Arkhonia's "Trails/Traces" fulfils the much promised, but seldom delivered, remit of large portions of ambient music - "to take the listener on a journey". From the deep rumblings of the album's opener to the final decaying notes and crackles of its closing track, all manner of mood-shifting experimentation directs (and occasionally derails) the listener along a sonic path that is at times unnerving and, at others, warmly welcoming. Each piece leads neatly into the next and one would not suspect that this album was assembled from material produced over the span of the last decade - the production values on display in the oldest pieces are qualitatively indistinguishable from the most recent and all are invested with a luscious, finely honed depth of texture. Slow-burning drone constructions for fans of Andrew Chalk, Thomas Koner, Machinefabriek and Alva Noto.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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ENEMITE - 'Wuyuan' CD (Dying Art Productions)
Enemite offer angry and dense atmospheres; more of a ceremony, a circle of forming. Lost in the noise of hell, an evil creature wanders up and down forever. “Please close the doors and windows to turn off the light and listen alone!” Dark, gloomy and sinister. Death-inspired Ritual Ambient with an inherent Chinese feel. Comes in a stark A5 B&W gatefold sleeve / "ecopack" with insert and Chinese text throughout. Ltd x 1000 copies.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
KARNA - 'Nekronautica: Chronicles Of Lost Souls' CD (Spectral Halls Productions)
Blackest Ambient from this Russian act. Karna is dead, and there are no doubts or vain regrets. However, as a perfect creature of Pure primordial Darkness, even after death it continues to paroxysmally emit spawns of its heritage, whose prehensile tentacles are woven deeply into the fabric of our Cosmos. "Nekronautica" is a compilation of different, shattered, sharpened splints of Karna's inanimate legacy. Unlike other compilations, "Nekronautica" doesn't sum up any terms, or provide any conclusion or essence, it is just a door to those Darkness of which was told so much, but which become fearfully real only after death, and there is no matter whose. Ltd x 300 copies.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
QUANTITY
M87 - 'Noctilucent Threnody' CD (Supernal Music)
Deep symphonic dark ambient space music. A completely alien and eerie experience of darkness and cold void desolation. M87 was created in 1995 by Huw Davies, inspirationally catalysed by a television documentary about Black Holes. Originally aiming to create music which expressed the strangeness and extremity of these elusive celestial objects, and as much aided by his extraordinary technical level as a guitar player as limited by his nonexistent technical level on any other instrument, Davies spent over a year developing and perfecting notation, playing, and recording techniques which would enable him to produce an alien orchestral sound with nothing but his 13 guitars and some recording equipment. Ltd x 1000 copies.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
QUANTITY
MAJDANEK WALTZ - 'On The Origin Of The World' CD (Wroth Emitter)
Fourth official album of this dark folk formation from Ryazan, Russia. A symbiosis between classic European dark folk and dark ambient. Slow guitar fingering and strident viola are mixed with gloomy drones. The vocals are doomy and violent. About the birth of the world. Music for thoughtful listening. Features guest vocals by Wolfsblood.
UK 10£
Europe 11£
World 12£
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MAJDANEK WALTZ - 'Ophelia' CD (KultFront / Wroth Emitter)
"Ophelia" is the second part of a trilogy by Russian Dark Folk / Neoclassical / Dark Ambient act Majdanek Waltz. This CD can be considered as an evolution of the musical and lyrical essence of the band introduced by the "Hamlet's Childhood" album. This release is based on the original acoustic music of the band coupled with the lyrics of the German early XX century expressionist poets Paul Zech and Georg Heym. All compositions are published for the first time.
UK 10£
Europe 11£
World 12£
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MARTIENSGOHOME - 'MGH Plays Ulver' 10" (Kalinka Vichy)
Industrial-tinged sound art and drone inspired by Ulver; bleak avant-rockers from Norway. The first side is shrouded in a blackly evil veil, with rumbling, hissing frequencies. The other side is less harsh and evil but still very desolate, infused with the creeping dread of infinite dystopia. Alien sounds ricochet down a leaky rusted metal tunnel whilst a shadow in the distance emits the sound of a horrific digital chuckle, the essence of which dances in the atmosphere like an echo. The worst kind of echo - the aural reflection of your mind's worst possible thought? Spot-varnished sleeve.
UK 11.00£
Europe 13.50£
World 16.00£
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ULTRA - 'Roman Holiday' 2 x LP & 7" (Dom America)
"Ultra were one of the shadiest of the post-Industrial avant-experimental groups, with next to nada available in terms of info and a deliberately cryptic/parodic stance. They were in fact the brainchild of Jon Carlson with contributions from Christoph Heemann and Achim P Li Khan of HNAS, inspired in part by their response to the early Whitehouse and Come Org releases. But in their attempt to lampoon and amplify the urges behind the most transgressive Industrial noise they went well beyond the remit, birthing a form of subtly psychedelic avant garde that is as beautiful as it is hilarious... hazy drone sunsets that are pure Mirror, elegiac avant piano instrumentals and great barracking Industrial/rock assaults in the mode of Whitehouse/Ramleh. The schizophrenic atmosphere makes for the perfect confusion, lurching from fizzy, melancholy tone-poems to fists full of Industrial brutalism. This deluxe double LP reissue restores their classic 1997 Roman Holiday album complete with additional stray singles and a bonus 7” featuring unreleased material from the Zoll sessions..." (David Keenan). Highly recommended." Ltd x 400 copies on black vinyl.
UK 23.00£
Europe 26.50£
World 30£
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ZENIAL - 'Connection Reset By Peer' CD (Zoharum)
Zenial's first album in 6 years shows his creativity in the context of live activity. It does not mean that 'Connection Reset By Peer' is a live album as such. Yes, the source material for the record was recorded live during sonic experiments and creating sound installations over the past few years. The album is not a compilation though... it's a well-weighed entity, thematically and sonically coherent. 'Connection Reset By Peer' is a result of interferences of environmental sounds based to a large extent on electricity, radio feedback, electromagnetic field sounds emitted by current generators and elements of the so-called field recordings. 6-panel digipak.
