses.

Leave it to Eight Tower Records to explore such settings in musical form. A compilation of works from experimental artists from around the world who employ drones, field recordings, and electroacoustic elements, Music For Haunted Asylums is a compelling release for anyone who appreciates a touch of horror with their ambiance.

The general approach of these tracks is hazy, synth-laden drones accompanied by various effects and noises that combine to create an eerie and unsettling atmosphere. Case in point, insectarium’s Tx Plan and Kloob’s Enclosed Murmurs are both based on textural static, slow and deep synth chording, and oscillating waves. The deliberate pacing and breathy passages only add to the otherworldly minimalism.

Other high points include SÍLENÍ’s Lunacy and Mombi Yuleman’s Beyond The White Room. The former employs cello-like drones with airy overtones. The latter’s ominous synth resembles haunting voices calling from a distance, then builds into layers of sweeping tones. Barbed Asylum from Vyormouth is the longest piece at 17 minutes. Its rumbling bass and slow chording accentuate a wide variety of effects and environmental noises in the foreground.

Music For Haunted Asylums is a remarkably coherent release, with contributions from 14 artists each a consistent rendering of the overall thematic direction of the compilation.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Contemporary Post Industrial Music (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The definition of post-industrial music is quite broad and perhaps purposefully vague. It refers to a family of genres influenced by industrial pioneers such as Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten. Examples of post-industrialism include dark ambient, experimental electronics, noise, and neofolk just to name a few. Some post-industrial artists employ mechanical-sounding loops, drones, and abstract structures in line with this rough categorical moniker.

The opening track from Ying shui di jiang level-sets the album with lilting ambiance that grows stranger and more disturbing as it progresses. VIRUS2020 (فيروس ٢٠٢٠) provides haunting waves of distorted metallic noises on Bipolarit, which is in line with high-pitched electronics and lower-end drones from Yousef Kawar’s Train of Abyss.

One of the more notable pieces is Azoth from Alone In The Hollow Garden. It incorporates wood and metal percussion, shifting drones and static, and watery textures. Mario Lino Stancati follows this with thick, oppressive synths with oscillating patterns of distortion and sweeping cosmic motifs.

The final three offerings continue to explore spaciousness in various ways. Post-Mortem Isihia from Adonai Atrophia is based around a short loop of dark moodiness over which rumblings and higher-frequency fortepiano bursts are placed. The Tara Experiment’s Roswell Methadone Clinic features a repeating synth rhythm accompanied by shimmering melodies and indiscernable spoken word recordings. Towers of Blight from Cities Last Broadcast returns to the experimental dark ambient vein in which the compilation began with its own cinematic atmospheres.

Virus2020 ( فيروس ٢٠٢٠ ) – Khushue (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

In the many volumes of experimental ambient music produced over the last decade or so, there are a number of tropes that tend to reappear. But every so often an artist puts out an album that employs these techniques in a new way or uses a different set of techniques altogether. On the recently released Khushue, we have such a case.

Virus2020 ( فيروس ٢٠٢٠ ) is Tunisian sound artist Rami Harrabi. He focuses on musical instruments of Northern Africa and the Middle East that are typically played microtonally. Whether those instruments are used as source material on this album is indeterminate from its amalgam of processed noises. Across ten tracks, mostly in the 4-5 minute range, Harrabi incorporates drones, loops, echoes, and field recordings in a refreshingly singular manner.

Rather than focusing on slowly evolving chords, the drones move back and forth across channels and are accentuated with windswept distortion. In addition, the main structures of most of these pieces are based on layers of repeating themes. None are terribly complex alone, but they build into sophisticated multidimensional patterns that have a post-industrial feel. Different lines contribute percussion and melody, while occasional recordings of indiscernable voices provide a haunting atmosphere. Indeed, there is a strong sense of minimalism once you peel back the covers of Khushue, yet Harrabi offers this up with a fresh and modern overall sound.

This album is another example of genre-pushing from the Unexplained Sounds Group. It is notably idiosyncratic and manages to be immediately likable despite (or perhaps because of) this characteristic and well as its dark tones.

Aeons – Into Eternity’s Embrace (2023; Reverse Alignment)

The Reverse Alignment label has been on a tear of late, with this being its eighth release of 2023 (you can find our reviews of some of the previous offerings here, here, here, here, and here). Aeons is the duo of Julien Demoulin and IA, who team up to produce a compelling set of slow-moving layered drones that manage to be spacious, cosmic, and haunting in and of themselves, without significant manipulation or the addition of electroacoustics.

It takes a while, but eventually IA’s vocal contributions become apparent. He provides background chants and vocal drones that combine almost indistinguishably into the long-held chords from Demoulin. This subtle blending continues throughout the album’s 6 tracks that span nearly 70 minutes.

Occasional foreground perturbations, such as those on Dreaming in Stasis, resemble a cross between gentle lilting and birdsong. But the main conceptual thrust of the recording is a mashup between the ancient and the futuristic. It tells a story in music of a monastic order that is about to escape from humanity’s flesh-based existence either through advanced science, spiritual enlightenment, or some combination thereof. A rough analog might be the Neal Stephenson novel Anathem, where the cloistral enlightenment is knowledge and manipulation of timelines within a multiverse.

In any event, Into Eternity’s Embrace is one of the more minimalistic releases on Reverse Alignment. It is a relatively peaceful journey though one with dark overtones.

Yousef Kawar – Unclear Frequencies (2023; Reverse Alignment)

New to these ears, the music of Yousef Kawar on Unclear Frequencies falls loosely into the experimental / dark ambient category. An acclaimed videographer and musical collaborator outside of this sphere, Kawar turns his attention on this release to haunting drones and soundscapes. With that effort, he creates an hour’s worth of cosmic tones and rumbling accompaniment split over eight tracks. A notable example is Born in Die out, which comprises at least three layers of rough-hewn, oscillatory synth chording and sparse percussion resembling woodblocks. Other tracks exhibit spiky blips, irregular glissandi, and suffocating passages.

phoanøgramma – the void on a distant sun (2023; Reverse Alignment)

phoanøgramma is the duo of Angelo Panebianco (synths and sound manipulation), Matteo Mariano (synths and tapes). Their style on this release is that of windswept but gritty synth and drone layers, occasionally accompanied by manipulated mechanical sounds and crackling. The latter varies between being subtle and overt. There is a suggested psychedelia as well, perhaps in a hypnogogic manner – a sense of disorientation that permeates these three long pieces. Incorporating sequenced and looped passages as well as long-held ominous chords, phoanøgramma manages to be both cinematic and introspective. The 25-minute apophenia (extended edit) is an example, with jagged and hazy structures as well as a sweeping retro / analog feel.

Nihil Impvlse – Anabasis (2023; Eighth Tower Records)

This is the fourth full-length release from Italy’s Nihil Impvlse, a one-person endeavor of Francesco di Stasio. It is a follow-up to 2020’s Stasis, and shares that album’s dark mechanical acousmatic approach and attention to detail. Indeed, to appreciate those details, listening in a quiet room at generous volume is highly recommended.

Fog of War leads off this effort with multi-frequency drones, ominous percussion, and sculpted static. The percussion initially takes the form of a single repeating drumbeat before growing denser and echoing. This results in a rough balance between mechanical and organic textures.

This broad directionality continues on Drifting Ground Zeroes, but with a focus on quieter loops that are electronically manipulated. Combined with hazy washes and rough waves, this slow-moving piece produces alien soundscapes with long-held tones. It progressively becomes more and more creepy, as distorted post-industrial elements that resemble obscured voices and martial percussion are included.

Nomad Insurgency includes bursts of white noise over echoing rhythmic structures and controlled feedback. Falling waves, indistinct chanting voices, knob-twisting electronics, and pulsing drones generate a sense of disquiet. This is the stuff of ancient nightmares updated to incorporate modern dystopian horrors.

Anabasis is full of wonderful ideas and my appreciation of di Stasio’s craft grows with each listen. I’ve been reluctant so far to nominate a 2023 album of the year candidate, but no longer as Anabasis is a stark and remarkable offering.

Various Artists – Unexplained Sounds Group – 9th Annual Report (Mid Year Edition) (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Twice a year, Unexplained Sounds Group puts out its Annual Report, a compilation of largely unreleased and new recordings from experimental artists around the globe. This mid-year edition was released in late June and consists of over 3 hours of music.

The first impression you have upon listening to the album is of its depth and breadth. There are a handful of familiar artists – Richard Bégin, Michael Valentine West, David Lee Myers, and Michael Bonaventure – but the vast majority of contributors are lesser-known musicians. With tracks running from about 3 minutes to over 24 in length, each artist is given the space they need to communicate their vision.

As has become typical with this series, the “experimental” music selected leans toward the more cerebral and compositionally sophisticated. There is a fair amount of diversity present, with examples of ambient, post-industrial, drone, sound art, field recordings, electroacoustic, and so on. Indeed, the first few tracks take on notably gritty and analog textures that are strangely catchy despite their novelty and hazy weirdness.

For the most part, these tracks are slow-moving and deliberately paced, with a few exceptions that exhibit propulsive patterns or loops. Nonetheless, the majority are beatless and textural rather than melodic.

If you have been curious about the output from Unexplained Sounds Group, this compilation (or any one of its several predecessors in the series) is a great introduction to the label and its evolving sound. Highly recommended.

Artists represented on this recording include Daniele Bogon, Cévennes, Oubys, Richard Bégin, Stephono-ZIP, Chelidon Frame, Jakob Grunditz & Michael Grunditz, RSOT/CPR, vÄäristymä, Simon Serc, Audio Obscura, Yousef Kawar, Kasra Faridi & Aida Hormozian, RIG, Loo(p)cy, DAFAKE, Henrik Meierkord, The Tara Experiment, progettosonoro, Michael Valentine West, Zach Zinn, Plurals, david lee Myers, Silent Chaos, Michael Bonaventure TRI:.OBYTE, Hans Castrup, Cyclamen Systems, and Teeth of Devine.

Various Artists – Anthology of Electroacoustic Music From Finland (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The sound mapping project continues, this time featuring odd and experimental music from Finland. The music herein is heavily acoustic with ample folk overtones, but well-grounded in tape music experimentation. Thus, there is a strong emphasis on blending conventional instrumentation with electronically-mediated sounds.

The leading track, Pekko Käppi’s Transrational Folk Song n.9, is a short piece based on a propulsive set of looped rhythms. Waves of synth and effects are in the foreground along with snippets of distorted guitar that grow into atmospheric wails.

Perhaps it does not scream “folk” to some ears, but one cannot help thinking of that label for Kohellus’s 17-minute Kalanvihreä. Muted acoustic strings combine with spacey synth melodies and drones. This evolves into flute-driven themes, summing up to analog warmth with a retro feel.

Heikki Lindgren contributes two pieces, each with a different collaborator. The forging of the Kanteleis with Rauno Nieminen is an amalgam of processing and drones with acoustic instruments, but includes rather unusual and fractured timings. Kirkkoherra Penkoi Arkistoja with Mika Rintala begins with ominous bass accompanied by crackling and rubbing noises as well as instrument-generated abstractions. By the midpoint, improv centered on horns, strings, and synth has taken over

Aarniseppä also provides a pair of recordings. Dance of the Gnomes includes tribal percussion, bursts of sax, twisted strings, and breathy but echoing patterns of synth and effects. The sheer weirdness of this track makes it compelling. The Swan Cult begins with recordings of said birds in dialog with a sax. But it quickly transforms into open-ended improv with conventional rock drumming, and then into rough-edged drones and effects.

Rounding out the compilation are efforts from Teemu Korpipää involving sparse smatterings of tuned percussion, Hulva’s blending of field recordings and chamber music, and [ówt krì]’s dark atmospheres, jaw harp, and throat singing.

Anthology Of Electroacoustic Music From Finland is another distinct and compelling entry in the sound mapping project. As with many of the other releases featuring music from a particular geography, this album is heavily influenced by local traditions. But the tracks herein also reflect Finland’s lesser-known penchant for experimenting with electroacoustic. The result is weird and wonderful. Highly recommended.

Richard Bégin – Phase 5 (2023; Reverse Alignment)

The sound worlds of Richard Bégin are grounded in electroacoustic ambient incorporating shimmering structures combined with static, pops, and clicks. This adds analog warmth to an approach that otherwise would be leaning toward the cold and dark. Indeed, several tracks of the ten on this recording include patterns of synth chords that are both ominous yet strangely melodic.

Beyond the drones – of which there are plenty – Bégin has a penchant for finding unusual sounds and structures for accompaniment. These elements are echoed and looped. Whether lightly percussive, sculpted white noise, mechanical, or more traditionally musical in nature, they waft about in a dreamlike fashion. Their wavelike patterns are gritty and borderline psychedelic, yet (with just a few exceptions) proceed with a degree of gentleness.

The bottom line is that Bégin’s use of textures is exquisite in its detail, simplicity, and impact. While he draws from a broad palette, each piece makes maximal use of its constituent parts. Thus, despite their varied and unpredictable nature, these offerings come across as being carefully composed.

Phase 5 was released on May 11 by Reverse Alignment. If you appreciated Bégin’s 2022 offering, Fragile Section, you will find much to like here.

Michael Bonaventure – Works 2018 – 2023 (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Michael Bonaventure is a sui generis composer and performer. Based in Edinburgh and Amsterdam, he composes experimental pieces for organ and electronics, often blending traditional instrumentation and his classical training with other sources and influences in a surprisingly seamless fashion.

Works 2018 – 2023 is a collection of his recent efforts and a follow-up to Works 2008 – 2017. In between, he also released In Tenebris Ratione Organi and contributed a number of recordings to thematic and regional compilations on the Unexplained Sounds Group and Eighth Tower Records labels.

As expected, these pieces are heavy with organ and keyboard. Despite being the longest on the album, Astromorph is an excellent representative track. It begins with several minutes of dark yet gently rolling organ drone. From there, shimmering elements emerge in the foreground along with strange bursts that simulate vocalizations. A gritty, deeper drone is added to the mix around the halfway point, along with sparse echoing percussives toward the finale.

The remaining tracks each exhibit their own unique character within a similar context. A notable example is The Land of Silence, which incorporates liturgical voice, quieter drones, and melodic organ chording for a haunting yet strangely uplifting atmosphere.

One of the most compelling aspects of Bonaventure’s output is that he seems to have absorbed the Kosmiche influences of the last several decades but eschews following too closely in the pioneers’ footsteps. You might hear vestiges of Klaus Schulze (among others) here and there, but Bonaventure hoves closers to experimental and electroacoustic music that is of a modern character and beyond ambient.

Various Artists – Mysterium, Incubus et Terror – Music Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe Stories (2023; Eighth Tower Records)

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first modern writers to incorporate psychological terror and macabre elements into his works. Poe’s exploration of the psyche, obsession, and the dark side of humanity continues to shape horror literature and film today. Indeed, his deliberate pacing and use of unreliable narrators – characters who deceive, have incomplete knowledge, or are insane – have become staples of the genre.

Mysterium, Incubus et Terror is the latest experimental ambient compilation of new works from Eighth Tower Records. It features tracks from Morgen Wurde, Mombi Yuleman, Kloob alone and with Onasander, Rapoon, Mario Lino Stancati, Michael Bonaventure, Lars Bröndum, [ówt krì], and Henrik Meierkord. Each of these interprets one of ten Poe stories in musical form.

At first blush, these tracks – all in the 4-8 minute range – are surprisingly consistent in their quiet approach. There is rather little in the way of dynamics throughout. Instead, each builds tension and apprehension through the use of ominous drones, field recordings, and processed sounds (including many forms of echoes. oscillations, and loops).

But upon further listening, each artist expresses themselves quite differently. For instance, Morgen Wurde’s dramatic and drone-laden effort employs chaotic violin from David Strother in addition to crazed voices. Mombi Yuleman’s take on The Premature Burial has the requisite sounds of shoveling in addition to faint staccato percussion, moaning, echoes, and other abstractions.

Kloob’s pair of tracks include deep chord patterns that, in collaboration with Onasander, are hazily aquatic and foreboding in their oscillations. The chords remain deep but take on a clearer and slow-moving character in the solo piece.

Rapoon’s rendition of The Fall of the House of Usher employs echoing notes and beats that fade under long-held washes of synth and stringed instruments. Interpreting another of Poe’s classics, Michael Bonaventure uses loops to modulate harsh waves and mechanical percussion on The Pit and the Pendulum before briefly breaking into a flourish of horns toward the end.

Mario Lino Stancati’s piece is spacious and unusual, with barely perceptible voices appearing below the sweeping drones. Lars Bröndum takes a left turn with twisted electronics and rough-hewn walls of sound. Berenice from [ówt krì] builds up tension with a repeating and self-overlapping string-based melody in addition to harmonic synth elements. Henrik Meierkord caps things off with a free-form exploration of harsh tones and eccentricities.

Strangely enough, despite all the mind-bending horror underlying these works, I found Mysterium, Incubus et Terror to be a rather catchy and compelling listen. When I finished the album, I found myself wanting to put it on again. Thus, Eighth Tower has once again produced a compilation that stands well under repeated plays.

Francisco López – Dynamo (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Despite his massive discography, this is my first exposure to the sound art of Francisco López. Composed for a multi-channel installation in the Spanish Pavilion at Expo Dubai 2020, Dynamo is a dense and noisy work that manages to also be subtle and detailed.

Across its five tracks, all around 15 minutes, López deconstructs and reconstructs sound at the quantum level. Each piece begins with a quiet, electrostatic passage that builds into thick walls and patterns that have both repeating and non-repeating structures. These chaotic moments dominate the length of the album, with roiling loops and rhythmic elements that eventually (and suddenly) return to quietude.

But where Dynamo departs and sets itself apart from your standard harsh noise is in the components that make up these walls. Each seems like a curated sound from a field recording that has been processed to the point that its origin is completely obscured. The result is very roughly textured, full of static, drone, and incidental percussion.

Somehow, López’s work falls short of oppressive despite its overwhelming amount of detail. Instead, there are emergent patterns upon patterns, fractal-like in nature, that ebb and flow throughout. It is not an exaggeration to say that you can listen to Dynamo 100 times and still hear something new on the next playthrough. This is a truly awe-inspiring recording.

Darja Kazimira & Zura Makharadze – Songs from An Obscure Matriarchal Tribe (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Trying to put a box around this release is an exercise in futility. Darja Kazimira and Zura Makharadze recorded this double album as a soundtrack to an experimental film. There are echoes of tribal percussion, throat singing, free improv, and Diamanda Galas. The instrumentation is exceptionally broad, including voices, dissected tuba, suona, zurna, bass rebeck, chuniri, rebab, gongs, bass drum, dissected tom, daf, metal and wood percussion, double bass ģiga, bones, xylophone, and noises.

The singing is intense, almost liturgical until it descends into howls and guttural explosions. The next-most prominent type of sound comes from the percussion, which is disjointed, varied, and invokes ancient rituals. Percssion-only passages go on for extended periods of time and undergird the entire album. When combined with the other instruments, these beats, clangs, and chimes produce an overall feel that hovers between Eastern European, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian.

Songs from An Obscure Matriarchal Tribe is an unusually bizarre release, even from a label with a penchant for the experimental and strange. I will admit that I was not successful in fully getting my head around all that is going on here. But as they say, the reward is in the striving rather than achieving the goal.

jarguna – Explorations of the Unconscious (2023; Reverse Alignment)

At last count, Italian synthesist and sound artist jarguna (Marco Billi) has nearly 50 albums released over the last 20 years. His music tends toward the organic ambient, neither too dark nor too experimental. Explorations of the Unconscious, his first release on Reverse Alignment, both sticks with this mold and breaks it to some extent.

The sounds consist of deep drones and gently roiling synth, with repeating patterns and oscillations of various frequencies. Throughout there is a dense, analog feel that contributes to the aforementioned organic nature. Another effect of these tracks is their tendency to be hypnogogic or subtly psychedelic. Indeed, several are named after psychoactive agents and implicitly ask whether the use of these substances merely distorts the senses or allows one to receive sensory information that is otherwise unavailable.

To support these notions, jarguna employs airy passages, slow motifs that bounce around the frequency spectrum, and glissando progressions. Low-end tones are gritty, textural, and accompanied by burbling synth. When sped up, these elements result in percussion-like patterns of beats.

Put together, these musical structures result in a pleasant listen that straddles the edge of avant-garde. Explorations of the Unconscious is a great place to start with the jarguna discography, as well as a compelling listen on its own.

Darja Kazimira & Zura Makharadze – Songs from An Obscure Matriarchal Tribe (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Med Gen – Frontier of Former (2023; Reverse Alignment)

Frontier of Former consists largely of dark, hazy drones and long-held chords accompanied by various noises, effects, and field recordings. Whether water, air, bells, crackling, or birdsong, these additional elements somehow only add to the gloomy and ominous nature of this double album’s seven long tracks.

As an example, Comprehend the Duality begins with sculpted static and quietly sweeping synths. This is followed by slow-moving chords atop a rumbling layer of bass. Other tracks, such as Atemporal Shore, employ a somewhat brighter approach, with less baleful droning and birdsong to lighten the mood. But the general approach is drawn to ponderous chording that evolves at geological time scales.

Frontier of Former is a lilting, drifting, and hypnogogic effort that exhibits consistent qualities throughout. As a result, it can be played over and over in the background, with its 90 minutes seemingly passing at a faster clip. Thus, this album not only works for active listening but also would be well suited as a soundtrack or installation.

Sonologyst – Electrons (2016/2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Sonologyst (composer, producer, and label head Raffaele Pezzella) has reissued this 2016 recording with a bonus track on CD for the first time. The sounds and track titles reflect Pezzella’s fascination with quantum physics, with references to the Dirac equation, the Higgs boson, and more.

Musically, Electrons is representative of early Sonologyst material, more cosmic than dark. Oscillating layers of synth echo in and out of focus with sweeping patterns of mild distortion. These efforts often incorporate high pitches as well as bell-like percussive elements. Some pieces are slower and quieter, with electronic abstractions and experimentation to accompany muted drones.

Nonetheless, each has its own character consistent with the overarching theme. As an example, LDirac = ψ(iγμ∂μ −m)ψ features dappled electronics on a pointillistic canvas, while Zeeman Effect encompasses a long, slow drone that subtlely vibrates beneath staccato synth passages, before ending with sculpted static. The new track, LHC, occupies a similar space, with a roughly-textured drone superimposed upon a shimmering array of white noise and squelching.

Whether you are a physicist, want to be one, or prefer to stick to Newtonian mechanics, Electrons is an appropriately titled release that sonically explores the science and beyond. Very well done.

Kelados – The Night Glows (2023; Reverse Alignment)

As described in the liner notes, Kelados (Matúš Fabian) recorded this album “using analogue and modular synths, electric guitar, contact mics, field recordings, hydrophone, geophone, electronics.” The result is a darkly wafting set of waves and drones accompanied by rich textures and background noises.

The seven untitled tracks are all about 5-10 minutes long. Each has its own distinct character, typically a quasi-repeating cycle of sounds. As a whole, The Night Glows is an immersive effort, thick with rolling structures and lilting haziness.

Untitled 2 is a prime example of the album’s focus, beginning with fire-like crackling, wind, and a repeating bell. A massive and slowly-oscillating drone builds to accompany the crackling. Untitled 4 is another singular track with insect-like noises that combine with layered synth and sparse, aleatoric found-object percussion. Untitled 5 is more experimental yet quieter, with windswept soundscapes and lurking dangers. The longest piece, Untitled 6, exhibits grinding textures and plenty of electroacoustic activity. Subtle, organ-like chords haunt the background. Untitled 7 caps things off with field recordings of voices coupled with sculpted static and shifting layers.

The Night Glows is another highly recommended album from Reverse Alignment. It is also one that requires listening at volume to appreciate its subtleties.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Experimental Music From Latin America (2023; Unexplained Sounds Group)

If nothing else, the ongoing Sound Mapping project from Unexplained Sounds Group has established that excellent experimental music can be found in every populated geography on the planet. We should all know that intuitively, but at this point there is no counterargument. And what’s even more compelling, for this listener at least, is that none of the names on this 2CD compilation is familiar.

While focusing on the rough category of “experimental” music, the artists represented present a broad and inclusive view of this loose genre. They hail from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, and Venezuela.

As an example, Susan Campos Fonseca’s Refugio lands somewhere between ambient and modern classical, with deep droning chords, shifting soundscapes, and soft blasts that slowly grow in intensity. In contrast, Un Film Sobre Insectos by Santiago Fradejas is a slow-paced, twisted, and psychedelic piece. It comes across as a pastiche of samples and effects, possibly field recordings as well, that provide a strange narrative.

Tarme Til Alle’s Leaving the Body features sweeping bursts of sequencers and an overall cosmic tone. Repeating psychedelic structures with jagged noise and chords drift through Benoit from Tremolo Audio. Emiliano Hernandez-Santana explores similar “sound art” themes on Islas de Fango with unstructured rhythms accompanied by shimmering and crackling foreground noises.

Taking a few steps in a different direction, La Carabina from Quim Font features hazy drones that are deceptively pastoral until roughly-cut echoing waves and samples are introduced. Going yet further is Paulo Motta on Index Dial Maracatu, the only track with pieces of a synthesized beat, one that rapidly morphs into unstructured noises, watery sounds, and processed samples. An even more extreme take is on Leo Alves Vieira’s Darkroom – 21-34-13-04, which combines metallic clashes (some of which may have originated on a drum kit) with synth chording.

The Great Old Ones – Mythos Of Cthulhu (2023; Eighth Tower Records)

Eighth Tower is back with another Lovecraft-inspired release. This is the second from The Great Old Ones, a stage name of experimentalist and label head Raffaele Pezzella. Guest musicians include Mario Lino Stancati on voice and electric guitar, and Alexandros Magkos (Grim Machine) on percussion, electronics, and voice.

Not unlike its predecessor, Mythos Of Cthulhu focuses on electroacoustic ambient, with synth-driven droning textures and lilting passages. These haunting pieces evoke the underwater city of R’lyeh, where Cthulhu lies in a death-like slumber, as well as the activities of human cultists.

To the latter point, The Tablets Of Ubbo-Sathla features muted ritual chant, throat singing, and tribal percussion in addition to strange effects and noises. Other pieces are more open-ended and experimental, with sculpted electronics that shimmer with discordance as well as bells, chimes, and elements from field recordings.

Rather than just encompassing the ancient terror that is Cthulhu, the album also has a biomechanical nature – an unholy mixing of creature and machine. This is hinted at by the use of modern audio technology to represent twisted forms of life, organic beings coupled with the periodicities of machines. But the majority of Mythos Of Cthulhu is focused on ritualized constructs, often with unpatterned percussion or no percussion at all.

This is an excellent horror and sci-fi influenced release from Eighth Tower, one of many. If the darker side of experimental ambient is your thing, do not hesitate.

Michael Valentine West – a farewell to arms (2022; Reverse Alignment)

The pieces that I had heard from Michael Valentine West prior to the release of this album were intriguing, yet I never found more than a few moments to contemplate his work. On a farewell to arms, West covers a lot of ground in experimental ambient space, the album taking the form of a single 49-minute track.

To that point, it goes through a number of distinct phases or movements, beginning with a slow-paced and moody piano interlude combined with spiky and burbling static. The tension slowly builds as the piano notes become more tightly spaced, the static louder, and drones enter the background.

Eventually, this passage fades into the second movement, which takes on a more menacing tone with synth layers stretching out chords in a fashion consistent with dark ambient. The tension and density build once again until West breaks out into a third movement of improvised percussion and processed synth structures. Parts of this get quite assertive, with thick walls and open-ended drum-like elements contrasting constraint and the lack thereof.

The fourth movement takes features of the third, tones them down, then adds wafting and gritty drones as well as bassy reverberations to the mix. This continues for a while until the jarring fifth movement adds a blast of rapidly-sequenced noise patterns. These rolling and echoing structures are almost techno in nature, though weirder and probably undanceable.

The sixth movement is more pastoral, with quiet, watery synth work interspersed with sculpted static and shimmering tones. It evolves into more ominous drones but this time with indistinct processed voices. This arguable seventh movement remains low-key, but with enough variation in the background to remain attention-getting before the track fades out.

Of course, the “movements” identified above appear in the mind of the listener. West might disagree. Still, the extent of exploration and narrative across one long piece of music is quite remarkable. West’s effort here does not fit neatly into any box and is of interest for that reason as well.

Needless to say, a farewell to arms is very well done and comes highly recommended.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Contemporary Music From South Africa (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group)

This compilation of electroacoustic, drone, ambient, and experimental music from South Africa begins strong. Kalaharakiri from nonentia starts with a gritty layering of pulsating drones. Thick synths come in, as do portamento chants. The result is music that could initially be categorized as influenced by the Berlin School but with a trip to the far south. A singular track that spans multiple genres, it is representative in scope – though not sound palette – of this latest sound mapping compilation from Unexplained Sounds Group.

In contrast, other contributors focus on bells and tuned percussion, sculpting of sampled noises combined with bleeps and bloops, blending of flute or electronics and percussion, as well as an electric guitar and chime based piece. Some of these efforts feature repetition in a minimalistic fashion, that slowly embeds itself into your psyche. Others are more overt and exploratory, employing improvisation and extended techniques. Tide of the Insects from Chantelle Gray is another stand-out offering, with layers of staccato buzzing over drones and a steady bassline. There is a return to African chant on Nardus Niemand’s The Great Southern Cross which combines unusual percussion instruments, sweeping synths, and song into one of the stronger tracks.

Anthology Of Contemporary Music From South Africa shines the most where the artists bring together indigenous music and modern experimentation. I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this album dozens of times over the last two months. It is a fresh and quite listenable take on difficult music. Very well done.

Capricorni Pneumatici – Nibbas (1989/2022; Eighth Tower Records)

Capricorni Pneumatici was a prototype electroacoustic / ambient effort that began in the mid 1980s and was still a going concern as of a few years ago. Nibbas is a cassette release from 1989 recently reissued by Eighth Tower Records.

The music is tempered and gritty with a great deal of variety on the micro level while maintaining a fairly consistent level of activity and volume. The underlying sources include field recordings of natural and human-made sounds, as well as synth and vocal elements. The recordings are more heavily employed on the first three tracks (which appeared on side A of the tape), while the final three tracks (which appeared on side B of the tape) are more focused on layers of synth.

Regarding the former, the 9-plus minute title track hisses and shimmers as if backward masked. Passages are relatively quiet yet busily structured in a fashion mildly resembling post-industrial clangs and booming. Heavily processed voices are interspersed with clicks and pops, though might not be recognized as having human origin.

Regarding the latter, L’enfantement de la mort also clocks in at just over 9 minutes, but is constructed from sweeping textures, waves, and oscillations centered around a repeating pattern of 5-7 notes. Eventually, this pattern is drowned out by chords, drones, and walls of sound before making a reprise in a different form toward the end of the track.

Once again, Eighth Tower has dug up an experimental gem from the past. This release is one that is not just relevant for purposes of nostalgia but also for how it uncannily predicted the future directions of a genre that did not exist at the time.

Various Artists – Dracula – Music Inspired By The Bram Stoker’s Novel (2022; Eighth Tower Records)

Given its fame as perhaps the most well-known and well-studied example of gothic horror, the story of Count Dracula and the vampire hunters who eventually slay him is part of our modern consciousness. With multiple film adaptations and an absolutely massive sphere of influence, Bram Stoker’s story undergirds an entire sub-genre of not just literature but also television and movies. Its premise is simple, its horror is efficacious, and scholars still debate its statements on gender roles and immigration, two topics that remain of import. While Stoker did not invent vampires, he introduced them to popular western culture so effectively that they persist today.

Music about Dracula and vampires is also not new – this is ground well-trodden in heavy metal, for example. While the dark ambient genre has a handful of albums under the vampiric influence, these number relatively few (I fully expect someone to disagree with this statement and provide a list…). Now we have Dracula, a compilation of dark ambient material from Eighth Tower Records that specifically targets the Stoker-verse.

Contributors include, among others, Dead Space Chamber Music, Onasander, Michael Banoventure, Grey Frequency, Rapoon, Kloob, Mario Lino Stancati, and Howlround. And on the very first listen, this effort defied my expectations – there is rather little in the way of loud, grating, or unduly angular passages. Instead, these tracks are subtle, their horror psychological rather than overt. There is a strong emphasis on synth and drones, with various accompaniments. On the other hand, the album does get stranger and more abstract as it progresses.

For instance, Dead Space Chamber Music (a UK-based quartet) employs a simple yet haunting theme overlaid with airy lines from acoustic instruments and indiscernible vocalizations. Subterranean Source (Andrea Bellucci) follows up with a track that features animal noises, deeper drones, rumbling, loops, and effects. Grey Frequency (Gavin Morrow) provides the sounds of waves on a beach being slowly consumed by long-held synth chords and rattling object percussion. David Strother takes things in a different direction with woodwind-sounding lines over quiet drones and a sparse beat.

Moving on to the second half of this compilation, Rapoon (Robin Storey) contributes a track that is one of the most overtly experimental, with large shifting masses of metallic sounds. Dani Kloob’s piece is a suffocating amalgam of dark horror, with dense drones, chanting voices, and aleatoric percussion. Mario Lino Stancati explores higher-pitched noises that are largely acousmatic and impressionistic in nature. Howlround continues this trend with a set of gritty loops and patterns of sculpted sounds. Henrik Meierkord rounds things out with a return to ominous dark ambience.

Needless to say, this is another must-have release from Eighth Tower Records, and it arrived just in time for Halloween. Like many electroacoustic / ambient offerings that exhibit subtlety, this one needs to be experienced at high volume to appreciate the details.

Cristiano Bocci – Beyond the Dark Zone (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Cristiano Bocci covers a lot of ground on this new release – from drone to ambient jazz to pieces driven by post-techno synthetic percussion. Bocci plays electric and acoustic basses, guitars, synths, and electronics. Guesting on various tracks are numerous horn and reed performers, a pianist, and a vocalist. Where one set of instrumentation starts and another ends can be as challenging to identify as which sounds were generated from traditional instruments as opposed to those that come from post-hoc processing.

Acid Neighbors serves as an introduction to this genre-fusing style, featuring dark ambient tones coupled with overdriven bass drones and gritty loops. Multi-layered drones follow with distorted guitar chording and sweeping electronics that fade into a twisted wall of sound. City Blur Walking combines a bass rhythm with slow trumpet themes and an unsettling synth pattern. The overall sound is reminiscent of David Torn’s early solo work but with a more distorted yet much bleaker tone. This evolves into loops of jagged guitar riffs, sculpted noise, and programmed drums. In contrast, The Night sets forth a ponderous theme with discordant guitar and bass, melancholy horns, and haunting vocals and chants from Gianluca Becuzzi.

Moving on to the second half of the album, Evil Pain combines skittering drum patterns and textural bass drones along with free improv from the horn section. The result is as disconcerting as it is dense. The Dark Zone is a reprise of the Torn-sounding themes, but with more distortion and a slowly-improvised interlude. Respiro caps things off with lo-fi late night jazz stylings. Indeed, the popping and crackling of an old record takes on a life of its own as a rhythm instrument, while a piano is played over abstract amalgamations of bits of melody and noise.

Various Artists – Vision of Darkness Vol. II (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group / Cold Spring Records)

Following up on the first volume of this series that was released in 2017, Unexplained Sounds Group and Cold Spring Records have teamed up again to document the rich and multi-faceted Iranian underground music scene. The music spanning these 20 tracks all falls under the rough category of experimental but varies in approach.

While incorporating pieces from dodenskald and Negari, Shirely, and Pandi that hint at Middle-Eastern melodies, the rest of the album can roughly be divided by influence – dark ambient / drone, techno, or something else. Regarding the former, Morego Dimmer is present with two of his monikers, Nyctalllz and Xerxes the Dark. The Xerxes track employs wind and sparse string instrumentation, as well as synth, to great effect. Other artists providing efforts along these lines include IDFT, Shahin Souri, PooYar, Melkor, and Reza Solatipour, exploring ominous long-held tones and cinematic waves of synth. In contrast, Babak Sepanta, S.S.M.P., Dariush Salehpour & Zhoobin Askarieh, and Sam Eyvaz make use of sequencers, loops, and/or percussion to drive warmer and catchier efforts. Nonetheless, where Vision of Darkness Vol. II contributes in the most compelling fashion is its featuring of artists whose material defies simple categorization. Tracks from Alireza Amirhajebi, Amin Shirazi, and Vesal Javaheri straddle multiple genres with rough textures, beats, static, and sculpted feedback, among other sounds.

Ultimately, the exact categorization of many tracks is too difficult and not even necessary or desirable. Art finds a way to be expressed, regardless of labeling. This set of recordings from one of the world’s oldest civilizations is captivatingly modern, abstract, and enjoyable.

Mombi Yuleman – Hours Lost (2022; ZeroK)

UFOologists refer to a concept known as “missing time” – typically several hours or more that a person allegedly abducted by aliens has erased from their memory. Mombi Yuleman invokes this notion in Hours Lost, an experimental and weird ambient release inspired by one of the first self-reported kidnappings by extra-terrestrials – that of Barney and Betty Hill.

Yuleman employs layered drones, cracking static, patterned and patternless percussion elements, deep rumblings, and simulated vocalizations to generate haunting soundscapes. He loops aspects of these sounds to create hypnogogic and modestly catchy harmonies – for example, Hypnosis has a repeating trance-like synth pattern accompanied by abstract radio noises and electroacoustics. The Visitors combines slowly-oscillating yet massive waves of sound with aleatoric percussion and effects in a cinematic fashion. Other tracks utilize sequenced arrangements with undulating chords, subtle beats with otherworldly tones, and airy layers with machine sounds of non-human origin.

Each of these pieces is relatively short at between 4 and 7 minutes, and has its own distinctive character. Given the above description, any fan of disturbing ambient, dark drones with strange post-industrial sounds, or modern takes on Kosmiche music will find plenty to like here.

Ultimately, like all reports of supernatural findings subjected to scientific scrutiny, the abduction of the Hills was debunked (or, at least, the Hills were unable to provide convincing evidence of its truth). But one does not have to be a believer in order to enjoy all kinds of media that explore these concepts. Thus, in the grand tradition of speculative science fiction, Yuleman explores fantastical ideas – in this case giving such inquiries a concrete and enjoyable musical grounding.

Various Artists – Nyarlathotep – A Tribute To Howard Phillips Lovecraft (2022; Eighth Tower Records)

Nyarlathotep was an earthbound deity in the mythos of writer H. P. Lovecraft. Unlike the other gods in these stories, Nyarlathotep appears in humanoid form and can speak human languages. This being, as an abstract concept, provides a fitting name for an album that brings largely forgotten and mysterious music to human ears.

Indeed, this album is a newly remastered reissue that was originally released in 1997 by the KADATH label, and gathers eight offerings of experimental underground music of that time. As such, the sounds are somewhat retro and analog, but surprisingly fresh despite being artifacts from over a quarter-century ago.

A short haunting organ piece from Kirlian Camera starts things off in an appropriate mood. Ritual Affliction from Tombstone follows, a quiet track centered around a droning loop and with a subtly menacing tone that slowly gets under your skin. This feeling comes to a culmination in The Perfect Solitude Of The Wolf (Song For Bernd Thies) by In Articulo Mortis, which is a simple song with plaintive and dark spoken word passages.

Dagon from Gerstein is one of the more interesting tracks, beginning with spoken word over ominous synth chording. The atmospherics grow stranger as the vocalizations end, with growling textures and effects played backward. De Tenebroso Lacu from Nigredo continues the experimentation with crackling sculpted noise, overlapping voices making indecipherable sounds, and martial percussion.

Tombstone switches up the mood with a short piece of moody synth tones entitled Illusion? T.A.C’s Deadly Nightshade combines sequenced patterns, stringed instruments, drones, and dark chants into an electroacoustic amalgam.

Tantra Music from M.Nomized is by far the longest piece, clocking in at just short of 20 minutes. It begins with deep drones and throat singing. Lilting sequenced patterns and dense synth walls are slowly introduced and build into chaotic formations underpinned by ritual chant. Perhaps Nyarlathotep itself would mock our attempt to rationally understand this piece’s tumultuous structure.

梁奕源 Liang YiYuan – Those That Die In A Dream. A Twenty Years Retrospective (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group)

Liang YiYuan combines ambient and traditional Chinese music in this compelling collection of his recordings from the last 20 years. He largely employs stringed instruments, such as guitar, yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), violin, and guqin (a four-octave stringed instrument), as well as the bawu (Chinese clarinet). The tracks hereon are solo improvisations with assistance from effects. The pieces bounce around a spectrum of experimentalism from soft drones to discordant noise across 70 minutes.

The title track kicks things off with sawing of a string instrument (violin or guqin, most likely) accompanied by synth layers in the background. Flying Birds are Ominous has a similar sound and feel. Other tracks take the album in different directions, such as the twisted – almost psychedelic – guitar work on Overdraft Twilight Years. Along those lines, Hallucinogen of Imagined Bodhi-III is an amalgam of slow-moving, staccato synth lines that evolve into dense and ominous layered drones over the course of 16 minutes.

Another more outside offering, The Confucian Pleasure Puppet, employs multitracked free improv on the bawu, resulting in a modestly Eastern feel. The Dream of Sunshine turns up the weirdness with plucked strings, snoring noises, wailing vocalizations, and a short post-industrial rhythmic crescendo.

In sum, this compilation shines much-needed light on an artist who is largely unknown outside of China. Hopefully, this will not be the last we hear from Liang YiYuan in this hemisphere.

Richard Bégin – Fragile Section (2022; Reverse Alignment)

These thirteen creations by Canadian professor Richard Bégin combine the ambient and electroacoustic genres with a fair dose of musique concrete. Bégin generates lilting waves of sound that echo and shimmer, and accentuates them with prerecorded sounds. The latter include bops, clicks, scraping, and rattling that are largely unstructured and provide a sense of uncertainty in terms of the direction that the music will take.

In addition, certain tracks, Mycoderma Aceti being an example, involve further joining these sources into sculpted sound art with waves distorted to match the character of the prerecorded sounds. Other pieces, such as Des Traces Evidentes de Métamérisation, apply loops to these structures, with slight modifications in content, textures, and/or intensity on each repetition. Further explorations hint at post-industrial influences, with recurrent mechanical rhythms in the foreground. Bégin even uses snippets of what appears to be traditional instrumentation that are processed to the point that the sources are difficult to discern.

The result of all this is a dreamy and complex set of soundscapes, not quite the stuff of nightmares but perhaps not far off. Hints of the past, present, and future are combined in a way that is directionless – the future influences the present as much as the past. Thus, Fragile Section is an unusually creative and quite welcome addition to the recently re-launched Reverse Alignment label.

Various Artists – The Dystopian World of J.G. Ballard (2022; Zero K)

This compilation is notable in both its consistency and lack thereof. Its 12 tracks, spanning about 75 minutes, each involve some form of gritty drone, many with shimming or lilting looped structures. But these efforts have their own unique identities that make them all part of a greater whole. Contributors include Grey Frequency, Mario Lino Stancati, JARL, Eraldo Bernocchi, HLER, Hector M. Reis, Lars Bröndum, Joel Gilardini, vÄäristymä, Mombi Yuleman, and Tarme Til Alle.

Each piece was influenced in some fashion by the writings of science fiction author J.G. Ballard. Somewhat ahead of his time, Ballard is labeled with the word “dystopian”, as his stories from 50+ years ago broached subjects that have only recently lost most of their taboo nature. He famously wrote, “The advanced societies of the future will not be governed by reason. They will be driven by irrationality, by competing systems of psychopathology.” Look around and tell me that has not already happened.

In any event, the music is enjoyable in its subtle quietness, though punctuated by rumblings and spacey themes. There is a solidly retro feel to this set, with the use of field recordings as well as analog buzz and hiss. While the majority of these undertakings might be lumped into the experimental dark ambient bucket, the pair of sound collages from Lars Bröndum stand out as having more in common with the works of Tod Dockstader for example. Other tracks fall at various places on the spectrum between ambient and musique concrete.

Once again, a stellar collection of the weird and unexpected from Zero K, an Unexplained Sounds Group label.

Various Artists – The Body Of Horror – Music Inspired By The Cinema Of David Cronenberg (2022; Eighth Tower Records)

David Cronenberg is a director and screenwriter whose career spans nearly six decades. He is most well-known for his depictions of “body horror” – the grotesque transformation of human bodies through mutation, violence, technology, or infection. While also involved in more mainstream productions, his extreme and jarring take on the horror genre has won him both praise and criticism.

This hour-long compilation pulls together tracks contributed by a number of artists who were asked to compose new works inspired by Cronenberg. They include Sigillum S, Desiderii Marginis, Sonologyst, Mario Lino Stancati, Schloss Tegal, dodenskald, UNCODIFIED, Jarl, Mortar Devotions, Kloob, about half of whom are from Italy, though other European countries, the U.S., and Iran are also represented. Unsurprisingly, these pieces are largely cinematic in nature, though in unmitigated forms that match that of their muse.

While drawing on dark ambient as a jumping-off point, the pieces herein employ markedly more experimental sound palettes. For instance, Sigillum S uses electronics in a post-industrial fashion while Desiderii Marginis accentuates background drones with a spoken word loop and irregular percussion elements. Schloss Tegal takes a similar approach, combining snippets of processed spoken word but with suffocating layers of noise.

Sonologyst provides a disturbing lilt of synths to a heartbeat rhythm. Mario Lino Stancati, Jarl, and dodenskald also take softer, more cosmic directions, though if anything this makes the listening even more trepidatious. Mortar Devotions heads in a similar direction with synths layered atop a slowly-moving sequenced rhythm that eventually pairs up with another of a higher speed. In contrast, UNCODIFIED sculps walled noise with rough textures accompanied by sweeping synths. Kloob caps off the album with a piece that uses ominous chord progressions combined with guttural animal / human vocalizations.

In line with Cronenberg’s vision, this music is not just haunting – it hints at much more disturbing human-inflicted, alien, or supernatural origins. Analogous to the subjects of the films, the artists have created, mutated, and transformed various conventional and unconventional sound sources into new forms. Whether these forms are terrifying, perversely compelling, or just strangely enjoyable as abstract music is up to the listener.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Post industrial And Experimental Music From Italy (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The latest entry in the Unexplained Sounds Group sound mapping project is a compilation of outside music from Italy. While often synth-driven and a cultural cousin of sorts to Kosmiche and dark ambient, Italy’s post-industrial scene is a more diverse and unique animal. These pieces are influenced less by western rock music and are instead reflective of modern innovations in electronics, noise sculpting, musique concrete, and cinematic composition.

As such, many of these recordings include sound collages of samples, environmental noises, voices, and processed rhythms, as well as more traditional instrumentation. A representative example of this is Daniele Ciullini’s Decoys, which combines recorded conversation, static, and effects riding atop a subtle layer of drones. Another singular recording is The Ancestral from Gianluca Becuzzi. Anyone familiar with Becuzzi’s electric guitar drone experimentations will find much to appreciate here, with walls of distortion accompanying slow melodies, airy processing, and chimes. In contrast, Simon Balestrazzi provides staccato piano and plucked strings along with unconventional percussion and electronic noises, all notable in their sparseness.

Pemmican Redux from Heimito Kunst is a rolling barrage of structured feedback and static. Massimo Olla’s Infinite Loneliness includes percussion resembling that of bowls and bells with drones and free-improvised horn playing. The contribution from UNCODIFIED exhibits harsh electronics with static and jarring shifts in volume. Sonologoyst finishes the album with sää, an oddly quiet exploration of cosmic sounds, drones, and electronics.

A few years back a friend told me that there was a very rich experimental music scene in modern Italy, but that it was largely underground and virtually invisible to those of us in North America. If anything, this compilation shines some much-needed light on these artists and their endeavors. These are weird and beautiful sounds that stretch the definition of music.

The Great Old Ones – Yog-Sothoth (2022; Eighth Tower Records)

Despite his deep flaws as a human being, H.P. Lovecraft pioneered a form of psychological horror literature that has had an immeasurable influence over the last 100 years. In Lovecraft’s stories, the Great Old Ones are earthbound, malevolent gods. In contrast, Yog-Sothoth was a timeless, all-knowing entity that could on occasion take physical form on Earth. Its connection to or membership in the Great Old Ones mythos is not entirely clear.

In any event, The Great Old Ones here is musical experimenter Raffaele Pezzella (a.k.a. Sonologyst and RhaD) who offers this first album under his latest stage name. Consisting of four tracks, it is synth-driven dark ambient with shifting layers of drones, scraping, and windswept noises. Pulses and cosmic tones evoke a sense of mystery along with dread. While not exactly suffocating, there is a baleful heaviness and denseness to these structures.

For instance, Born From The Nameless Mist exhibits a thick, smothering drone throughout that is accompanied by a combination of lighter waves. Your Servants Call Upon You includes distant vocalizations and ritual percussion. These two short tracks are sandwiched between long-form pieces that are largely rumbling and drone-focused, with generous use of electroacoustic effects, snippets of instrumentation, chant, and percussion. Slow-moving and ponderous, they seem to exist outside of time like Yog-Sothoth itself.

Notwithstanding the genre and source material, Yog-Sothoth is a pleasant listen. There are many details to appreciate and the textures are never unduly harsh. Frightening? Sure, but in a good way.

Mario Lino Stancati – Vairagya (2022; Unexplained Sounds Group)

On Vairagya, Mario Lino Stancati explores heavy synth textures and waves that, coupled with repeating patterns of percussion, build into chaotic walls of tension. These gliding layers are frequently bright but perpetually ominous. One of the more abstract tracks on this album of abstractions is Panta Xekina, which includes drones, sculpted synth, and rattling background elements. There is a strong retro feel throughout harkening back to Kosmiche music of the early 1970s (Klaus Schulze in particular), but Stancati interprets these influences through a fresh and idiosyncratic lens. On the other hand, Orlata all’indietro is a brief interlude that takes a different approach by incorporating acoustic guitar and additional effects. Later tracks are more “electronic” and exhibit bouncy sequencing. All of this adds up to an intriguing and enigmatic release.

Various Artists – Hauntology In UK (2022; Eighth Tower Records)

Hauntology is a concept that is hard to nail down. In short, it is a philosophical notion that aspects of the past continue to influence – haunt – the present. As a corollary, hauntology contemplates “lost futures” in which new ideas failed to occur due to socioeconomic forces. British cultural theorist and writer Mark Fisher applied these themes to music, observing that artists with few resources tend to eschew cultural innovation in favor of continuously reapplying the structures and sounds of the past.

In practice, music that could be placed in the hauntology bucket is all over the place in terms of style. But it has a common thread in how it invokes or samples older recordings (e.g., from the 1960s and 1970s) in a lo-fi and ghostly fashion to remind the listener of lost memories as well as lost timelines of futures that never happened.

This compilation of British artists approaches hauntology from a decided electronic point of view. Put out by dark ambient / experimental label Eighth Tower Records as a tribute to Fisher, one does not need to be aware of the philosophy behind the recordings to enjoy them (though I will admit that even a brief immersion adds a layer of meaning to these pieces). Contributing artists include Rapoon & Sonologyst and Howlround each providing a pair of tracks, as well as Grey Frequency, Pascal Savy, Michael Bonaventure, Foreseer, and Dead Space Chamber Music.

Thematically, Hauntology In UK holds together quite well. The majority of the album comprises synth-driven soundscapes populated by a broad array of samples. The latter include static, crackling, and vocal elements.

The pairing of Rapoon (Robin Storey) and Sonologyst (Raffaele Pezzella) employs soft yet ominous drones accompanied by foreground effects that border on the percussive or actually are percussive in an unstructured fashion. Atmospheric voices populate parts of the background. The contributions of Howlround (Robin the Fog) are short but spacious and pulsating, evoking alien landscapes.

In contrast, Dead Space Chamber Music provides processed acoustic percussion accompanied by sung vocals. The song is in a folk / Medieval style, which makes this track unlike any other in the set. Another standout is Michael Bonaenture’s Mavisbank, which combines birdsong with sweeping synth and drones. This evolves into repetitive and layered percussive patterns.

Rounding things out is a relatively airy piece from Foreseer, static and sequenced rhythms from Grey Frequency, and Pascal Savy’s rumbling and breathy After Dark.

Hauntology In UK is yet another well-produced compilation from Eighth Tower Records. The title implies ghostliness, and that aspect is certainly present. But a stronger musical theme is that of futurism from a past perspective, with many of the tracks evoking retro-cinematic science fiction. Indeed, the echoing nature of many of these pieces can be seen to represent how the past casts numerous shadows of itself into the present and future. Regardless, fans of unconventional electronic music or dark ambient will find much to like here. Highly recommended.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Electronic Music From Scandinavia (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The Unexplained Sounds Group is back with another of its sound mapping series, this time focusing on Scandanavia. Since the term “electronic music” can mean different things to different people, it is important to point out that this compilation largely comprises compositions influenced by the Kosmiche music of the 1970s, experimental classical, and ambient music. Some similarities could also be found with more recent electronic artists such as Lustmord, Steve Roach, and Robert Rich, especially their 1990s output. Unlike some of the label’s other releases, the emphasis here is not squarely on the dark ambient genre, but instead on musical cousins thereof.

The pieces herein were culled from two of the label’s previous releases, Scandinavian Experimental Underground 015 Survey and Northern Lights – the Scandinavian Experimental 016 Survey. So all of this material is at least five years old. Nonetheless, Unexplained Sounds has taken the opportunity to put selected tracks out as a 2CD set.

Regarding the music itself, the listener will find no shortage of synthesized drones and washes, sequenced rhythms (with very little percussion), and plenty of cosmic sounds. There is an unabashedly retro feel to these recordings, though each remains experimental in its own fashion. For example, Havdis provides gently floating sequenced patterns accompanied by airy waves. In contrast, Dödsapparaten’s lengthy track is a pastiche of quiet, static-laden drones, crossing over into dark moodiness. Andreas Karperyd differs from both of these approaches with a palette of synthesized and cinematic sounds that provides rhythms grounding a set of melodic progressions.

Yet another strong recommendation for a geographic compilation coming from this label.

Taphephobia & IDFT – Kandu (2021; Reverse Alignment)

This collaboration between Taphephobia (Ketil Søraker) and IDFT (Behnoud) is a slow-paced series of layered drones and pulsing waves. Each piece provides subtle details in its combinations of sounds, with different tones and textures moving at varied tempos. Synth-oriented, the closest comparison is to the works of Steve Roach, but with more of a brooding approach. To that point, Sacrifice is an experimental track that incorporates rougher, sweeping textures, a sparse bass line, and a hint of voices. The 16-minute Lockdown ends the album with the features mentioned above as well as percussive electroacoustic elements.

Jarl – Spectrum Confusion (2021; Reverse Alignment)

Sweden’s Erik Jarl has a long discography of releases going back over 20 years. This latest effort is in the realm of electronic avant-garde, landing somewhere between synth-driven dark ambient, Kosmiche music of the 1970s (think Klaus Schulze), and the electronically-generated manipulations of Roland Kayn. Consisting of three tracks, each between 12 and 21 minutes in length, Spectrum Confusion is in parts sweeping, majestic, spacious, and weird.

The first track, aptly titled Spectrum Confusion Part 1, features oscillating tones from layers of synths. There is a rough element of grittiness to some of these, while others are smoother. Each voice appears to be looped, cresting and receding in its own pattern. These slowly build upon each other, with short repeating motifs clearly discernable amongst a growing wall of noise. Somewhere near the midpoint, the nature of the piece changes to entail a smaller number of cosmic pulsings. Loops are again employed, as well as echoes. This approach ramps up, stratum upon stratum, until at least half a dozen distinct elements can be heard bringing the composition to a crescendo. The remaining two tracks follow along similar lines, exploring shimmering and whooshing variations on these themes.

RhaD – Metamusic (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

There comes a time for anyone who has listened to enough different types of music when they realize that music can be anything – there is no “right” or “wrong” types of music, only sounds. These sounds may fall at any point on various axes – bright to dark, fast to slow, simple to complex, smooth to roughly textured, disorganized to organized, and so on. Some of the more interesting pieces (to these ears at least) move about in this multidimensional space.

When music is viewed in terms of its constituent sounds, it can be thought of as having no inherent purpose. It does not have to make you feel good, relaxed, or regulate your emotions in any other way. It just is. Music can be used for any of the aforementioned purposes, and many others as well. The intent of the creator matters. But music does not require a specific goal. The overall semantic meaning of a piece of music that defies conventional norms can be largely in the mind of the listener, perhaps influenced by suggestions of the creator.

Recordings and performances that merit repeated listenings often are ones that unask this question of purpose in music. RhaD’s Metamusic is one such effort. This release, from the alter ego of the Unexplained Sounds Group label head Raffaele Pezzella, is an amalgam of field recordings, voices, tapes, and radio transmissions, mixed with snippets of electronic and classical music. None of these constituent elements dominate, as Pezzella mixes the old with the new and the analog with the digital.

Musique concrete forms the basis of many of these tracks, with sculpted sounds overlaying recorded source material. While combinations of these elements are seemingly random at times, there is an underlying logic to the arrangements. For example, cosmic electronic liltings accentuate the strangeness of looped spoken word pieces on Pol Pot. Stereo test signals alterations. In contrast, the next track, Telephonic Art followed by Chamber Music, has a descriptive title. The first few minutes consist of fragments of phone calls (including dial and ring sounds) interlaced with static and effects. This transforms into plaintive chamber music performed by Daniel Barbiero on double bass, Francesco Arrighi on piano, and Mara Lepore also on piano. These two disparate passages of source material are oddly linked by mood.

Straddling the retro and the modern, Pezzella’s RhaD project is a notably original contribution to the sound art genre. Through these arrangments he builds, brick-by-brick, strange and haunting outlines of stories to be filled in by the listener’s subjective experience. Very well done.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Exploratory Music From India (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The Unexplained Sounds Group is back with a new 2CD release of modern experimental music from India. Stereotypes of Indian music are common outside of that country, perhaps not helped by the popularization of Bollywood soundtracks. While Indian musicians have collaborated with western classical, jazz, and rock artists, there is an ongoing (and incorrect) belief amongst some that music from India is still largely produced by instruments such as the sitar, sarod, tambura, and tabla.

This compilation unasks the question of what music from India is or should be. Yes, there are elements of traditional music throughout, with characteristic strings and percussion. But these are combined with drones, field recordings, electroacoustic processing, and post-industrial influences.

Some of the resulting compositions do not resemble Indian music at all, such as the 11-minute Illuminen by Surabhi Saraf, which incorporates pulses, rumblings, liltings, sculpted static, and rattling and crackling elements in a slow-moving amalgam of sounds. To live work and die in East Kolkata from Jessop & Co is more influenced by musique concrete, and consists of irregular percussion and disconcerting waves and textures. Hemant Sreekumar’s Ajivika has a rather simple pattern of processed white noise, throbs, and echos that ebb and flow, and yet is strangely appealing.

Other pieces employ traditional instrumentation to varying degrees, consist mostly of bells, or include recordings of chanting and street noises. A number of these have the feel of an outdoor sound installation, with voices fading in and out of constituent tones and noises.

Various Artists – New State Of Flux (2021; Reverse Alignment)

Some people collect seashells and others collect sports memorabilia. Raffaele Pezzella collects labels. More specifically, labels that focus on dark ambient, drone, and experimental noises from around the world. Reverse Alignment joined Pezzella’s stable in early 2021 and this compilation is its first release since the merger.

Initially operated by Kristian Widqvist out of Sweden from 2007-2020, the label features a number of well-known dark ambient artists as well as a handful of lesser-recognized acts (e.g., Jarl, Taphephobia, Ajna, Diskrepant, VelgeNaturlig, Dodsapparaten). New State of Flux consists of mostly unreleased material from these artists as well as others in the ambit of Unexplained Sounds Group, Pezzella’s parent label.

The sounds on the album vary accordingly. Jarl provides oscillating and shimmering drones, while VelgeNaturlig offers up pulsing waves of synths. On the other hand, Henrik Meyerkord combines layered ambiance resembling an organ with prickly electroacoustics. Derelict Relay and Joao Sousa’s Claustro em Ruinas (Cloister in Ruins) is a slow-building set of thick walls with a haunting bell-like melody.

One of the most interesting pieces is from B*TONG, and is an amalgam of walled noise, static, and recorded voices. At only two and a half minutes, it is one of the shortest tracks on the album. Diskrepant also provides one of the stronger efforts, with wordless vocals, rumbling bassy sounds, tectonic crackling, and synth. Another high point is the dissonant, vibrating drones of Brian C. Short.

Nonetheless, the discussion of these particular pieces is for reference. There are no weak or even medicore recordings on New State of Flux. Each track exists in its own ecosystem and context. This makes the compilation a must-have for newcomers to experimental dark ambient as well as experienced listeners. Bravo to all.

Various Artists – Unexplained Sounds Group – 7th Annual Report (Mid Year Edition) (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

The Unexplained Sounds Group has done more for ambient, electronic, and experimental music than just about any organization lately. Its mid-year review of these genres drives that point home, with four hours of material that is mostly new and hard to find. While one could lump many of these artists under the dark ambient or cinematic monikers, there are also pieces on this compilation that focus on synthesizer, drone, electroacoustic, kosmiche, IDM / beat-driven, minimalism, and classical / chamber music as well.

Artist representation includes those who are reasonably well-known (at least to followers of the label). To that point, Simon McCorry offers up lilting classical with processing and effects, Mauro Sambo provides drones and abstract electronics, and Grey Frequency contributes haunting soundscapes with oscillating tones. But there are inevitably some pleasant surprises on a collection of this scope. These include the creative chaos of Farabi Toshiyuki Suzuki, the GRM-like stylings of MODO AVION, as well as the Dockstader-influenced sound art of TRISWARA. In addition, Med Gen provides a textural ambient piece, Slow Abyss supplies thick, oppressive walls of synth combined with martial rhythms, and A.M. Ferrari Fradejas imparts unusual choral forms coupled with synthesized chamber music.

All said, this is a stellar release. It is a challenge to combine music that is so different in composition and structure, but also in a way that maintains coherence. Somehow, the Unexplained Sounds Group has achieved this goal across 37 artists. Whether you are a seasoned listener or looking for a place to start dabbling in cutting-edge experimental music, 7th Annual Report (Mid Year Edition) comes highly recommended.

Gasparotti / Ciullini / Stancati – Portraits (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

On my second listen to this compilation of tracks from three Italian experimentalists, my 17-year-old walked into the room and remarked on its similarities (in spirit if not exact sound) with the soundtrack to one of his favorite oddball Japanese video games from the 1990s, Earthbound. I had watched him do a playthrough of the game about a year prior and recalled that the music was “experimental” and quite advanced for the time and medium. Doing a bit of research finds that the composers of Earthbound’s soundtrack admitted to being influenced by Zappa, Sun Ra, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, and Can among others (Earthbound also has a storyline and dialog as witty and creative as its music).

Back on topic, this release is the first of a new Portraits series from Unexplained Sounds Group, providing exposure to electroacoustic and electronic composers. There is more of the latter than the former herein, and perhaps a bit of post-industrial influence, but the sounds evoked are likely to be found compelling to fans of both.

Gabriele Gasparotti focuses on electroacoustic music and analog instrumentation, with heavy use of repetitive patterns, sequencing, oscillations, synths, violin, percussion, and drone textures. These patterns are interrupted by static, cosmic whooshes and evolve in a boundary-less fashion. The constant change maintains a degree of freshness that separates this organized set of unusual elements from a bag of recurrent sounds. The mood of these pieces is neither bright nor dark, just strange without being menacing. There is even a hint of playfulness in some of the lilting rhythms. The result indeed has an unmistakable vintage video game feel.

Mario Lino Stancati is a cross-genre adventurer, who uses gently-played acoustic and electric guitar along with wavering processed sounds and synth drones. He also employs vocals that blend into the latter. On the other hand, Stancati is not opposed to a bit of disquiet, as his tones are more uneasy than those of Gasparotti, especially when he combines them with electroacoustic elements. The final track from this composer incorporates multi-tracked spoken word vocals over ambient drones and an odd combination of percussive structures.

Daniele Ciullini is the eldest of the three composers and more focused on creating music for tape. Thus, his approach is perhaps the least traditional herein, with layering and fluctuating synth lines coupled with glitchy and mechanical noises, object percussion, and the requisite amount of charming hiss. Ciullini also utilizes spoken word recordings from various sources. The overall feel is more machine-oriented than organic, and yet peculiarly engrossing in its own unique fashion.

Various Artists – Drone Islands – Stellar (2021; Eighth Tower Records)

Eighth Tower is back with another compelling compendium, this one entitled Drone Islands – Stellar. Not unlike the similarly named Drone Islands – The Lost Maps and Drone Islands – Land Raising, this is a compilation of new dark ambient works from artists who explore all things drone. If anything, this 2CD recording dispels any notion that drones are just about minimalistic sustained tones. Instead, the sheer variety of approaches herein incorporate drone techniques into larger musical structures, all invoking sci-fi / horror themes.

Case in point, the opening track from Infinexhuma is spacious and dark, with quietly chanting voices as well as rumbling and crackling electroacoustic elements that provide an uncharacteristic busyness. MLS provides a quietly sweeping piece with a haunting windswept tone, and occasional growls that could be from a natural or supernatural source. Grey Frequency also focuses on the subtle with a set of slowly moving notes. Kloob’s contribution has a rough beat as well as swelling and fading drones.

But where things take a turn for the even more interesting (at least to these ears) is on Simon McCorry’s Awakening, which layers sound resembling classical string and brass sections playing chaotically toward a crescendo over the obligatory drone patterns. While one of the shorter pieces, it is singular and powerful. Nihil Impvlse also provides At the Springs of Void, one of the denser and more heavy-processed tracks, with echoing manipulations of distorted structures and feedback. Blackweald’s Kapteyn’s Darkness is organized around ebbing and swelling waves of roughness that morph into a more subtle and unpredictable set of ambient noises and effects. Finally, a shout must be given to Veronica Moser and her laptop for Supernova, an amalgam of drones, grinding passages, and sharp, repeating beats that are as ominous as they are unconventionally rhythmic.

Needless to say, a compilation of this breadth and depth cannot be summed up in a few words per track. Do take a listen and prepared to be pulled in.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Experimental Music From Peru (2021; Unexplained Sounds Group)

In the coming years, we may look back at the Sound Mapping project from Unexplained Sounds Group as a watershed moment for making contemporary experimental music available from a wide variety of regions around the world. Or at the very least, we owe a debt of gratitude to Raffaele Pezzella, the label head who is the brains behind this operation. Spanning Latin America, Iran, the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, and Indonesia, these releases are uniformly compelling.

The latest recording is a 75-minute set from Peru. The music covers a wide variety of sounds and styles, including drone, ambient, electroacoustic, folk, and experimentation with electronics. Árbol, Rodolfo Ontaneda, Qsn10-97, and Ian Duclos merge drones with various combinations of walled noise, static, oscillations, field recordings, and more conventional acoustic sounds. There is a rough texture to these efforts, and they take up various positions on the light / dark spectrum. The use of field recordings is either the focus of a track (as in the case of Vanessa Valencia Ramos), overlaid with percussion, effects, and processing (CAO), or violin and drone (Paola Torres Núñez del Prado). Some of this crosses over into folk, such as the piece from Ivanka Cotrina featuring percussion, flutes, and stringed instruments. And then there is a “weird electronics” category, with Marcelo Mellado’s lilting melodies, Kevin Salkeld & Juan Pablo Egúsquiza’s haunting atmospheres, and Brageiki’s static and synth lines.

Throughout Anthology Of Experimental Music From Peru there is a rawness – not in recording technique per se, but in the directness of emotion. If anything this adds to the charm and authenticity of these efforts, and leaves one wanting more from Peru, South America, and other parts of the world.

Sonologyst – Dust Of Human Race (2021; Eighth Tower Records)

Sonologyst is Raffaele Pezzella, curator of Eighth Tower Records and its parent label Unexplained Sounds Group. Here, he presents a recording that could be considered to roughly fall into the noise category, but actually explores the outer reaches of that space.

The theme of Dust Of Human Race is the decayed remnants of humanity, not a happy thought by any measure. The music fits this dismal and chilling topic with a mix of synth drones, dark ambient stylings, electroacoustic and walled noise, organ, pseudo-vocalizations, actual vocalizations, and synthesized rhythms. These components combine into a post-industrial landscape of sounds, many mechanical or electronic in nature. Static, spoken-word recordings, and wails abound.

But what makes this effort stand apart is its creativity and unpredictability. Drawing upon a broad palette, Pezzella assembles a set of compellingly weird and harsh collages. The pinnacle of the album is the 13-minute Chiangimuerti, which features bells, pulsing drones, and processed double bass. It is a slow-moving piece that is less dissonant than its predecessors and yet maintains an overall sense of foreboding and calamity. A large portion is dedicated to chants over layered drones, where the chants eventually devolve into screams.

Dust Of Human Race provides an echo of lost humanity through its machines, architecture, writings, and recordings. These sounds are what a hypothetical alien archeologist of the future might use to represent the darker side of our culture if presented with post-apocalyptic ruins. Well done and highly recommended.

Various Artists – The Black Stone – Music For Lovecraftian Summonings (2021; Eighth Tower Records)

At about 80 minutes, The Black Stone is a lengthy compilation that covers a broad swath of sounds. This is the second Lovecraftian set from Eighth Tower, a follow-up to 2018’s In Tenebris Scriptus. Content-wise, most of the tracks gravitate toward distinct styles. New Risen Throne, Alphaxone, and Moloch Conspiracy offer what we can now call more “traditional” dark ambient – haunting drones and soundscapes. Dead Space Chamber Music and the trio of Cosottini, Bocci, and Barbiero take a chamber approach with acoustic instrumentation and abstract percussion as well as electronic processing. Solatipour Reza’s The Resurrection combines a chorus, falling drones, and electroacoustic manipulation for a haunting mix. The remaining tracks can be placed somewhere between these poles, with some invoking post-industrialism but most focusing on the early 20th-century sci-fi/horror that Lovecraft now embodies.

Nihil Impvlse – STASIS (2020; Eighth Tower Records)

Nihil Impvlse’s STASIS is a dark ambient / noise / industrial experimentation that is a fitting release for the end of 2020. It was a year that involved extreme geographic stasis (staying at home) for many of us that led to a disconnection with time itself (Google “blursday”). But STASIS takes this notion even further, and through spoken word quotes makes a political comment on how there may be an intentional effort on the part of some entities to maintain their own power at all costs. Change is an illusion – as is time itself – reminiscent of the themes in Orwell’s Animal Farm. The listener can easily draw lines to current events, as hundreds of millions of people seem to be ready to renounce democracy and majority-rule for institutional structures that we rejected decades ago.

Musically, this is expressed with layers of wafting and ominous drones combined with harsh walled noise, echoing percussive elements, and static-laden electronics. In contrast, some pieces take on a more atmospheric angle, with gentler drones, distant machine noises, oscillating tones, and pulsing rhythms. The spoken word parts are not extensive – they make their points with just a few repetitions. The result is not an easy listen, and yet ultimately rewarding in its diversity and fresh approach.

If you can deal with a bit more darkness this year, STASIS is a very well done effort with a mood that is commensurate with that of the times. Highly recommended.

Various Artists – Anthology Of Persian Experimental Music Vol. II (2020; Unexplained Sounds Group)

In 2016, Unexplained Sounds Group released an unusual and compelling compilation album, Anthology of Persian Experimental Music. Here, the label follows up with an equally fascinating sample of sound art coming from Iran. Due to the current geopolitical climate, Iranian artists are often unable to export their works, though happily, some like these manage to slip through customs.

Anthology Of Persian Experimental Music Vol. II offers up almost 80 minutes of cutting edge experimental music from this overlooked region, most of which focuses on various combinations of dark ambient, industrial, noise, and more traditional Middle-Eastern styles. For instance, Shahin Souri and Alireza Amirhajebi sculpt raw noise into shifting walls, with the latter adding in synth and knob-twisting elements. Force Ignore, Ali Ostovar, and Ali Latif Shushtari offer up the traditional-sounding pieces, updated with modern atmospheres and feel. Coming in as favorites, for this listener at least, are the more well-known Xerxes the Dark and Reza Solatipour, who combine dark ambiance with electroacoustic cracking and effects. And speaking of dark ambient, Alphaxone fits that bill with haunting layers of synth.

If this is the kind of vibrant music coming from the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities, it is a shame that it is impractical for many of us to visit and experience the scene in person. Nonetheless, this compilation provides the next best thing – a diverse set of tracks that are appealing as they are strange. Strong recommendation.

Reza Solatipour – The Gate (2019; Eighth Tower Records)

Dripping with tension, The Gate is the latest release from Tehran’s Reza Solatipour. We were briefly introduced to his work in the Visions of Darkness compilation. In short, this album might be what you’d get if Lustmord went further toward the dark side – a set of grueling tracks featuring pulsing, deep drones and ambient waves along with electronics and synthetic percussion.

Each of The Gate‘s ten offerings has a distinct pattern and texture that probably could be classified based on the length and frequency of the drones, the extent of manipulated acoustic sounds, and the amount of industrial influence. But the album as a whole has a hazy feel to its production, evoking mist-cloaked streets and the rhythms of distant machines with the occasional low-register boomlet. As instances of these elements, Reach the End offers windswept soundscapes with barely-discernable voices punctuated by a sparse stringed-bass chord pattern, while Among the Signs presents dissonantly-processed samples over layers of ominous drones and breathy vocalizations. On the other hand, Collapse is based around a non-Western drum pattern, waves of static, and bassy rumblings.

Like many of the most interesting and compelling releases, The Gate provides fodder for multiple listenings each of which revealing yet another aspect of the music thereon. I found myself slowly raising the volume as I progressed through this album, as so much detail is subtlely contained in the lower registers. What begins as a fairly run-of-the-mill dark ambient effort rapidly morphs into something far more interesting. Bravo.

Various Artists – Anthology of Contemporary Music from Middle East (2019; Unexplained Sounds Group)

by Daniel Barbiero

What the Unexplained Sounds Group recently did for the under-known contemporary experimental music of Africa (see below) they’ve now done for the equally under-recognized experimental and electronic music of the Middle East. Just as the African anthology made explicit the diversity of the music being made in that consummately diverse continent, the fourteen artists represented on the Anthology of Contemporary Music from Middle East reflect the distinctiveness of the countries and cultures they come from: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey.

Although electronics play a prominent role in nearly all of the pieces, each artist handles them in a way that best meets the needs of expression and form. To pick a handful of examples: Thalassa by Dimitris Savva of Cyprus uses sampled and synthesized sounds of tidal waves, seaside field recordings, and voice and bells to create an audio portrait of an island, painted from some of its most salient sounds. Gaza Requiem by Pharoah Chromium Palestine is a moving work of contemporary musique concrète constructed of electronically modified source recordings of voice, drones, and suspenseful, looped fragments of rhythm. Iran’s Nyctalllz contributes the dystopian, dark wall of electronic sound of The Humanity Demise, which contrasts with the acoustic plucked strings and traditional rhythms and modes of Prelude for Orpheus by Bahrain’s Hasan Hujairi. Both Cenk Ergun of Turkey and Ahmed Saleh of Egypt offer their own takes on rhythm-driven music, the former with scrambled electronic beats and the latter with minimalist pulse music.

Like the anthology of contemporary African music, the anthology of Middle Eastern music is required listening for anyone interested in the broad world of sound.

Sonologyst – Phantoms (2019; Unexplained Sounds Group)

by Daniel Barbiero

When Pierre Schaeffer asserted that musique concrète would provoke musicians to discard old habits vis-à-vis sound and return to actual experience, he helped point the way toward a paradoxical sound art where the concrete becomes abstract and seemingly simple sounds instead reveal themselves to be complex objects.

The concrete element in Phantoms, the album by Italian sound artist Sonologyst, is the pre-recorded material that serves as the foundation for Sonologyst’s explorations of sound structure and timbre. The album’s evocative soundscapes are made up of apparently old and more recent recordings of voice, non-Western music, and other, less identifiable sources, which are looped and broken up into cyclical and/or textural objects seasoned with Sonologyst’s own electronic tones. Phantoms clearly is descended from classic musique concrète, but it is tweaked and shaped by contemporary technologies and sensibility.

Michael Bonaventure – In Tenebris Ratione Organi (2019; Eighth Tower Records)

By Daniel Barbiero

No less than the synthesizer, the electric organ, with its versatility of compass and timbre, can create electronic music of uncannily evocative sounds. Klaus Schulze’s Irrlicht deftly demonstrated this back in the early 1970s; now comes the solo organ work In Tenebris Ratione Organi by Michael Bonaventure, whose universe of electronic sounds follow a creative logic uniquely his own.

Bonaventure, who is based in both Edinburgh and Amsterdam, is a composer and concert organist whose performances include new music as well as the organ works of Messiaen. His own compositions have been written for organ, piano, carillon, and choir; the eleven-track Works 2008-2017, available from the Unexplained Sounds Group netlabel, is a good introduction to some of his recent output.

Intriguingly, some of the sounds of the instruments and groups he composes for in other contexts obliquely find their way into In Tenebris Ratione Organi. Through the shimmering washes of bright timbres and richly constructed chords there emerge the sounds of a strangely altered choir of human (or synthetic?) voices; resounding, bell-like tones saturated in delay; and a musical rhetoric that at times recalls the retro-futurist murmurings of analogue synthesizers. Throughout all of the overlays and distortions the organ’s essential voice remains intact. Bonaventure characterizes the music as a kind of alchemy, and it’s clear that the basic organ sound provides him with the prima material he needs to work his often stunning sonic transmutations.

Various Artists – Witchcraft & Black Magic In The United Kingdom (2019; Eighth Tower Records)

Eighth Tower Records offers this release featuring UK-based dark ambient artists. Some have been previously discussed in these pages (Grey Frequency, Howlround, and Michael Bonaventure), while others not (Daniel Williams, Sky High Diamonds, Rapoon, and Satori). Regardless, the nine pieces on this compilation explore the haunting landscapes and fear-laden tension that one might expect from an effort of this nature.

Grey Frequency kicks off with Elegy for Vinegar Tom, which begins with sweeping loops overlaying a cracking foundation. This slowly morphs into a more conventional (yet still dark) set of synth drones. Rapoon’s The Village evokes mysteries with its use of church bells as well as an echoing bassy theme accompanied by a sax motif.

Howlround’s first contributed track provides drones as well as looped and rapidly manipulated electronics with a squeaky rasping, while the second is aqueous and otherworldly. Satori’s staticky drones combine with low-level percussive elements poking in and out of the background. Michael Bonaventure’s Coronach is an organ piece that captures a retro-horror feel using modern compositional technique.

Both Daniel Williams and Sky High Diamond’s pieces are spoken-word stories dealing with witchcraft. The former is accompanied by static, stringed instruments, organ, and electroacoustic sounds, the latter by soft ambient walls and comparatively more abrasive electroacoustic sounds.

Ultimately, Witchcraft & Black Magic in the United Kingdom is a compelling mix of fright-inducing atmospherics that is suitable for accompanying your trick-or-treat candy bowl – aside from the likelihood that it might scare off younger visitors and garner more than a few apprehensive looks from their parents.

The Cloudwatchers – S/T (2019; Unexplained Sounds Group)

by Daniel Barbiero

Forms by themselves are inert things: accumulated conventions and materials that, for all their inertia, are nevertheless available to be appropriated and made newly meaningful through the projects and programs that somehow have need of them.

The Cloudwatchers’ membership comprises Andrés Alonso (electric guitar and bass, digital synthesizers and audio processors); Iván Cebrián (analogue synthesizers and audio processors); Coco Moya (voice, analogue synthesizers and audio processors); and Jaime Munáriz (analogue synthesizers, electric guitar and audio processors). The group’s overlapping instrumentation—three of the four play analogue synthesizers, and all four engage in audio processing—doesn’t prevent them from creating rich soundscapes of varying colors. The three long, untitled pieces are constructed around more or less fixed harmonies; as a foundation this may seem simple, but with this kind of music what matters isn’t complex harmonic change but instead changes in texture, timbre and voice. Sometimes, as in the first piece, the voice is human, oscillating in microtones around washes of synthesizer and echo-drenched guitar. The dominant voice on the second piece, by contrast, consists in a modal keyboard melody floating lightly over the gravitas of a slow beat and densely-layered background texture. The closing piece features luminous sounds and culminates in an ostinato for sequencer—a clever recontextualization of an old convention from space music.

Moloch Conspiracy – Baclou (2019; Eighth Tower Records)

Baclou is the name for a Guyanese evil spirit that can be summoned to do harm to a person. There are varying descriptions of a Baclou’s physical appearance, none of them appealing. Baclou is also the title of an experimental release from Moloch Conspiracy (Julien Lacroix), and is based on Lacroix’s experience in French Guyana.

Instrumentally, Lacroix uses cello, malaka, djembe, tama, detuned piano, synthesizers, and field recordings. Thus, this release should not be confused with the more strictly synth-oriented Northern European style of dark ambient music. Instead, it reflects on Lacroix’s venture into the tropical jungle with a heady, organic mix of birdsong, shakers, sparse percussion, and crackling elements. Behind this are slow, menacing waves of synths, cello drones, and bursts of white noise. The result is a suffocating amalgam that evokes the humid, equatorial environment, as well as the voodoo that still influences the inhabitants’ beliefs.

Ultimately, Baclou offers an oppressive psychedelia embodying both natural and supernatural dangers. Not unlike last year’s Cave of Metaphysical Darkness & Lights, Lacroix intrepidly explores a tenebrous theme in an immersive fashion. Well done, indeed.

Various Artists – Anthology of Contemporary Music from Africa Continent (2018; Unexplained Sounds Group)

by Daniel Barbiero

The Unexplained Sounds Group has with this various artists compilation delved into the largely unexplored territory of contemporary experimental music from the African continent. For that reason alone the collection is worth hearing. But the music itself makes its own case for listening. The fourteen tracks give evidence of a creative ferment that meld Western electronics with the musical heritages of the various cultures of that highly diverse continent. A good number of the pieces included in the anthology are rooted in song — in the cyclical rhythms of a given region or in the melodic lines built on traditional modes. For example, several tracks, of which Ahmed Saleh’s Right Side is representative, feature North African vocal, flute or oud music as source material for processing or as a musical framework for electronic overlay and embellishment. Other pieces — AMET’s Imposer Le Savoir and In_o’s track, which seems to be based on a recording of Jiddu Krishnamurti speaking – represent a variety of musique concrete where radio transmissions or other samples are electronically rearranged. There also are more conventionally “experimental,” abstract electronic works, such as Abdellah M. Hassak’s two contributions. This is a fine collection that provides insight into an area of musical experiment that isn’t yet well-enough known.

Jeton Hoxha – Vowel (2018; Eighth Tower Records)

Macedonian Jeton Hoxha recorded a live performance just a few months ago for this 44-minute, single-track album. His process was described as “based on loopy electro-acoustic sound created by sources like field recordings, computer & synthesizer being processed through various filters, plug-ins and hardware signal processing.” The auditory effect of this is a long, multi-faceted drone with an ominous feel.

The track begins at very low volume and slowly ramps to a dense layer of eerie noise with a lilting high-frequency melody. Gradually, the intensity grows and the main drone takes on a sinusoidal character. Multiple walled voices join in, along with patterns of bells. Following this is a long, rumbling drone that morphs into processed machine noise with the aforementioned high-frequency elements. Eventually, the bells return, as does the melody, but this time in a lower register and clear enough to be reminiscent of a twisted take on Phillip Glass. In particular, the falling pattern of notes is (perhaps unintentionally) similar to the coda of Koyaanisqatsi.

Fans of Lustmord and the darker side of Robert Rich will find much to like here, as will those who enjoy post-ambient / industrial crossovers. Vowel is an oppressive and baleful journey through a rift in spacetime – and well worth the effort.

Moloch Conspiracy – The Cave of Metaphysical Darkness & Lights (2018; Eighth Tower Records)

You have probably heard of dark ambient music. This album is deep ambient music, both literally and figuratively. Waves of bassy synth provide shifting drones. Over these are a variety of elements including disjoint percussion, vocals, piano, stringed instruments, and field recordings. The overarching theme is exploring the mysteries of a cave, and the music suits that purpose.

Moloch Conspiracy is French experimentalist Julien A. Lacroix who has put out a number of odd recordings over the last several years. The Cave of Metaphysical Darkness & Lights, however, is a full-blown, thematic album with windswept soundscapes, haunted chanting, and a surprising amount of acoustic improvisation. But the album provides more than just ominous atmospherics; instead, is an immersion into an unknown (and perhaps unknowable) subterranean world of wonder and fear.

To that point, Kulullû, the third track, combines discordant drones, echoing arrhythmic percussion, sparse piano chords, a theme plucked on a gusle (an Eastern European stringed instrument used in the folk tradition), and subtle vocalizations. The result is an earthiness unlike many dark ambient offerings that rely primarily on technology for their sonic vocabularies.

Lacroix is a detail-oriented arranger whose musical imagery is vivid and dense. Each listen of the album brings forth new elements and further appreciation of its scope and delicacy. You can feel and hear the water dripping from walls of Lacroix’s cave, a destination well worth exploring.

Hezaliel – Paradise Lost (2018; Eighth Tower Records)

Hezaliel is Belgian Steve Fabry, who offers a new album based on the epic poem by John Milton about the fall of Satan and the banishment of Adam and Eve. Musically, Paradise Lost is a 50-minute hellscape, with layered, grinding drones, incidental alien noises, and long-held keyboard chords. Between and around these artifacts are oppressive, dark walls. Brooding and ominous, lost voices cry out of the darkness within catacombs. While there are a few relatively bright moments, Hezaliel’s focus is on the bleaker side of Milton’s fallen angels and humans. To that point, the album ends with rolling synth waves accompanied by ethereal female vocals forming a plaintive and fatalistic call into eternity.

Aseptic Void – Ideazione di Contrasto (2018; Eighth Tower Records)

Aseptic Void is Davide Terreni, and Ideazione di Contrasto is his fifth release under that moniker, including two soundtracks. But this album is pure experimental dark ambient, and cinematic in scope. Shifting and roiling drones are accompanied by samples including scattered found object sounds, forlorn voices, and mechanical noises. Distorted elements share prominence with backwards-masking, electronic crackling, and metallic scraping. Rather than focusing on the drawn-out nature of most ambient efforts, the album is an amalgam of disturbing snippets put to music. The number of raw ideas present is nothing short of remarkable, as Terreni leads the listener through a descent into madness in which ominous threats lurk just out of sensory range. Released just a few days into 2018, Ideazione di Contrasto has already set an early high water mark in dark ambient for the year. Very well done.

Various Artists – The Old Alchemist (2017; Eighth Tower Records)

(Written in late 2020)

If nothing else, the current end-of-the-world pandemic crisis has facilitated digging through recordings that have been sitting on the shelf (or in this case, the SSD) unlistened. Case in point, I’ve had a copy of The Old Alchemist for over two years and first put it on a couple of days ago. If nothing else, it goes to show that there is a virtually unlimited amount of music being made – so much that excellent material can easily get buried.

This compilation features a cadre of dark ambient artists that have been discussed in the pages before: New Risen Throne, Monocube, Xerxes The Dark, Alphaxone, Sonologyst, and Aseptic Void. They are joined by others that are new to these ears: Self Industry, SiJ, Urs Wild, Niculta, Sounddog65, Maaurge, and Peri Esvultras. The output is over 90 minutes of haunting drones with electroacoustic manipulations. High points include the relentlessly avant and jarring offering of Sonologyst on Primeval Science, as well as Niculta’s Tundra, which sounds oddly like whale-song. But there are no weak tracks on The Old Alchemist, and each artist provides a different take on this expanding genre.

Don’t be like me – grab this one and put it on. You will have no regrets.

Sonologyst & Kshatriy – Time is the Enemy (2016; Unexplained Sounds Group)

(Written in late 2022)

Before Raffaele Pezzella became known for running the Unexplained Sounds Group of labels and curating experimental music from around the world, he recorded over a dozen albums as Sonologoyst (a stage name that he still uses in recent efforts). Time is the Enemy is a collaboration with Russian sound artist Bulychev Sergey. As I explore the Sonologyst back catalog, I hope to find time to write more about it, as Pezzella and company have put out some very strong material that remains overlooked by many.

Pezzella and Sergey draw from history, philosophy, literature, and film, mostly sticking to esoteric concepts. The largely-improvised music fits this mold, with a heavy emphasis on experimental drone and electroacoustic ambient. Four of the five tracks are collaborations of this duo, while one was the effort of only Sergey (though it appears that Pezzella provided editing).

The overall sound is fairly consistent throughout, with low-frequency drones virtually constant while the upper registers incorporate a more diverse set of features. The pace is deliberate, haunting rather than hurried.

Said features include cosmic, burbling synth, foreboding chords, sculpted feedback, and various cracklings, rumblings, and blended static. Unaltered Mind combines slow-moving chord patterns, feedback, and electroacoustic elements in a foreboding, cinematic mix. Venus Smile employs chanted vocals, cavernous synth, and shimmering static. Self Luminosity is the solo effort from Sergey, with a watery and spacious feel, consisting of a handful of synth themes with fluttering effects. Chronopolis employs dark chording, harsher tones, and discordant textures. The title track rounds things out with a more pastoral approach yet still exudes disquiet. Reminiscent of Robert Rich circa 1995-2000, the synth is accompanied by clicking and popping effects as well as high-frequency waves.

Despite being six years old, Time is the Enemy sounds fresh and is a more than worthwhile way of spending 50 minutes. But be warned, as soon as you finish the album, you’ll want to start it up again.

Various Artists – Anthology of Persian Experimental Music (2016; Unexplained Sounds Group)

by Daniel Barbiero

This digital collection of experimental and electronic music from Iran was the first of USG’s fascinating set of surveys of experimental music from places whose musical communities are often overlooked or obscured, sometimes for extra-musical reasons. As was the case here: in order to avoid having the Iran collection banned from certain platforms, USG had to label the release as “Persian” rather than “Iranian.” In a way, though, the name is rather fitting, since it serves to imply the continuity of musical culture in what is now called—censors be damned—Iran.

USG has reissued the original digital album as a limited edition CD supplemented with digital bonus tracks. What the collection demonstrates is that Iran’s musical underground doesn’t appear to be working in complete isolation; the sounds here compare well to electronic work being made elsewhere in the world. The predominant tendency is toward heavy electronics in a dark ambient mode, but there are some tracks that summon the rhythms of dance music, others that feature cosmic choirs of voices sounding through layers of electronic fuzz and grit, and yet others centered on undulating drones and synthesized arpeggios. And as with USG’s other surveys of experimental music outside of the Western world, this one is worth hearing.

Sonologyst – A Dream Inside a Dream (2015; Unexplained Sounds Group)

(Written in late 2022)

Continuing our exploration of Sonologyst’s back catalog, A Dream Inside a Dream is a 2015 effort. This one consists of understated and quiet electronics and drones with a heavy emphasis on electric guitar. Percussion and voices also play a role on individual tracks over its 50+ minute span. Note that this recording was reissued in 2016 with two additional tracks.

But what sets A Dream Inside a Dream apart is how the guitar is incorporated. For the most part, it is undistorted and played using extended techniques. These are low enough in the mix not to dominate, and serve more of a rhythmic rather than melodic purpose. The result is the plucking, picking, and popping of individual notes and note patterns (with processing of course). In conjunction with long-held synth chords and percussive effects, this produces a wistful and plaintive set of atmospherics.

Harmonics in a lucid dreaming brain is an excellent example of this, and includes sparse percussion from Massimo Discepoli. In contrast, Beyond the Veil begins with tuned percussion, but rapidly integrates deep, dark drones with harsher textures, as well as throat singing and other vocalizations from Lorenzo Gasparella. The title track is split over two non-contiguous segments, each exhibiting even more electroacoustic experimentalism than most of the other pieces. The second part, in particular, includes a multitude of found-object sounds and manipulations, in addition to subtle yet suffocating drones. Slow frost – A mental recognition into the past is also quite exploratory with processed guitar and passages of static.

A Dream Inside a Dream is inspired by a quote from J. L. Borges describing a layering of dreams that also inspired movies like Inception and The Matrix. Thus, what we have on this album is a detailed sonic exploration of landscapes so alien that they span the waking, sleeping, and hypnogogic worlds. Very well done.

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