Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel

 (I don't usually do Black Metal reviews, but I've been listening to this for a few weeks now and felt I would be doing the concept of sound itself a disservice if I didn't tell others how awesome it could be. As such, this entry is written in a more tongue-in-cheek style. Don't rage.)

This is the best Black Metal album I have heard since Emperor broke up. At times it even goes into acoustic metal/Pink Floyd meets Varg Vikernes/Mercyful Fate. By the way, the lyrics are in Ukrainian. No, this does not make it any less epic when you find out it's all about Norse Gods, Valhalla, and how badass Ukraine is.

Nokturnal Mortum - The Voice of Steel
[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcsVp0A4Vik[/VIDEO]

1. Intro - The intro starts us off with something you never really hear in BM: trumpets. The ambient and harsh brass mixture creates an interesting morph into the more ethnic "norse vibe" sound that comes up. The sound continues to change though, and as more and more instrumentation and blacksmithy effects come on, we segway into...

2. Голос Сталі - THE VOICE OF STEEL
The eponymous song of the album is typical of black metal, and shamelessly typifies the genre well. This is not to say it's not an excellent track, but it's the usual fare. It's funny, the track that the album is named after is one of the weaker ones on here- though it does show something that happens frequently later on. Around 1/3 of the way through the sound changes quite suddenly. Progressive Black Metal that isn't awful? Can it be true!?

3. Валькирия - VALKYRIE
Much of the same as on 2, but better. We get more of the "epic" sounds that you would expect to hear in a 2013 remake of "Caligula" acted by Ukrainians with throat cancer and guitars. Again, more sudden changes! This track can be seen like a sequel to 2, and as far as sequels go, this one delivers: about midway through the song, when an introspectively progressive guitar comes up- no gutteral singing, no lightning fast drums. If I was alive and listening to this on a radio in 1978, I'd honestly think Led Zeppelin. It goes on for quite a while, and when it finishes I'm left wanting more- more peace and love, and more of that few minutes of amazingly progressive metal. Oh, and the finish is orgasmic. Yes, that is a pun.

4. Україна - UKRAINE
Time to channel me some Finntroll. This is what I've been waiting for. The chorus by itself is worth an EP and 3 music videos. If I could remix for my life I'd put it in a dubstep remix, then declare dubstep dead because it wouldn't do it justice. Yes, that's how good this is- it's better than dubstep. Half the time I hear this song I think I'm listening to a Kolovrat album (which brings back too many uncomfortable memories of listening to Dolche An Der Kehle at 3am in the morning while camping a stargate in EVE with 20 smelly goons). But Kolovrat, unlike Goons, is good, and this is better. I mean, you can't discount this! Go to 29 minutes in (on the video you blockhead) and listen to pure epic. And yes, I know Kolovrat didn't do Dolche an der Kehle, but I cba to remember the German HR "gruppe" that did.

5. Моєї Мрії Острови  - MY DREAM ISLANDS
Ignore the weird name, because this is the best track on the album.  "But how can that be, after the epic helping of epic stew on 4?" you may ask. Well I will show you: listen to the opening. Hear that? That's the sound of your rectal cavity slowly receding into your pleural sector. Sure, it starts off slow (but so did Stairway to Heaven, and Robert Plant was high on god-weed when he wrote that!), but then remembers that this album is marketed as Black Metal. It also sounds like they hired Ulver to do keyboards on this track- and in true Ulver form, it sounds amazing. Now, I'm not saying it is Ulver, but it's like how you THINK you can hear the voice of Graham Nelson saying "WE WILL DO AWAY WITH YOUR KING" on Dimmu Borgir's "Puritania". It's the only thing I can compare epic to without sounding like I don't know what I'm talking about. Smooth, awesome, and just light enough to not be "true" black metal like Shai-Hulud isn't "true" death metal. But seriously though, this track. THIS TRACK.

6. Шляхом Сонця - FOLLOWING THE SUN

If a band can have a heart attack and create terrible material after reaching their climax on an album, this song epitomizes that situation more than anything else. Skip it.

7. Небо Сумних Ночей - SKY OF SAD NIGHTS
Thankfully, like Gore Phantom, this band rises from the ashes. Sky of Sad Nights stands on its own rather well, and the flute sections later on paint its progression as more semitic-ly ethnic than Knjaz Varggoth, the national socialist vocalist / guitarist might prefer. Suck it Knjaz. Or, don't suck it because you're amazing. Anyway, the chorus is like the one on UKRAINE, only screamed and not hummed and spoken in a clear voice. It also sounds like Knjaz is saying "flex your body" at some points, which though hilarious, kind of trivializes this track. The flutes and sounds from the Realm of Epic later on clean it up some, but the album does pretty much climax at 5. This is just the falling action.

8. Біла Вежа - WHITE TOWER
Time to go off the deep end. The band basically becomes a weird and queer cross-breed of Starwind and Deathspell Omega here, with some Pink Floyd thrown in for good measure. The entire track is cleaner than most amps at a Cradle of Filth concert. This isn't even Black Metal. We've gone off the deepest end of the pool, over the top, and into aunt Henrietta's rhododendrons. WAIT. STOP EVERYTHING. TIME TO SCREAM. But those non-BM sounds are still there, and they're not going away. Just like Henrietta's rhododenrons. And your dignity.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go listen to this again for the 39th time, then reaffirm to my friends that I am in fact not a Neo-Nazi even though the "most socialist band in Ukraine and Russia" is in my top 5, along with Triarii (who actually aren't socialist!). Go Rome or go home!

Phelios - Gates of Atlantis

Since 2010's "Astral Unity", I've been waiting patiently for something new from Phelios, the man with the plan, that dark dismal delighter who crafts glittering 'scapes of sound and silence. "Gates of Atlantis" is the newest work of Martin Stürtzer, and as a 3 year followup to Astral Unity, it delivers on so many levels.

I. Gates of Atlantis
The opening track begins with a harp-like overlay and echoing synth hits. The atmosphere is one of grand majesty, not bleak horror or desparing miasmatic chaos. Compared to his earlier work, Phelios really has come a long way in the development of dynamic soundscapes, as the scene suddenly yet smoothly transitions to and from a more complex arrangement of heavy drums and other instrumentation. Also unlike certain tracks on the Passage album (2006), the length and development of the sound is fully matured here- it is aged to perfection and not a second more is given to decay or unneeded noise. I could easily see this track used as a cinematic score, it's that good. A terrific opening to Phelios' newest work.

II. Temple of Yith
The second track opens with a deeper ambiance which evokes a more brooding darkness. The sheer immensity of the soundscape gives a feeling of colossal magnificence, much like the alien temple in the movie Prometheus- old, yet somehow familiar. Even when the sound fades away, it soon fades back in with friends- accompanying synths and tones that lend more mystery to the enigma that is the Temple of Yith. Serpentine fluted columns echo with half heard pings of noise as the age old wind blows across the scarred face of an antediluvian ruin. This is the soundtrack to Lovecraft's finest works.

III. Spiritual Possession
Having already heard this track on the Malignant Website preview gadget, I was prepared for the content. That being said, I was not prepared for the quality. Soundcloud, for all it says, really does not do the CD quality justice. The slightest grains are gone in the perfection of quality that you hear on the CD, and I admit even now I am pondering if a vinyl release would "up the ante", so to speak, on this amazing album. The track itself takes the formula from track one and modifies it, adding more stops, changes, and aural mutations. The track is more lively than the others- the things beyond the veil of time are moving, eager for the age that was prophesized. The outro to the track even has it's own subtle rhythm, gone are the steady tonal outros of Phelios past!

IV. Hibernation
The fulcrum of the album, but by no means the climax, the fourth track starts off differently than the others we have journeyed through thus far. The instrumentation here is more disorderly- a primitive culture perhaps? I am reminded of the savages that so graced the not all together tolerant pages of Lovecraft, the skraelings and picts fleeing the fall of Atlantis. The sounds change ever so steadily, but not at all predictably. Make sure you listen to this track with the volume turned up, as there are half hidden sounds that echo just beyond our aural perception that a low volume would mask and hide.

V. New Stellar Age
The sound bridge to track five is slightly off, yet the opening is by no means changed for the worse by this fact. A more oceanic feel graces this track, a lens being laid over slight sounds to make them more grand and encompassing. For me, this is the beginning of the end of the album. The Old Ones are waking up- the stars are right in the heavens, but wrong in our eyes. The aquatic cities are rising from the deeps, and the buildup begins as it should. If there's one thing Phelios has improved upon greatly, it's the sense of magical majesty that music can give- many of these tracks impart a sense of great things occuring. Great, but awe inspiring, things.

VI. The Shadow out of Time
The longest track on the album turns out to not be all that long, at least by Ambient standards. But then again, this isn't really "Dark" ambient, is it? This is more of an ambience set to a theme of cosmic fear. Perhaps "Lovecraftian Ambience", like the work of Nox Arcana, would fit the bill, yet Gates of Atlantis is a much greater work than even that. This track epitomizes the feeling of the album: here are the churning waters that ripple with the movements of slimy tentacles, here are the heavy drums that pound away in Azathoth's ears, here are the primitive flute drums that tap in the half-glimpsed crevasses that surround all nightmares before anything was ever evil. The drums metamorphose with the other sounds on this track, and the entire feel is very developed through the foreshadowing of the previous five tracks. If the final track is the climax, this is the rising action, as it were. It is certainly an actionable track, and rising on a vertiable tidal wave of anticipation. What could be next? What has Phelios done that trumps this?

VII. Ascension
This is it. This is that scene in the film when the hero has reached the pinnacle of their journey- when Alexander has no more worlds left to conquer, and the Sorcerer no more magicks to cast. I talked about a sense of size and colossal magnitude before- this track towers over all else. The name is one of the most labels ever garnered to a track, as this truly is an ascension of sound from that which uplifts the soul to that which uplifts the mind. Don't get me wrong now, this isn't the happiest fare, but then again there is an air of the veils being lifted here. The grand discovery is being made. A brilliant climax to one of the greatest buildups ever, this track is malignantly massive and cinematically concise. Of course it's my favorite track on the album- this track makes the entire album worth it more times over than almost any other purchase. This is art, and it is hard to listen to it without getting a taste of the wonder which graces the soul of the artist who creates grand works such as this.

What more can be said? Phelios has created what I believe to be his masterpiece, and possibly his best work by far so far. If all Dark Ambient albums could be like this, I would be content. Fortunately, they are not- making this jewel of a release all the more special. Get it now before it's gone (like we shall be when the elder things below finally awake from their earthen tombs).

Trepaneringsritualen - The Totality of Death (Malignant Version - Programme A)

Like a conjuring of the old school collegiate of Ritual Ambient and Dark Noise, Trepaneringsritualen (aka Thomas Martin Ekelund) presents "The Totality of Death", an exquisite 6 panel digipak of out of print and unreleased recordings of obscure and narcotically dreadful fever dreams of the apocalypse.

The album is being released in two versions: one as a US version to Malignant Records (the one being reviewed here) and another as a EURO edition to Belgium's Silken Tofu (the one I review next). The packaging is very well done, with minor differences on the interior art between the two. The track *is* different though, so if you enjoy one album, I strongly advise you to try out the other- it only gets better and better. Another high point is the plastic packaging of the albums- with some previous albums the packaging was very tight and hard to take off without damaging the exterior. Here, it is tight but loose, allowing for an easy grip and release that keeps the album packaging pristine and undamaged.

This album is the nuclear fallout of audio. "The Totality of Death" is a staggering collection of brilliant tracks produced with that sometimes grainy, sometimes clear sound and depressive atmosphere known to only the most well produced dark and ritual ambient musicians. Pure death.

Track 1 - Death Reveler
The first track starts us off with the faint questioning of the album's stated genre. Is this supposed to be ambient or grunge? Perhaps a bit of grungy black metal? The first track could certainly be a lighter Celtic Frost track, but by the mid point we've been exposed to the synthetic noise and other hits of the track to realize we are still within the lunatic orchestra of magnified death industrial. The slowly strumming guitars here, coupled with the distorted vocals and other instrumentation, create a very well done progression of tempo and sound. A very well done opening to the album as a whole.

Track 2 - Edifice of Nine Sauvastikas
Track, the second longest track on the Malignant Records version of the album, bears a long opening of very ambiently minded darkness. Amidst the churning murk and echoing, swampy soundscape that is created, strum these eerie strings of enigma. This is one of the more experimental tracks I've heard in a while, and though by now most listeners are used to the formula of "repeat this drone for 2 minutes while adding new effects every 30 seconds", this track does it so well that it's almost undetectable. I could see this as the ambiance to Book of Eli, or perhaps Dark Souls (for those of you who prefer your post-apocalypse on the big screen or with a controller in hand). At around 10 minutes long, time flies quickly on this track, but it goes by well enough- this track is one of the highlights of the album for me.

Track 3 - For Svears Val
Track 3 brings back a more grim and industrial bent, with a low, brooding sound. The instrumentation here is minimal, but still exceedingly good. The vocal track speaks low and threatening tones of Germanic inflection that lend itself well to the developing feel of the album, though if one bends an ear closely to the track's deeper mysteries, you can hear a richly crafted soundscape full of shrieks, cries, and the screaming wind laid over a strangely sonorous deep voice.

Track 4 - All Hail The Black Flame
Track 4 begins a bit like Track 1, with a more intense and steady rhythm. The distorted vocals make a return, but in a new tone and mesh. I would have probably liked the track to get a little louder, but it does well enough staying at a low relative volume. The track progresses quickly, laying on more effects expertly. Again, it could benefit from an increase in volume though- even on an amp cranked to 11 (Kudos to those who get the reference!), it still seems to low a volume for work like this.

Track 5 - Ohersm
Track 6 opens like something out of a Phragments album, but quickly coalesces out of the tempting trap of neo-classical into a much more miasmic tempest of industrial fear. I think I've reached my limit by this point of what to compare this to. It's too interesting and unique. Should I break out the big guns? Fine. Until about halfway through, I had to double check that I wasn't listening to a new Arktau Eos release. This is some really genius stuff. Another definite favorite.

Track 6 - Lord of this World
The words "Seven Epithets" are crossed out before the track name, so lets get ready for some vintage ritual ambient. The horns are here; the screams are here- even the scary distortions are here. This track sounds like it would be a good addition if Funerary Call ever asked for remixes. Finely tuned stuff, and not suffering from Track 4's low volume.

Track 7 - Drunk with Blood
I give up. It's like this guy has read my mind and divined everything that I or anyone else who enjoys this type of music would like in a track. He's either a magician or, worse, a really good musician. The tempo on this track is devilishly fast, and the assortment of sounds would go well with a heavier beat and could possibly masquerade as a Breakcore track were Thomas Ekelund so inclined. One of the few times I'm genuinely afraid of what else is on this album- or Silken Tofu's version for that matter.

Track 8 - Van Zeven Manieren van Heilige Ninne
Borrowing the lead up that Track 2 gave us a few centuries ago, Track 8 continues the ritual with a subtle male intonation laid under a thrumming pulse. This is the longest track on the album, and the source of my only other compaint- the length is undeeded. The tonal and vocal progression is so slow and sparse that it could have been compressed rather well into a smaller segment about 5 minutes shorter. Not to say the track isn't good- when we finally get about 70% done with it, it really begins to shine (relatively speaking- this *is* dark stuff). The heavy drum hits and almost tribal patterns and noises create a very interesting juxtaposition of electronic and natural noise, something you don't usually find on albums these days unless you're listening to Dead Can Dance. Even with the unneeded length, the album still does rather well and garners a suitable outro in the final minute or so.

Track 9 - The Birth of Bablon
The shortest track on the album should sound familiar to anyone who partakes of Steven Kalpamantra's remixes, sounding very similar to some of the tracks on Saur Maas. It's short, but it's sweet. And by sweet I mean absolutely terrifying and very eerie. The vocal distortions sound like something out of a Laibach introspective with a heady dose of demoncraft and blackness. Good stuff.

Track 10 - Lightbringer
Track 10 expands on what we heard in Track 9 with a slower and more trotting overlay of electronics and distortion. The vocals here are also more intermittent and not as all-encompassing as on Track 9. Lightbringer brings a lot of the previous effects seen on Tracks 1-8 to light once more, picking and choosing various sounds and synths and mixing them together as a grim dessert once most of the main course of the album has finished.

Track 11 - Judas Goat
Track 11 sets a baseline of screaming vocals that transform into the sort of clear meditation on anger and madness that we saw in Track 1's very Death Industrial opening. Track 11 is very similar to Track 1 in some ways, but again very different in others. The transitions here are evolved and more focused, and when the "chorus" as one might call it comes into view, we are given very jarring but well done bridges of sound on which to flee from the mounting madness that follows us. The outro echo is also nice, given a bit of a wobble for good effect.

Track 12 - C'est Un Reve
A fitting outro for such a diverse and varied album, Track 12 begins with those grungy, distorted guitars we remember from the beginning, and then changes them with very electric vocals that shout out a grim message of warning. The track truly never gets old, and when it begins to drown in the endless muck of nothingness and the infinity of crystal oblivion, it has truly emphasized the untimely theme of the entire album: death.

"The Totality of Death" is a mastercraft exercise in audio amazement. Thomas Martin Ekelund has worked wonders of grim and bleak shadows that lay over the dying and dead world. Whether your tastes fall to the brooding malice of hate-strummed guitars paired with faceless shades, or the hysterical vocals singing fatalistic chants of despair over effulgent electronics, Trepaneringsritualen has delivered a very compelling album that should be high on every fan or neophyte's wishlist.

Phragments - New Kings and New Queens

 

"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).

Navicon Torture Technologies - Your Suffering Will Be Legendary

Navicon Torture Technologies (hereafter referred to as NTT) should be dead. Theologian is up and running thanks to the committed machinations of Lee Bartow, and NTT should be laid to rest and silently sitting amidst the gravestones of other projects...but it's not. Like a restless Tarantino ghost called by the hoarsely shouted verses of the Necronomicon in a long hidden copy of Evil Dead 3, NTT crawls up once more from the blighted murk to bring a second return of the bonus CD's included in 2009's Gospels of the Gash. A compilation album like no other, Malignant Record's "Your Suffering Will Be Legendary" features a long list of known and unknown names collaborating to bring you a sonic deathwail of dark ambient and power electronic aural madness...in 2 CD's. This is a release you simply can not pass up- it's got everything from Power Electronic to Dark Ambient, Ritual Ambient, and material I can't even label properly.

Disc 1

Track I: Everything I Have Is Yours - NTT + AUN
The first track of the album starts us off with a rapidly growing synth coupled with a grainy static overlay. The synth progresses with a marching pace on and on as barely heard effects shift and move in the background. Suddenly, a passing wave of wails does a drive-by on our ears, and as the radar is flooded with digital noise and the electronics overload with frequencies that shouldn't be possible, we are swarmed by the mounting majesty of a massive tidal wave of sound. A discordant line of flute music shrieks out from the oncoming disaster as the effects flow on. Up and up and up go the sounds until they surround and saturate. And with a momentary hesitation upon the threshold of plodding monotony, they fade away with the wind, perhaps too quickly.

Track II: Soul Eater - NTT + BLACK SUN
The second track brings to mind that moment in a movie when the heroes suddenly realize their catastrophic situation. The track begins with rapidly increasing tone that explodes into a virtual bulwark of chittering sound. Filthy drum hits and overloaded vocals sound out from the distorted wails and faint guitar chords. Suddenly this feels more like experimental black metal, as the vaguely Aphex Twin lyrics claiming a desire to "eat your soul" repeat over and over. Amidst the cacophonic and almost too loud cycles of a monstrous serpent shivering in dread anticipation. The vocals drown in the slithering serpent calles and a wailing wall of guitars as the track slowly, ever so slowly, fades out. Much better exit here than on Track I, though this may be because I am more used to long Dark Ambient tracks.

Track III: The Last European (Damnation Edit) - NTT + CENOTYPE
The third track begins with an unlikely synth of much deeper bass. Unexpected sounds and electronic effects layered on create a very surprising progression of mournful electro-ambient (is that even a genre yet?). This sounds like something heard on KALPAMANTRA's compilation albums- that's how well done it is. Excellent dark ambient, through and through.

Track IV: Cult of Doom - NTT + THE [LAW-RAH] COLLECTIVE
The fourth track begins with effects in a similar vein as the previous track, giving us example chitters and movements in the background of an ever present cricket concert. Scant vocal samples stir and modulate, giving a very Ritual Ambient feel. The effects give way to a repeated but not at all monotonous synth interspersed with taps and clicks...building, building, building, the cycles speed up, the movements grow desperate now- like the drops of a storm that needs to be heard. The synth morphs, more effects intrude- it is as if we have front row seats to the ascension of some dreaded black god of wrath and infernal might. Swarming around us, a shrill note of wind sounds above and about, quickly taking over for the abated swarm. The sounds fade quickly as the Lord's prayer sends us out.

Track V: Headwound - NTT + INSWARM
Monstrous and distorted implosions of noise greet us instantly upon setting upon the fifth track, with faint footsteps of thunder in the barely discernable murk of the far distance. Gigantic synths cycle in and out of hearing. A whirlwind of sound surrounds and engulfs before quickly moving on as the darker ambience sets in. Faint synths sound out sonorous hums and brief tones as a cycled effect chirrups and thrashes in the background, quickly fading to silence.

Track VI: I Won't Survive In A World Without You - NTT + COVET
Ambient with a twist, the sixth track brings a somewhat calming piano progression overlaid with barely heard cries for help from a tearful female voice. A faint static cloud hangs overhead, and the wracking sobs entrench the woman in the mournful atmosphere created by the coalescing soundbed. A vast pad of lugubrious strings strikes up a rhythm as various tones intrude. The track is very progressive, as the cries reach a very powerful crescendo of crashes and emotion filled noise. This is the kind of cinematic sound that great films look for- a true marriage of emotion and sound akin to what one would hear in Les Miserables or some other opressive drama. A very powerful track, probably one of the most depressive tracks I've ever heard, and that's saying something.

Track VII: An Exercise in Pain (Extended Version) - NTT + AUTOCLAV 1.1
A more ethereal offering of atmospheric ambience, the seventh track has hummed choruses aplenty that are matched equally with very focused and clear pads and rhythmic electronic hits. You've heard the thrashes and explosions of distortion on track five- now hear the same steps of sound in smaller and more lucid doses. The effect is very palpable- the background chorus and foreground hits create a very well done soundscape that slowly fades out to a more choppy chorus solo. The track serves as a great outro to track six, with an air of sad-but-not-quite-dark ambient.

Track VIII: Eclipsed by a Blue Star - NTT + HERBST9
Track eight begins a whole new string of sounds, with a quickly progressing opening synth flowing into a rythmic beat we will hear for quite some time. Herbst9's well known vaguely eastern sounds work well here, and the newly conjured soundscape creates an illustrative image of brooding yet quickening darkness. Like an ancient city awakening from the throes of a long night, the chimes and bells of the elder god's temples ring in the distance as the beat quickens for a time. This is a very long track, the longest on the disc, yet Herbst9 progresses carefully and slowly with the sounds and effects. The track introduces new portions slowly and at a good pace, unlike quicker tracks like track one. The effects are also the cleanest on the album, rivaling track three on its pure dark ambient quotient, and reminding one of Maculatum's "The Nameless City", another Malignant release that features similar progressions of ambient sounds. The beat that has continued for quite some time speeds up suddenly before ceasing amidst a widening cloud of reverberating synths. Is the track over? No- it is simply a brief interlude of metallic distortion. That ancient feel that Herbst9 is known so well for shows itself once more, progressing forward into silence among vast and majestic natural sounds and more beastly explosions. The 20+ minute track ends with the smooth progression of more electronic and egyptian effects. A masterpiece.

Track IX: Knowing No Mercy, They Rage Against Mankind - NTT + Hecate
The final track on disc one begins with a lightly distorted cloud of sound interspersed with subtle growls and gasps. Low blasts of sound can be heard in the background as a clear vocal sample leads us in: "The old ones are coming...". A rhythmic synth comes up as various creaks and movements of wood and metal rock and move. The vocal samples serve as breaks in the sound progression, heralding a new sector of the track. Here, they lead into the primary beat: a marching rhythm of heavy steps that is layered with forgettable synths and vintage sounding effects. The main "march" of the song is probably the only thing that really holds it all together, as compared with the rest of the album this track is a bit lacking. Serving as an outro to all the magnificence we have already heard is where it does well. It ends with a flute I would have liked to hear more of, instead quickly fading to silence.

Disc 2

Track I: You Are Worth Fighting For - NTT + JARBOE
The first track to hear after Disc 1's amazingly sonorous soundscapes brings us right into the thick of it with a funeral dirge that echoes out for quite some time. The gradual buildup here evolves slowly with distorted growls and puffs of static. Ratcheting clicks and pops arise amidst the noise and pressure, and the growls transform into gasps for air. An almost heavenly chorus sounds out while the funeral dirge continues unabated, and the complex interaction of all of these different aural elements creates a very rich pattern of electronic noise. Gradually, the various layers are stripped away from the whirlwind of the chorus, and as even the funeral organ drains away with growls the track fades to silence.

Track II: Victvm Vermis - NTT + DEUTSCH NEPAL
The second track begins with a very False Mirror-esque opening, reminiscent of his "Derelict World" album. The sweeping stringed orchestra adds on a new element of vocal samples, raving about "spirits" that are "invisible in the darkness". The very well done orchestral element gives way to a cycling progression of synths as the voice begins once more. With an excellent transitional hesitation, the track once more delves into the beautiful orchestral era from which it began, adding in decidedly exotic drums and other instruments ringing and pounding in the background. In the foreground we can hear the gurgles and croaks of insect life and various other swampy inhabitants- a dark audience to this grand presentation. The voice changes here, becoming a more ethereal yell of ecstasy, as if Evan Bartholomew decided to make "Caverns of Time" into a dark ambient album. This is probably one of my favorite tracks in the entire album, standing easily up to Herbst9's "Eclipsed by a Blue Star" on Disc 1. The amazingly well done progression of beat and ambient and electronic noise is top notch here, and even when the song eventually fades away (as all songs must do), I am left with an intense longing for more.

Track III: Gumrot (Decaying Face Edit) - NTT + FRAGMENT KING
Track three starts us off with a much more electronic openings, bringing in fast and clear synths and reverbs that echo and encompass the voluminous space easily. Effects I would never expect to hear on an album like this overlay the the reverbs, and a kick drum beating a smooth pattern with hi-hats included strikes up a very drum & bass ideal for the track. Perhaps the distortion in the track lends to this quality, blending across two popularly unrelated genres in such a way as to create something wholly unexpected and new? This track has to be heard to be believed- it's probably the most experimental track across both discs, but its distorted background reverb and lightning fast kicks are definitely a curiosity on an album such as this.

Track IV: In The Folds of the Flesh - NTT + KRISTOFFER NYSTRÖMS ORKESTER
With such a name as KNO staring out at you from the album interior, you know you're in for something good. The fourth track starts off here with a grandly majestic opening vaguely reminiscent of track two, but much more effect laden and orchestrally grand. The track progresses subtly and slowly- the chiming and crashing orchestra creates a very vast and ponderous soundbed for the other effects to gradually come through in. As far as the tracks on this album go, KNO's offering seems to be favoring a blend of electronic and almost ethereal ambient in a very impressive way.

Track V: She Throws Me To The Dogs - NTT + PROMETHEUS BURNING
Track five begins with a more vanilla electronic opening with pads and synths a plenty. The track progresses and transitions very quickly, adding in a fast hitting distorted kick. Static laden vocals and that classic "charging up" sound give it a very complex overlay...yet in a way it's too much. The effects and synths come out very quickly here, and it may be one of the rare cases of a track where confusion reigns over order (not the good confusion). Gradually the tracks lets up a bit and the distorted vocals become the centerpiece. The tracks fades out in an interesting way that partially makes up for the confusing interplay of effects earlier on.

Track VI: Love Theme - NTT + STEVE MOORE
Getting closer to the end of this monumental collection, track six opens with a stretched and deep synth overlaid with subtle inflections of depth and pressure in the forms of static and distorted effect. Liquid pops and droning sounds start up along with a more vocalized transition of sonic interplay. The track evolves very slowly, utilizing a menagerie of sirens, pops, bells, and whistles. Not to say it isn't well done- it's just not very interesting.

Track VII: Pillars of Flesh - NTT + EIDULON
I had to check for a moment to make sure the track started. Track seven opens with complete silence. An immeasurably faint tone sounds out in the deep, and blasts and faint explosions of sound like artillery dropping on a far away battlefield rise up like ghosts and specters from beyond. As ambient goes, this track has already caught my attention and enticed- now it just has to deliver. Pops and cracks of gunfire and a sonorous drone rise and fall as the explosions and mechanic clanks sound closer and closer. The soundbed creates a vast and limitless space within which we can hear these death echoes of misery and depressed hate. Does it deliver? Yes, and more so than any other track on this album can say in the realm of pure ambient. Though synths gradually do appear, they are intermittent and short lived, progressing quickly. Even when the somewhat quiet distorted vocals appear amidst the sharp cracks of snares, it has progressed naturally and organically to this point, and does not spoil the previous ambiance. As far as buildup/breakdown and progression goes among song structures, this track reigns.

Track VIII: Sonnenaufgang - NTT + TROUM
Track eight (Sunrise) begins with a cloud of static laden synths that moves closer and closer to the edge of "too loud for comfortable hearing". Various effects are processed through this cloud that make it so much more than what we've heard before, ending its existence with a tonal progression of colossal might. The transition is mono for a second before switching to stereo, something that I'm not sure was intended but nonetheless goes along with the insane distortion and corruption of sounds we hear within the track. A heavier drone starts up with somewhat cleaner static ever increasing overhead. The track shifts once more, adding in more metallic and reverberating synths and pads until the static fades out to create a deeper and larger space. As the track fades out, I'm left with a feeling of interested disappointment. As a longer track, it could have been so much more. Much like many of the other tracks on here, this one ends too quickly.

Track IX: The Moral of the Story is, Dreams Inevitably Lead to Hideous Implosions - NTT + THE BIRD CAGE THEATER
The final track on the album begins with a well done beat and chord progression covered by an indistinct vocal track. Various instruments of asiatic and aegyptian make and majesty intrude among the electronic granulations and progressions. The track serves as a very well done swan song for the album- it is a seamless marriage of the dark and almost ethereal ambient with the powering electronic synths and sounds we've been hearing throughout. On its own, the track is wonderfully done- not too experimental, not too predictable. Even when transitioning into a much more distorted "drop" of gargantuan proportions, the instruments create shrill aural textures that enhance it further. After the swarming wars of the other tracks on here, the final tracks ties it all up with ambitious and grandly expressed noise.

In short, there's no reason why you shouldn't buy this album (ignoring financial woes). It offers something for everyone: a sampler for the interested neophyte first venturing into this dark realm, or a grizzled veteran of the ambient and electronic selections that one can see on Malignant's releases. A colossal achievement for so many genres tied together by the mixing majesty and general genius of Navicon Torture Technologies.