"New Kings and New Queens" marks the newest release since Phragments' 2008 "Earth Shall Not Cover Their Blood", and it presents a very nuanced project that combines with startling proficiency the realms of the neo-classic and the dark. Here, the atmosphere is the night, and the night is long and dark. Parallels could be drawn to many other groups, but Phragment's "New Kings and New Queens" is something that's worth listening to on its own- it's akin to an art piece, an art piece that should be listened to, analyzed, and admired.
We begin our journey with the dark and brooding "The Foundations Shatter", a track that gives the illusion of proceeding slowly when it is actually moving very quickly. Very minimalistic and atmospheric here, very False Mirror esque. The sound bridge to track 2 is also very well done, though at times the background noise can be a bit grainy.
Track 2, "New Kings", begins with a very long and modulating note that ends with the low piano key. The brooding darkness gathers and waits. The piano notes, reminiscient of video-game composer Inon Zur's plays, are very dark and not overdone at all. Rather, they might be a little "underdone", yet one can't fault the sheer artistry that is the solid composition of the track. "New Kings" flows very quickly from one viewpoint in the macabre palace to another, yet it does so with an interesting energy.
You probably won't realize that Track 3 has begun unless you eye your player. The sound bridging here is impeccably solid, and were it not for the stab of synthetic noise at the beginning of "Bridge Burners". The stab rears its head amidst the gathered clouds of shadow again and again, always surprising amidst the very soft, very Anja sounds. In fact, most of these tracks sound like something inspired by dark ambient group Anja's "Anatomy of a Nightmare". Here though, it is more polished and sorted as compared to that other project. A softer, almost grinding synth sounds out the rest of "Bridge Burners"'s soundbed, and the song soon bridges onto the next.
Track 4, the poignantly named "When Memory Fails, We Disintigrate" begins with a much more heavy and coporeal tone. The opening is fairly monotonous, but does not bore for long as the song quickly gives itself depth and reverb through other synths and sounds. These sounds quite suddenly drop out with the tone, leaving us with ephemeral noises that leave as quickly as they appear. The tonal buildup is slow and subtle, utilizing unique sounds not found in the other tracks. For best listening, turn down the lights to a low glimmer- I found candlelight to work best, as this is dark- but not a despairing dark. This is a scary, twilit dark.
The sound bridge to Track 5 is once again barely noticeable, and "New Queens" begins with a low and expansive sound somewhere between an organ and a piano. The opening is almost an exact mirror to the opening on Track 2's "New Kings", which is to be somewhat expected as the tracks are twins of each other on the eponymous album. After hearing "New Kings" already though, "New Queens" doesn't build upon the rhythm sufficiently- it's too similar to what we've already heard.
The final track, "Aftermath", begins with a low collection of sounds similar to some of the other, non "New" tracks. Here, rather than progressing from a high note to a low soundbed, we hear a low soundbed morph into a gradually increasing note. The note quickly drops out, leaving us in silence very quickly. This is actually the end of the album- even though there is 2 more minutes of silence at the end of the track.
"New Kings and New Queens" is not a perfect album, as it seems to be drawing from a pool of material that is a bit small, but it is an album worth listening to. At times, music provides good background noise to the other mundane tasks of our secular lives, and it is here that the latest of Phragments' albums succeeeds. So, if you want expertly crafted soundscapes of very minimalistic dark neo-classical, you know where to go (Malignant Records).
We begin our journey with the dark and brooding "The Foundations Shatter", a track that gives the illusion of proceeding slowly when it is actually moving very quickly. Very minimalistic and atmospheric here, very False Mirror esque. The sound bridge to track 2 is also very well done, though at times the background noise can be a bit grainy.
Track 2, "New Kings", begins with a very long and modulating note that ends with the low piano key. The brooding darkness gathers and waits. The piano notes, reminiscient of video-game composer Inon Zur's plays, are very dark and not overdone at all. Rather, they might be a little "underdone", yet one can't fault the sheer artistry that is the solid composition of the track. "New Kings" flows very quickly from one viewpoint in the macabre palace to another, yet it does so with an interesting energy.
You probably won't realize that Track 3 has begun unless you eye your player. The sound bridging here is impeccably solid, and were it not for the stab of synthetic noise at the beginning of "Bridge Burners". The stab rears its head amidst the gathered clouds of shadow again and again, always surprising amidst the very soft, very Anja sounds. In fact, most of these tracks sound like something inspired by dark ambient group Anja's "Anatomy of a Nightmare". Here though, it is more polished and sorted as compared to that other project. A softer, almost grinding synth sounds out the rest of "Bridge Burners"'s soundbed, and the song soon bridges onto the next.
Track 4, the poignantly named "When Memory Fails, We Disintigrate" begins with a much more heavy and coporeal tone. The opening is fairly monotonous, but does not bore for long as the song quickly gives itself depth and reverb through other synths and sounds. These sounds quite suddenly drop out with the tone, leaving us with ephemeral noises that leave as quickly as they appear. The tonal buildup is slow and subtle, utilizing unique sounds not found in the other tracks. For best listening, turn down the lights to a low glimmer- I found candlelight to work best, as this is dark- but not a despairing dark. This is a scary, twilit dark.
The sound bridge to Track 5 is once again barely noticeable, and "New Queens" begins with a low and expansive sound somewhere between an organ and a piano. The opening is almost an exact mirror to the opening on Track 2's "New Kings", which is to be somewhat expected as the tracks are twins of each other on the eponymous album. After hearing "New Kings" already though, "New Queens" doesn't build upon the rhythm sufficiently- it's too similar to what we've already heard.
The final track, "Aftermath", begins with a low collection of sounds similar to some of the other, non "New" tracks. Here, rather than progressing from a high note to a low soundbed, we hear a low soundbed morph into a gradually increasing note. The note quickly drops out, leaving us in silence very quickly. This is actually the end of the album- even though there is 2 more minutes of silence at the end of the track.
"New Kings and New Queens" is not a perfect album, as it seems to be drawing from a pool of material that is a bit small, but it is an album worth listening to. At times, music provides good background noise to the other mundane tasks of our secular lives, and it is here that the latest of Phragments' albums succeeeds. So, if you want expertly crafted soundscapes of very minimalistic dark neo-classical, you know where to go (Malignant Records).
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