released July 4, 2025
With this eigth edition, attenuation circuit continues its series of four-way split albums called THING. The aim is to provide a medium for exchange and presentation of a great variety of artists. As each artist spreads the copies to their network, listeners also get to know the other artists featured on the same disc. The title references the fact that the CDs are physical objects – things! – but also refers to the 'thing' or 'ding' in old Norse and other Germanic languages, which designates the place of a popular assembly or the assembly itself and thus alludes to the 'meeting-place' character of the albums on (or around) which the four artists and their audiences meet, if only virtually.
This album is a Reflection of Darkness & Grey Lights behind the earlids, like a sound-colour out of space that makes the retina resonate with its Ghost Drone. The Thing on the doorstep of audibility oscillates and trembles within a subsonic maelstrom of Kosmische horror. Occasional flashes of high sounds offer glimpses through a Window whose wrong geometry opens onto an actual heart made of darkness. Its unholy pulse is the tell-tale sign of the machinations of great old evil demiurges, to whom the mythic giants of Jötunn are nothing but their menacing pets. In sum, this is a fine dark ambient compilation whose content would grace every self-respecting supernatural horror film soundtrack, but also works perfectly well on its own, conjuring the horrors through the auditive cortex.
File under: dark ambient
-----
BAD ALCHEMY
Die Augsburger „THING“-Reihe teilt mit der „Drone-Mind // Mind-Drone“-Serie in Bremen nicht nur den 4-Way-Split als Schnittmenge. Beides erweitert auch den Horizont. Nummer 8 (ACUF 1008) evoziert mit 'Reflection of Darkness & Grey Light' die Aura einer okkulten Zeremonie. Mit Geistersopran, Haunted Beats, surrigem, dröhnendem Sound und Beschwörungsformeln von Mist Spectra & Sábila Orbe als Humanfobia in Chile. Olik Nesnah aka Kevin Erhardt-Hansen in Iowa, im Dead Angel Ensemble auf Lovecrafts Old Ones fixiert, legt einem mit 'The Thing' die Ahnung an die Türschwelle, dass im Eis oder an namenlosen Orten Abscheulichkeiten schlummern. Kathodos in Kansas City öffnet mit den drahtigen Loops und Teufelskreisen von 'Window' einen Zugang für den Pavor Nocturnus, den Nachtschreck, der mehr als nur den Schlaf raubt. Und Her Menacing Pet ist in Saint Paul, Minnesota, als femininer Avatar von The Creeping Man eher Grund für Albträume als deren Opfer. In 'Jötunn' verbreitet er die Dunkelheit, ohne die die nordischen Riesen nur Berge wären, Femme fatales keine Hexen und schwarze Ziegen nicht deren satanischen Tanzpartner im Saturday Night-Fieber.
www.badalchemy.de
-----
VITAL WEEKLY
What? Another Thing? Yes, another one! Wait, where have I read that before? I remember, look above, and you will see the why and how of this series. This time, four different artists, along with Sascha, did a great job in combining these acts. These things sound very nicely as a dark ambient sampler, precisely what you would expect from this musical style. Minimal, ghostly, spacious, creepy, slightly unsettling and, well, you know, dark.
First up is Humanfobia. A duo from Chile, consisting of Mist Spectra, who handles the female vocals and visual support, and Sábila Orbe, who handles sound programming, mixing, and the male vocals. They’ve released quite a lot in the past 15 years, but it’s the first time I’ve heard of them. Minimal, dark experimental layers featuring spoken word and a touch of classical singing can be found in “Reflection of Darkness & Grey Lights (Ghost Drone edit)”.
Olik Nesnah from Iowa (who, according to Discogs, did a split with Mindspawn, whom I haven’t spoken to in ages; Tell him I said ‘hi’) does a track titled “The Thing”, which is, of course, fitting for this sampler. And actually, the icy atmospheres and the unsettling tension at the station are captured very well in this track. Close your eyes and you’re there. It lacks the monster, though …
The third one on here is Kathodos, a labelled apocalyptic folk, black metal, drone project from Kansas City. “Window (Edit)” is a 12-minute track featuring minimal, noisy experiments and melodies set over a continuous loop played in the background. The fun part here was to discover where the sounds originated from. I think the melodic sequences are somehow guitar-related, but for the rest, who knows? I wish there were a bit more variation, but it’s not bad at all.
Closing track is “Jötunn” by Her Menacing Pet. Not a new name for me, as I’ve seen it in connection with Owlripper Recordings, which I follow on Bandcamp. A nice place to explore things and a new way to listen to ‘Radio’ (create your own). Behind Her Menacing Pet is Chris Campbell from Saint Paul, Minnesota. With “Jötunn”, he delivers a delicious dark ambient track, the way dark ambient should be. Favorite of this thing.
www.vitalweekly.net/number-1496/
-----
NIEUWE NOTEN
Op het achtste album valt direct de duistere ambient op van het Chileense duo Humanfobia. ‘Reflection of Darkness & Grey Lights (Ghost Drone edit)’ is precies dat, donderwolken, bliksemflitsen, ijle zang en duistere klanknevels stromen uit de luidsprekers. En ja, soms is het hier ook iets te veel van het goede, glitter en doom gaat niet altijd even goed samen. Per uitgave zoekt Stadlmeier duidelijk muziek uit die een beetje bij elkaar past. ‘The Thing’ van Olik Nesnah, het alias van Kevin Erhardt-Hansen, klinkt dan ook al net zo dreigend: ook hier onheilspellend duistere klanknevels en een enkele dreigende onweersbui, weliswaar neemt gaandeweg de dynamiek wat af, maar de dreiging geenszins, maar binnen blijven vanavond. Wie er achter Kathados zit heb ik niet kunnen achterhalen, sommige musici houden hun echte identiteit in dit wereldje graag verborgen, ze zullen er zo hun redenen voor hebben. ‘Window’ heet het stuk en het kenmerkt zich vooral door een opvallend traag, slepend ritmisch patroon en ja door de duisternis, maar dat geldt zoals we al constateerden voor alle stukken op dit album, dat als genre de term dark ambient mee kan krijgen. Achter Her Menacing Pet, afkomstig uit Saint Paul, Minnesota zit Chris Campbell, op dit album vertegenwoordigd met het stuk ‘Jötunn’. Andermaal een duister klankspel vol vliedende noten, maar wat mij betreft wel het meest boeiende stuk van dit album.
www.nieuwenoten.nl/thing-8-10-cd-recensie/
