Tag Archives: field recordings

Ugasanie & Dronny Darko – Arctic Gates

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Arctic Gates is a collaboration of two prolific artists from the Cryo Chamber label: fellow Ukrainians Ugasanie (Pavel Malyshkin, aka Polterngeist) and Dronny Darko (Oleg Puzan). Its overall feel is oddly subdued, in a manner indicative of Puzan’s idiosyncratic ‘lowercase dark ambient’ that emphasises its intimate relationship with the subject matter through subtle sound-collages and a heavy use of field music. What is perhaps most striking about its use in Arctic Gates, though, is the extent to which the distinction of synthesised sound and field recording is blurred.Continue reading →


ProtoU – The Edge Of Architecture

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How important is the theme of a piece of music? To what extent do aesthetic choices (artwork, lyrics, stated concepts) colour the audience’s perception of the sounds? It’s a question that doesn’t frequently get asked in Metal, where the same basic themes are repeated by the majority of bands until they become taken for granted, but Metal-adjacent genres like Dark Ambient can make it seem much more significant.Continue reading →


Cryo Chamber: Miles To Midnight & Ur Djupan Da

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It’s starting to feel like I’m repeating myself here, but “Cinematic Dark Ambient” specialists Cryo Chamber remain one of the most consistently engaging and accomplished in any genre, and one of their more interesting qualities is their themed collaborations between artists. For a Metal label these would likely be little more than indulgent acts of vanity, but Cryo Chamber’s collaborations are always among the most distinctive and evocative of their releases, the artists combining their disparate approaches to create a shared atmosphere, often based around a narrative or themed.Continue reading →


God Body Disconnect – Sleeper’s Fate

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There’s a quiet revolution going on in Dark Ambient, and Cryo Chamber Records are at the heart of it. The sole responsibility of genre veteran Simon Heath, they combine a high level of quality control with high-tech productions, rich artwork (both handled by Heath himself) and a unique sense of shared vision and intent to make them one of the most recognisable and engaging labels in recent years, and God Body Disconnect are one of their rising stars.Continue reading →