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Reviews:
Sleep Research Facility | Deep Frieze
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From White_Line:
(by B G Nichols)
The latest in a clutch of new offerings from purveyors
of all things dark and esoteric, Cold Spring, one of the UK’s most
prominent and consistent “dark” labels, and whose roster of
artists is now as diverse as it is extreme.Sleep Research Facility follow
up their Cold Spring debut, “Nostromo” introducing a wider
pallette of sound, based on polar co-ordinates, and dripping in chilling
atmospherics.
In a genre constantly struggling to define and re-invent itself,
often tripping over conceptual hurdles in an attempt at originality, many
“dark” ambient artists inhabit familiar territory, trawling
out rehashed sonic concepts based upon murderers, deep space phenomena,
the occult etc, etc, to the point of becoming a tiresome cliché,
and many have become almost laughable caricatures of earlier and more
successful predecessors.
Sleep Research Facility have neatly side-stepped some of these
conceptual pitfalls in both the theme, and choice of sounds used on Deep
Frieze. Drawing inspiration from the bleak and remote Antarctic regions,
Deep Frieze slowly unfurls, moving from the sound of a sub-glacial wind
storm on 79o S 83oW, gradually evolving and building on subsequent tracks,
occasionally perforated by the warm glow of harmonics, as tone clusters
break through the icy carapace, carried on rich resonant bass dronescapes.
Here and there the relief of hearing a barely audible voice permeates
the soundscape, albeit the faintest whisper of humanity, a crackling radio
weather report maybe, or a message lost to the frozen tundra.
To classify this album as being entirely dark is something
of a misnomer, as much of what appears here is bathed in light and dynamic
range, utilising sound from across the frequency spectrum, yet still achieving
that sense of sparseness and isolation prevalent in this sinister and
extreme polar environment. SRF use these dynamics to great effect, particularly
when anything remotely tonal drops away, leaving the listener suspended
in an eerie half silence, with little or no notable audible stimuli, there
is a sense of feeling lost, the feeling of utter desolation that must
confront those brave few who have ventured into this inhospitable territory,
a stark, inhuman region that has claimed many lives, broken many men,
and whose darkest secrets still remain silent, encapsulated in its icy
depths. This is deeply immersive sonic escapism of the very highest order..
absolutely essential. |
From Sonic
Immersion: (by Bert Strolenberg)
I actually discovered this album through a recent
electronic newsletter of Steve Roach, who recommended it a lot. After
I heard it, I absolutely agree with him.
"Deep Frieze" is the third album by the English
composer Kevin Doherty, aka SleepResearch_Facility, but his second one
for the UK-label Cold Spring. It contains 58 minutes of dark ambient,
based around Antarctic co-ordinates. As a matter of fact, the latter are
also used as titles for the five longform album tracks.
The music indeed is something special, as it floats and meanders
in a beautiful serene manner. On the third track, some great sustained
piano is featured on the background.
The drones and deep textural blankets of sounds on this cd
slowly unfold with the speed of glacial movement. Mind, this is deep,
elegantly morphing soundscape music made of very nice sculptured and resonating
layers of sound.
All in all, this is overwhelmingly, grand music for total
immersion, and by all means an absolute ambient must-have! Very well done,
Kevin! |
From Twilight
Zone: (by Michele Viali)
Questo progetto capitanato dallo scozzese Kevin
Doherty giunge alla sua quarta release optando per un tema affascinante
su cui è incentrato l’intero “Deep Frieze”: il
circolo polare antartico. Se pensate a quelle zone vi verranno di certo
in mente infinite lande coperte di ghiaccio, cielo plumbeo, vento, qualche
assurdo insediamento umano dalle fattezze futuristiche e “spaziali”
e tutt’intorno un paesaggio lunare, senza vita, qualche figura che
si muove coperta da tute termiche solo apparentemente uscite da un film
di fantascienza. Su tutto il gelo imperante che desertifica e uccide ogni
essere vivente. Queste sono le visioni trasmesse dalle cinque ampie tracce
dell’album, della durata di oltre dieci minuti ciascuna. L’ambient
music giunge con questo CD ai suoi livelli più puri e netti concentrandosi
unicamente sulla ricostruzione di una realtà concreta sfruttando
le macchine, e riuscendo in pieno a rendere quelle sensazioni che potremmo
provare solo dinnanzi ad un documentario sull’Antartatide (rigorosamente
senza commento) o in un gelido sogno. Non è solo la musica a condurci
in quelle zone dell’emisfero australe, troverete anche un bell’inserto
che riproduce la mappatura antartica, oltre a titoli basati su coordinate
geografiche e un dominante color grigio chiaro memore dei ghiacci perenni.
Sebbene un lavoro del genere risulti di difficile approccio, non posso
negare che SleepResearch_Facility coglie nel segno e struttura ciò
che molti vorrebbero realizzare, ossia un album che riesce a creare un’atmosfera
compatta, lineare, plastica della durata di quasi un’ora, senza
la benché minima sbavatura. Le celle frigorifere della Cold Meat
Industry contengono materiale piuttosto simile, ma a Kevin Doherty sembra
calzare meglio la definizione di Ambient, senza il peso dell’oscurità
tipica dei progetti della label svedese e di molte altre etichette simili.
Fondamentale per gli amanti dell’ipotermia. |
From Darkroom:
(by M Berchi)
Buon ritorno sulle scene per Sleep Research Facility,
il progetto del canadese Kevin Doherty che si ripresenta col quarto lavoro
in sei anni, sempre su Cold Spring (che già diede alle stampe il
debut "Nostromo" nel 2001) e sempre negli stessi territori sonori
percorsi in passato. Dark ambient corposa, centrata principalmente su
basse frequenze molto intense e dilatate, con poco spazio per sviluppi
'ariosi' e/o divagazioni melodiche. I lunghi brani (oltre dieci minuti
ciascuno), pur senza far sobbalzare sulla sedia, sono sufficientemente
ben strutturati da tenere sveglia l'attenzione, e in alcuni frangenti
(la parte centrale di "82° S 62° E", ad esempio) raggiungono
livelli di eccellenza, sia per la qualità dei campioni che per
la pulizia delle strutture. Forse qualche sforbiciata qua e là
avrebbe aiutato a far passare sotto silenzio i momenti più statici
e ripetitivi (non molti, per fortuna), ma "Deep Frieze", che
anche nell'artwork vuole richiamare le atmosfere glaciali del polo Sud
alle cui coordinate geografiche si rifanno i titoli dei brani, convince
ugualmente, diventando un buon titolo per chi apprezza il genere. Potrebbe
addirittura piacere ai fan della musica concreta più minimale,
purché 'affini in spirito agli 0Hz' e non alla ricerca di grande
movimento. Scarno ma piacevole l'artwork. |
From Flash Magazine: (By FG)
Lo scozzese Kevin Doherty, dopo due lavori
su Manifold Records, torna su Cold Spring per pubblicare il seguito di
"Nostromo", esordio discografico del progetto Sleep Research
Facility rilasciato dalla label inglese nel 2001. Anche in questo nuovo
"Deep Frieze" le coordinate rimangono quelle di una impenetrabile
deep dark ambient e, a cambiare, e piuttosto lo scenario immaginifico
che ha a guidato la composizione delle tracce. Sono infatti i ghiacci
delle inospitali regioni polari - e non più lo spazio siderale
- a fare da sfondo alle nuove composizioni di Doherty, ciascuna identificata
da coordinate appartenenti ai territori antartici. L'elegante dark ambient
contenuta nei cinque lunghi pezzi sfida l'ascoltatore ad una fruizione
che risulta sicuramente impegnativa e forse non adatta agli amanti delle
contaminazioni. Isolasionist music nella sua pura forma, strutturata su
drone monolitici che mutano lentamente e che vengono accompagnati da pochi
altri layer, utilizzati per segnare questi rari cambiamenti all'interno
dei brani. "Deep Frieze" centra sicuramente l'obiettivo di riuscire
a ricreare le suggestive ambientazioni del paesaggio artico, ma e utile
precisare che la proposta si indirizza esclusivamente ad un pubblico esperto
e conoscitore del genere. |
From Heathen
Harvest: (by Gaendaal)
SleepResearch_Facility is not unique in being
a one-man ambient/drone act (Kevin Doherty being this particular man).
It is unique, however, in being insanely good. I’ll let you know
now that this review will be completely biased as I adore SRF’s
releases. Still, objective is as objective does…
With 2001’s “Nostromo”, SleepResearch_Facility
released an absolute masterpiece of drone-based environmental ambient.
Based on the first few moments of Ridley Scott’s “Alien”,
it charted the low-range hums and whirrs of the eponymous ship as it cruised
through the inky void. 2004 saw the arrival of “Dead Weather Machine”
(and the sister/remix album DWM: ReHeat), where a three-minute recording
of a malfunctioning heater was stretched and contorted into nearly two
hours of continuous music. Now, in 2007, the “Deep Frieze”
is here!
“Deep Frieze” continues SRF’s conceptual
bent with an entire album inspired by the icy timelessness of the Antarctic.
In an eerie synchronicity with a recently reviewed title, each track on
the album is inspired by a co-ordinate for a point on the continent itself
(the importance of the co-ordinates, if there is any, escapes me but using
Google Earth to fly between them as the CD plays is a more-than-worthwhile
exercise) but the album very much demands to be taken as an holistic entity;
no gaps mark the tracks themselves and certain, suitably minimal leitmotifs
recur throughout the duration.
The album starts off, suitably enough, with the howling of
glacial winds and the bass-heavy thrum of distance ice-sheets cracking
under their own weight. Weirdling crackles of aurora energy dance in the
background; it’s almost impossible to feel a slight chill in your
bones as the wind slowly dies into crystalline chords that spin off into
the white-out distance. You feel your pulse begin to slow and a pale,
blue sheen creep across your skin…
It would be very easy to make a sound effects-based “cold”
album that would almost parody the intense environment that it seeks to
represent but “Deep Frieze” manages to use simple, surging
synths and delicate drones to a much more subtle effect. The precision
that the elements are balanced with is stunning and hard to gauge accurately.
It’s far too easy to just…stop and let the music creep over
you like a blanket of frost.
Later tracks add varied elements that try to penetrate the
increasing sense of isolation – “72S 49E” introduces
a mournful keyboard line that rises up into a choral sustain vaguely reminiscent
of early Orb, “82S 62E” drops into a massive crevasse of drone
and crackling ice and the final tracks add elements of half-heard radio
transmissions until you’re abandoned in absolute silence.
What is most remarkable about this CD is how it ties in with
its half-hidden tagline; “There is a certain comforting warmth in
the encroaching slumber of hypothermia”. Despite its stark cover
- with satellite images of Antarctica and white-on-white text –
this is not a bleak album. It’s cold, yes, and very, very minimal
but it’s also welcoming. Whereas Kerovnian’s cavernous “From
The Depths Of Haron” leaves you feeling claustrophobic and panicking,
“Deep Frieze” beckons you ever-further into it’s vast
expanses of swirling snow.
Awesome, in every sense of the word. |
From Lunar
Hypnosis: (by JJM)
Sleep Research Facility or SleepResearch_Facility
or even SRF sometimes, is the solo work of one Kevin Doherty from Glasgow,
Scotland.
Kevin’s music is dark glacial ambient music inspired
(at least this album) by the cold Antarctic region. The music is mostly
slow paced ambient music with swirling drones of synth and manipulated
noise and environmental recordings. Since Kevin’s music is indeed
intended for sleep or relaxing at least, the music never has any sudden
disturbances, such as harsh noise or sudden musical shifts. The music
is very sluggish and evolving, and if you close your eyes and began to
drift into sleep while listening to this recording you can really picture
the freezing coldness of Antarctica tundra. Think about it; snow blowing
in the wind, ice everywhere, frozen water, and heck if you want throw
in a penguin or polar bear in there somewhere. Point is this is some really
stunning dark cold ambient music, which of course always works wonders
with the ultra hot summer ‘round these parts.
Of course there isn’t much melody to speak of in Kevin’s
work, but I don’t think it’s really necessary since this music
is for resting. Even though the five songs and the fifty eight minutes
of music are enjoyable from start to finish it does sound somewhat like
one long piece broken into five. Additionally the albums booklet folds
out to form a map of Antarctica, which is certainly a novel idea if I
ever saw one. Fans of dark icy cold ambient music should definitely give
Kevin and his facility a chance. |
From Judas
Kiss: (by Paul Lloyd)
Deep Frieze is Kevin Doherty’s fourth
album as SleepResearch_Facility and his second for Cold Spring Records.
His last album for Cold Spring – his debut album release –
drew inspiration from the opening minutes of Ridley Scott’s classic
1979 sci-fi movie “Alien” and particularly the footage from
inside the deep space haulage vehicle named Nostromo. His last two releases
before Deep Frieze – Dead Weather Machine and its reworked companion
album DWM Re:Heat - were based on sounds generated by a dilapidated blower/heater
while Deep Frieze itself draws on the frozen inhospitable wastelands of
the Antarctic for its inspiration.
Doherty describes his music as fitting two
roles; either as gentle incidental music or as a submersive listening
experience. Either way, it can be merely present as low background noise
to enhance the environment or as the sole focus of an absorbing escape
from reality. With Deep Frieze Doherty concentrates on low bassy drones
and icy swathes of drifting sound. Everything about this album, from the
title’s play on words to the map co-ordinate track titles and the
foldout map included in the artwork adds to the feeling of a vast unforgiving
polar terrain. With that comes a feeling of isolation and a huge featureless
yet beautiful landscape, one which Doherty depicts wonderfully through
his music. From time to time, particularly at the close of 82ºS 62ºE and
into 86ºS 115ºW, subtle organic crashing sounds like the collapse of icebergs
lift the tension level but still keep everything within the dark ambient
theme. Similarities may be justly drawn with the work of artists like
Biosphere (particularly Cirque or Substrata) who is a master of icy polar
ambience and the subtleties of the sounds and imagery it brings with it.
Doherty’s work may be slightly less intense but still has all the
presence, feeling and sonic imagery this beautiful yet dangerous terrain
depicts.
Although split into five distinct tracks, Deep Frieze is
essentially an hours exploration of a beautiful yet hostile environment,
the music skilfully reflecting this notion whilst exhibiting the absorbing
hypnotic quality of an excellent ambient (dark or otherwise) album. |
From The League Of Independent Satanists:
If I were to say the word 'desolate' you
would automatically assume I meant to convey the word's negative meanings...
cold, bleak, barren and empty, devoid of anything positive.... but in
the context of this CD, whilst cold, bleak, barren and empty certainly
do apply and in buckets to boot, the desolation described in the soundscapes
is utterly and entrancingly beautiful, just like the icescape that inspired
it, Antarctica. In fact, each of the pieces here is named after polar
co-ordinates - such as 79.S 83.W. There is a fragility here that is at
once restful and threatening, reflecting the vast inhospitable snowblind
wildernesses of the southern polar icesheets, swirling washes of naturalistic
sounds with an undercurrent of unsettling rumblings. This took me back
to my first reading of "At the Mountains of Madness" by HP Lovecraft,
its depiction of cold and frozen alien vistas so accurate, a known part
of our world and yet so strange and unfamiliar, a beauty that inspires
and repels in equal measure - best summed up in the little included epigram
"..there is a certain warmth in the encroaching slumber of hypothermia..".
A tour-de-force of bleak isolationism that sweeps over the listener that
either envelops one with wonder or terror at the vast cyclopean spaces...
enter at your peril (and remember to bring plenty of supplies with you...)... |
From Obliveon:
(by MK)
Die geographischen Koordinaten der Antarktis
wie die Unwirklichkeit des ewigen Eises bilden die konzeptionelle Grundlage
für dieses beeindruckende Dark Ambient Album von Sleep Research Facility.
Dunkle, abweisende und ihrer klanglichen Modulation sich nur minimal verändernde
Klänge bestimmen die eisige Landschaft des Albums mit seinen fünf
Stücken, die nach den geographischen Koordinaten benannt sind und
geben somit der menschenfeindlichen Umwelt aus bitterer Kälte, eisigen
Stürmen, Schnee und der schier unendliche Eiswüste der Antarktis
eine klangliche wie atmosphärische Entsprechung. Dronenartig wabbern
die düsteren Sounds aus den Lautsprechern und verlieren sich scheinbar
in der Unendlichkeit der Millionen von Jahren, in denen die Eisfläche
zu dieser Grösse anwuchs, allerdings nicht, ohne einen bleibenden
Eindruck zu hinterlassen. Ein gutes Album, dieses „Deep Frieze“
... |
From Vital
Weekly: (by NMP)
A rush of blood to the head – do you
feel it? If you don't, within the opening ten minutes of this work from
Sleep Research Facility, you'd better check your blood pressure! First
track on this fourth effort by Sleep Research Facility is an absolutely
amazing trance-inducing trip into solemn drones and concrete buzzes softly
washing into your ears. Those who have ever listened to drone ambient
might recognize the potential power of sonic drones to reach the sub-conscious
levels of perception. Latest album by Kev Doherty ( a.k.a. Sleep Research
Facility) takes its inspirational starting point in the Polar Regions
of the globe. Despite the album title's reference to the icy territories
geographically as well as to musical preferences, there is something warm
and quite emotional among the otherwise cold and sometimes even threatening
sonic expressions. There is a nice parallel to Biosphere's ode to Norwegian
ice nature as expressed on "Substrata" (1997), thanks to the
grandiose sound impressions. But the five section on this one hour trip
to the dreaming never land of Sleep Research Facility is more drone-based
and subtle with associations back to Wieland Samolak's "Steady state
music", an album that was exclusively based on drones of concrete
sound sources, and to Robert Rich's deep ambience on "Trances/Drones"
(an album that was created for Robert Rich's legendary sleep concerts).
And as was the case with the last mentioned album "Deep Frieze"
will be an amazing sleeping friend for those being interested in trips
to the deep sub-conscious levels of the mind rather than drifting into
deep sleep. A masterwork! |
From Invisible
Oranges: (by Fuzz)
Cold Spring bills Deep Frieze (2007) as "dark
ambient," which is sort of true; the nether regions of this release
are often dimly-lit. But for the most part, this disc matches its cover
- glacial and wintry. This isn't the tranquil beauty that Norwegian black
metal fetishizes. It's the harsh indefiniteness of a Midwest winter, with
temperatures biting and winds swirling all around.
But beneath the snowdrifts lies structure. These 10+ minute
tracks have long, slow arcs, morphing through abstract, sometimes soothing
tonalities. For such epic settings, the background and high end carry
surprising detail. Occasionally the tones crystallize into a Fortress
of Solitude; a distant, walkie-talkie voice interjects at one point.
I've tested this album in my own sleep research facility (i.e.,
bed), and it's wonderful for such purposes. However, it also sounds great
cranked up. It's calming at times, and menacing at others - I've found
no better audio representation of winter. Put on your gloves and pick
up this icy slab at Cold Spring. |
From Ritual:
(by Fuzz)
L'eterno mare bianco. La solitudine e la
serena paura del nulla. Agghiacciante, e non solo riferendosi al clima.
Quello del freddo e del suo regno, l'Antartico, è un tema perfetto
per la mastodontica, tranquilla, stoica e ipnotizzante onda sonora di
SRF. So che qualcuno potrà dire che questa ambient "metereologica"
è uguale a se stessa che l'evoluzione dal precedente 'Nostromo'
è nulla, come essere passati dal nero più profondo al bianco
più accecante nel battere di palpebre del risveglio. Eppure potrei
ascoltare quest'opera per un giorno intero (praticamente l'ho fatto) e
perdermi ancora e ancora dentro di essa, in un vortice sonico che non
ammette variazioni ma solo resa, un circolo (polare) di umori minimali
e accennati, che prima regalano pace con la loro gelida inquietudine,
poi inquietano, quando, arrivati al termine di questo glaciale passeggiata
sul pack, vi troverete soli e prossimi all'ipotermia. Se ascoltate un
solo disco di ambient (stavo per scrivere "dark ambient", ma
qui è proprio la luce ad accennare e rendere visibili le ombre
più temibili) fate in modo che sia questo. E portatevi una coperta. |
From Judas
Kiss: (by SC)
This is the fourth SleepResearch_Facility
release, and the second on Cold Spring Records, following 2001's acclaimed
Nostromo album, based on the interstellar peregrinations of the spaceship
from the film Alien (for those who missed out on that particular space
odyssey, Cold Spring has announced that there will be a re-release of
Nostromo later this year, and there's also an excerpt included on the
indispensable 2002 Cold Spring label sampler Chamber). Kevin Doherty is
the only member of SleepResearch_Facility, and presumably living in Glasgow
has given him a special affinity for hostile, cold climates, because Deep
Frieze is themed around Antarctica, with its tracks all titled after geographical
co-ordinates for locations in Antarctica - "79ºS 83ºW", "72ºS
49ºE" etc. You can have fun entering these co-ordinates into Google
Earth and scoping out the frozen wastes which are thus revealed. Not so
much dark ambient, then, as snowblind ambient. This sort of makes sense
as a natural progression from Nostromo - Antarctica isn't quite such an
alien and hostile place as outer space, but it‚s certainly one of
the most challenging environments on Earth for human survival.
The five tracks of Deep Frieze add up to an immersive experience
with a 58-minute duration, and the infinite planes of textured drifts
and drones shift at an appropriately glacial pace. Here and there, trace
elements of melody are discernible, but the overall effect is one of unfathomably
immense events taking place entirely without human involvement, interest
or intervention, movements as slow and ineluctable as the shifting of
icebergs. The occasional snatch of human speech is distant and indecipherable,
like the last words of someone about to disappear forever into a blizzard.
It‚s all very relaxing, in an ego-annihilating sort of way. SleepResearch_Facility‚s
take on dark ambient is similar to that of Visions or Mandelbrot - inclined
towards cosmic scale and human insignificance, but not really "dark"
or actually malevolent. Desolate and isolated, for sure, but not actively
out to get you. The sound is extroverted, impelling the listener‚s
attention outwards into enormous white expanses, and yet paradoxically
it‚s also deeply introspective. A very meditative experience, really,
and a release which can only enhance Cold Spring Records‚ reputation
as a purveyor of really top quality ambient and industrial music.
The foldout booklet of Deep Frieze offers the cheery thought
that "there is a certain comforting warmth in the encroaching slumber
of hypothermia". Just remember, kids - in Antarctica, no-one can
hear you freeze your balls off. |
From Mentenebre:
(by Fernando O Paino)
SleepResearch_Facility es el proyecto en
solitario del escocés Kevin Doherty, residente en la ciudad de
Glasgow. Es allí donde compone y estructura discos tan envolventes
y fantásticos como el que ahora se comenta, su cuarto trabajo de
larga duración conocido como “Deep Frieze”. Este nuevo
álbum aparece a la venta en abril de este año, una fecha
en la que el frío tendrá que esperar para hacer de nuevo
acto de presencia. Sin embargo, al escuchar “Deep Frieze”
no sólo se evoca este sentimiento, si no que el disco consigue
teletransportar al oyente al continente donde el frío y la vida
son todo uno: La Antártida, que, posiblemente, sea la zona menos
conocida de nuestro planeta.
“Deep Frieze” está compuesto por cinco
canciones, cada una de ellas con una duración comprendida entre
los 10 y los 14 minutos, se trata de temas con los que puedes desplazar
tu psique hacia los lugares más recónditos del universo,
en ellos no se presenta ningún tipo de melodía, son composiciones
estrictamente ambientales y gracias a esto el trabajo adquiere un toque
muy profundo, distante y hierático.
Si atendemos al plano de la comparativa, para que el lector
pueda hacerse una idea de la estructura compositiva que se presenta en
“Deep Frieze”, podríamos decir que se asemeja levemente
a discos como “Queens Of The Circulating Library” o, en menor
medida, “Time Machines” de Coil, o los poco conocidos pero
magníficos His Divine Grace.
Los títulos de las canciones que componen este trabajo
corresponden a coordenadas que sitúan la zona exacta en la podrían
estar ambientados dichos temas. El CD se presenta en caja de plástico,
y contiene un libreto desplegable que esconde un mapa de La Antártida.
SleepResearch_Facility cuenta ya con 6 años de experiencia.
Su primer trabajo fue publicado con la misma discográfica que hoy
edita éste, Cold Spring Records. Se tituló “Mostromo”
y salió a la venta en una edición limitada. Tres años
más tarde, el sello americano Manifold Records editará su
segundo trabajo, “Dead Weather Machine”, éste presentará
siete temas centrados en el aspecto electrónico ambiental, a su
vez, la misma discográfica editará una especie de CD especial
titulado “Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat” que tan sólo
contiene una canción; eso sí, ésta dura nada menos
que 51 minutos. Perfecto para los amantes de los temas interminables.
A mi parecer, la consumación en el estilo propuesto
por Kevin Doherty se expone ahora con “Deep Frieze”. Un trabajo
que “purifica”. |
From Twilight
Zone: (by Michele Viali)
Questo progetto capitanato dallo scozzese Kevin
Doherty giunge alla sua quarta release optando per un tema affascinante
su cui è incentrato l’intero “Deep Frieze”: il
circolo polare antartico. Se pensate a quelle zone vi verranno di certo
in mente infinite lande coperte di ghiaccio, cielo plumbeo, vento, qualche
assurdo insediamento umano dalle fattezze futuristiche e “spaziali”
e tutt’intorno un paesaggio lunare, senza vita, qualche figura che
si muove coperta da tute termiche solo apparentemente uscite da un film
di fantascienza. Su tutto il gelo imperante che desertifica e uccide ogni
essere vivente. Queste sono le visioni trasmesse dalle cinque ampie tracce
dell’album, della durata di oltre dieci minuti ciascuna. L’ambient
music giunge con questo CD ai suoi livelli più puri e netti concentrandosi
unicamente sulla ricostruzione di una realtà concreta sfruttando
le macchine, e riuscendo in pieno a rendere quelle sensazioni che potremmo
provare solo dinnanzi ad un documentario sull’Antartatide (rigorosamente
senza commento) o in un gelido sogno. Non è solo la musica a condurci
in quelle zone dell’emisfero australe, troverete anche un bell’inserto
che riproduce la mappatura antartica, oltre a titoli basati su coordinate
geografiche e un dominante color grigio chiaro memore dei ghiacci perenni.
Sebbene un lavoro del genere risulti di difficile approccio, non posso
negare che SleepResearch_Facility coglie nel segno e struttura ciò
che molti vorrebbero realizzare, ossia un album che riesce a creare un’atmosfera
compatta, lineare, plastica della durata di quasi un’ora, senza
la benché minima sbavatura. Le celle frigorifere della Cold Meat
Industry contengono materiale piuttosto simile, ma a Kevin Doherty sembra
calzare meglio la definizione di Ambient, senza il peso dell’oscurità
tipica dei progetti della label svedese e di molte altre etichette simili.
Fondamentale per gli amanti dell’ipotermia. |
From Necroweb:
(by Blizzard)
Nachdem man vor längerer Zeit das erste
Werk "Nostromo" schon auf Cold Spring Records veröffentlichte,
wechselte man darauf für die folgenden beiden Releases "Weather
Machine" sowie "Weathermachine:RE" zu Manifold. Mit "Deep
Frieze" ist man nun wieder bei seinem alten Heimatlabel gelandet.
Der Künstler Kev Doherty legt uns hier wieder mal ein ausgeklügeltes
Album vor, welches sich thematisch diesmal mit der Antarktis und deren
Koordinaten befasst. Entsprechend fungieren Letztgenannte auch als Songtitel.
Die Klanglandschaften selbst fallen in typischer Sleep Research Faclility
Manier gewohnt minimalistisch aus. Allerdings sind die fünf recht
langen Songs derart interessant aufgebaut, dass hier von Langatmigkeit
keine Rede sein kann. Die fliessend ineinander übergehenden Soundscapes
leben von diversen Feinheiten, welche sich beim einmaligen Hören
allerdings nicht jedem sofort offenbaren. Hier bedarf es einiger Aufmerksamkeit
oder guter Kopfhörer, die bieten bei dämmriger Stimmung ein
perfektes Klangbild, welches den Hörer in eine kalte, entfernte Welt
versetzt, der man sich schwerlich entziehen kann. Mit Hilfe von Tiefen
Frequenzen und wiederkehrenden Loops schafft man es den geneigten Hörer
auch tatsächlich am Stück zu fesseln, ein Entrinnen aus dieser
kalten Region ist unter den gegebenen Umständen allerdings kaum möglich.
Ein Track wie "72°S 149°E" vermag dies grandios zu untermauern.
Kev Doherty hat uns mit vorliegendem Tonwerk wieder einmal eindrucksvoll
bewiesen, dass man mit wenig Effekten bzw. relativ minimaler Melodieführung
trotzdem ein starkes, faszinierendes Album zustande bringen kann.
Sleep Research Facility dürften im so genannten Drone
Ambient mit diesem ausgereiften Werk wohl zur oberen Schicht gehören
und für Anhänger genannter Stilistik einen absoluten Pflichtkauf
darstellen. Wem schon sämtliche Vorgänger Alben dieses Projektes
zusagten, der muss hier einfach zuschlagen. Punkt. |
From Gothtronic:
(by Bauke)
Five coordinates pinpointing locations in
the Antarctic and titles to the five tracks on the album 'Deep_Frieze'
by Sleep Research Facility. Maybe I should finally install Google Earth
and see where they lead to ...
The style of the album has been called "glacial dark
ambient", a term which we've seen quite recently on the album of
Project Artic on Nautilus as well as on two releases so far on the Glacial
Movement Recordings label.
We can all relate to the mysteries surrounding the Antarctic.
The massive ice, the silence, the harsh natural balance; the absence of
a cultivated environment. A great inspirational subject for isolasionist
music. And that is what Sleep Research Facility created.
Massive drones and ambient layers with just enough minimalistic
changes in the soundspectrum to be intriguing for a routined listener
to the genre as well as newbies. The first group (the routined listeners)
might think the mix has a bit too much reverb which sort of drown the
dynamics here and there, but the tiny changes and added sounds make up
for that. This reverb will on the other hand open up a difficult recording
for a larger audience, as it makes the whole album a lot easier to digest
for new listeners to the genre. |
From Alternativ
Musik: (by Marius Meyer)
Dark Ambient aus Glasgow, Schottland bietet
uns Kev Doherty mit seinem Projekt Sleep Research Facility auf dem jüngst
erschienenen Werk Deep Frieze. Und wie der Name schon sagt: Es wird eisig.
Ein Konzeptalbum rund um die Antarktis ist es, was sich auf dieser Scheibe
findet. Auf bloß fünf Titeln mit einer Länge von jeweils
über zehn Minuten, die jeweils mit Koordinaten aus der Antarktis
benannt sind, präsentieren Sleep Research Facility ein eiszeitliches
Geschehen rund um die Antarktis und bewegen sich dabei fernab von jeglichem
konventionellen Songformat. Da die Titel dabei alle ineinander überfließen,
ist es sehr angemessen, hier von einem Gesamtwerk zu sprechen.
Eisige Winde, ein Dumpfes Grollen und eine kalte, packende Atmosphäre
sind es, die der Hörer hier geboten kommt. Atmosphäre ist dabei
ein wichtiges Schlagwort, denn diese ist es, wodurch der Tonträger
wirkt. Vertont ist die Antarktis. Und an diesem Ort passiert nicht viel.
Die Tristesse dieser Region wird durch die Grundstimmung dieser Werks
versucht, zu verdeutlichen: Langsam und behäbig sind die Klangsphären,
die das Bild der eisigen Gegend darstellen. Ein tiefer Frequenzbereich
ist es, der hier an der Tagesordnung steht und die tiefen Schichten des
ewigen Eises vertont. Doch ist dies nicht zwingend alles: Hier und da
begegnen dezente Anklänge von Melodie – leise im Hintergrund
zwischen den Winden durchdringen süßlich die kalte Stimmung.
Dennoch: Der bedrohliche Charakter bleibt.
Sicherlich ist es ein ambitioniertes Album und auch ein durchaus
interessantes Konzept, das Kev Doherty hier verfolgt. Man merkt, dass
hier Liebe und Engagement in den Klängen und Sphären steckt.
Es ist ein Liebhaber, der hinter der Musik steht. Allerdings findet sich
hier auch der Knackpunkt: Es handelt sich eben um Musik von Liebhabern
für Liebhaber. Wer begeisterter Ambient-Freund ist, wird sich nach
ein wenig Beschäftigung sicherlich in dieses Album gut herein finden
und an dem gut durchdachten Werk seine Freude finden. Alle anderen allerdings
werden dieses Album allerdings vermutlich genauso empfinden wie eine Aufnahme
aus der Antarktis: Kalt, statisch und ohne Bewegung. Wie in der vertonten
Region passiert auch anscheinend in der Musik nichts – die Einsicht,
dass eben doch etwas passiert und sich Bewegung im ewigen Eis ist, bleibt
in diesem Fall wohl nur den Liebhabern eröffnet. Diese aber werden
– trotz der Eiseskälte – sicherlich mit Deep Frieze warm. |
From Chain
DLK: (by Maurizio Pustianaz)
Fourth SleepResearch Facility's release and
second CD for Cold Spring, DEEP FRIEZE is a sort of concept album based
on the idea of creating a soundtrack for an Antarctic scenario (its catch
phrase reported inside the foldout booklet is "there is a certain
comforting warmth in the encroaching slumber of hypothermia"). The
five tracks, which are titled after geographic coordinates (like "79ºS
83ºW" or "72ºS 49ºE"), are long cold minimal ambient suites
where sometimes some subtle melodies surface. For sure the aim of creating
a sense of cold isolationism has been reached but sometimes I have the
feeling that the effect's research made lose the point about the sound.
The sibilant sounds are overwhelming and the slow growth of the tracks'
structure make you feel them a little static. I'm not telling that this
is a weak point but I'd like to point this out just to warn the listener
about the experience he's going to have as the tracks are like movements
of a long suite which for the whole album length will make you feel stuck
underwater, under the ice, struggling for your life where the only sound
is created by the pressure of the water and by the moving icebergs. |
From Sound
Is Audible Time: (by Paul Vancooten)
Sleep Research Facility should be credited
for one of the best names in ambient music. Apart from that, Kevin Doherty
was also responsible for the Nostromo release a few years ago. Nostromo
was based on the first minutes of sound from the first Alien movie (Nostromo
was the name of the spaceship), and the music was as deep as outer space.
(By the way: you cannot find this release anymore by now, but Cold Spring
Records has announced a re-release later this year).
Deep Frieze is Kevin Doherty latest SRF project. Thematically it stays
more to earth this time: the five track names are geographical coordinates
that point to the Antarctic region. You can use Google Earth to check
themand to get an impression of this uncharted territory. There's no difference
in the overall feeling of deserted loneliness however. Being in the heart
of Antarctica might just feel as lonely as floating in outer space.
There's some vague hints of melodic themes at times, but
mostly Deep Frieze equals Nostromo for the immeasurable depths of the
layered drones, which resembled me of the work of Thomas Köner. |
From Musique
Machine: (by Roger Batty)
This is Sleep Research Facility aka Kevin
Doherty second deep ambient album for Cold Spring and his fourth in all.
The albums concept is based around the uncharted and people-less polar
landscapes, caverns and mountains, which really managers to suck you deep
into its deeply chilling sonic world.
Each track is entitled after a polar co-ordinate with each
nicely drifting and sound hazing into each other, giving a nice flowing
hour of sonic chills and deep atmospheric beauty. The sound picture is
always swirled and embraced by shifting polar winds, deeply haunted reverb
and deep cracking of vast ice landscapes, Doherty making the sound seemly
expanding and deepen away from you like staring off over a vast white
frozen desert at the falling midnight sun, or down into bottomless ice
canons. He weaves into the deep droning polar winds and white-out expanse
rich melodic touches, which drift like lone white feathers over the sonic
deepness, carving some dark but often quite beautiful momments. At times
this brings to mind a slowed and darker hazed version of some of Biosphere
exploits into chilled ambience, but Doherty managers to put his own spin
and personality on the material and like the best ambient it feels untouched
by human hands- feeling elementary based.
An accomplished and heady sonic treat primed to get oneself
well and truly lost within its freezing, yet oddly soothing darkly beautiful
audio depths. |
From Musik
Terrorverlag: (by Karsten Thurau)
Zu den recht arrivierten Protagonisten des
Dark Ambient zählt ohne Zweifel der aus Glasgow, Schottland stammende
Kev Doherty, hier mit seinem 2ten Release auf der britischen Underground
Schmiede Cold Spring unterwegs. Ich kann mich noch an „Nostromo“
aus dem Jahre 2001 erinnern, eine ultrasonische Hommage an das berühmte
Alien-Raumschiff. Doch auch in den dazwischen liegenden Jahren war der
Herr nicht untätig: Bei Manifold erschienen 2004 gleich 2 Veröffentlichungen,
die auf demselben Ursprungsmaterial basierten. „Dead Weather Machine“
und „Dead Weather Machine Re:Heat”, beides zusammen im Set
erhältlich. Die absoluten Feinheiten der Soundmodulation sind wohl
nur für Technik Freaks von Bedeutung, für den „Normalhörer“
dürften die erzielten Stimmungen relevanter sein.
„Deep Frieze“, der Titel deutet es bereits an,
beschäftigt sich thematisch mit der Antarktis und den dazugehörigen
Koordinaten, die gleichsam auch als Songtitel fungieren. Zumindest schon
mal ein interessanter konzeptioneller Ansatz verglichen mit Unmengen von
Copycats im Dronen Feld. Die Kälte und Weite der Polarregion wird
mit tiefen Frequenzen geradezu schmerzhaft spürbar gemacht, wie ein
dumpfes Grollen, das man unter Jahrtausend alten Eisschichten zu vernehmen
glaubt. Wie in seinen früheren Kompositionen appelliert Herr Doherty
wieder an das Unterbewusstsein seiner Anhänger, ein schöner
Leitspruch auf der Homepage dazu: „SR_Facility's goal is to provide
listening environments wherein the music simply adds texture to the silence“.
Dem ist wenig hinzuzufügen, wer sich nur oberflächlich
mit „Deep Frieze“ beschäftigt, wird schon nach kurzer
Zeit entnervt das Handtuch werfen. In totaler Dunkelheit, am besten mit
geeigneten Kopfhörern, wird daraus aber eine abgrundtiefe Reise in
die kältesten Regionen deiner Seele. Ausgeklügelter Stoff aber
nur für absolute Dronen-Spezialisten geeignet. |
From Shadowplay:
(by Simon A)
Their second album released by the Cold Spring
label. Containing 5 (long) Dark Ambient tracks based around Antartic co-ordinates.
Each track transposes the sense of bleakness and foreboding that this
region conjures, awe inspiring, inhospitable and a pure sense of danger
yet with a natural beauty that is quite breathtaking. The CD contains
a foldout map/booklet.
Each track melts into the other, track 1 starts well enough,
the music haunting and all embracing, whilst 2 moves us on exploring the
landscape with a real sense of peace as the sounds resonate around.Track
3 really builds and pulsates, as the droplets melt and the visions of
huge ice caverns shaped from the landscape are conjured up and exposed.
Whilst no 4 has a sort of attempted radio communication permeating and
repeating above the sense of helplessness. no 5 brings us to a natural
conclusion, whether there is a form of escape or are we lost? |
From Synthesis:
(by Troy Southgate)
SLEEP Research Facility is the project of
Scotland's Kevin Doherty and has been described as "sleep-conducive
beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional".
Ironically, perhaps, Doherty would consider it a real compliment if anyone
ventured so far as to describe his music as a cure for insomnia. Previous
releases include "Nostromo" (2001), "Dead Weather Machine"
(2004) and "DWM Re:Heat" (2004). "Deep Frieze" is
Sleep Research Facility's second outing on the Cold Spring label and the
blue-grey CD-insert is folded into four quarters which depict the South
Pole and its accompanying lines of latitude and longitude on both sides.
However, the five lengthy tracks on this hour-long release are completely
untitled, so to make things slightly easier I will refer to them numerically.
Track 1 is a perpetual wall of rigorous sound that sweeps across an ambient
landscape consisting of a mere handful of barely detectable tones. It's
what you might hear if you were a child in the womb and your mother was
caught out in a blizzard. But it does have a gentle calming effect that
makes you want to drift off into your own thoughts and imagine giant ice
floes drifting across Antarctic seas. Track 2 is another high dose of
claustrophobic minimalism. Between them, the distant rumbling and endless
hissing conjure up visions of cold nights spent shivering under motorway
bridges. This is noise pollution recycled as the soundtrack to a dream,
although later on it is possible to hear light snatches of music here
and there. Track 3 has more of a lazy, aquatic quality which resembles
the sound an underground claxon might make as it reverberates through
the broken hull of a deep-sea wreck. At one point, Docherty even throws
in a violin and, overall, this track will cause even the most stubborn
of coffee-fetishists to depart immediately for the Land of Nod. Track
4 retains the rhythmic alarm that brought the third track to a close and
adds to it rolling waves of encroaching soundscapes that bring with them
a rising sense of elation. This becomes slightly harsh at one point, but
is not quite harsh enough to disturb your beauty sleep. An electronic
cacophony lasts for about 30 seconds and resembles a tree full of twittering
starlings, whilst various sibilations and radiophonic dialogue jostle
for position. Finally, Track 5 erects another unassailable wall of sound
that is filled to the brim with soft industrial drones and a soothing
hum. More radio frequencies are added from time to time, but in general
the main thrust of this track is the aural rising and falling that gradually
piles layer upon layer of cascading sound at your feet in the way a cat
presents you with a dead mouse. At first you find it difficult to deal
with, at least until you realise that it all seems so very natural. "Deep
Frieze" - time to chill out.
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