Tag Archives: dark ambient

Beyond Sensory Experience – In This Our Life (Cyclic Law)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Beyond Sensory Experience announce “In This Our Life”, a new album that extends and deepens the austere, melancholic sound they have refined since their formation in 2001. The duo continue to balance sparse, cinematic atmospheres with richly layered textures and haunting melodic motifs.

“In This Our Life” follows a sequence of records that critics have described as immersive, melancholic and beautifully unsettling, works which place the duo among the most discreetly consistent voices in contemporary dark ambient. Previous releases were praised for their ability to create vast emotional registers from minimal material, a characteristic the new album amplifies while exploring more expansive song-forms and dynamic contrasts.

Stylistically, the album keeps the trademark BSE touch: low-frequency washes, distant vocal fragments, analogue warmth and crystalline, slowly unfolding harmonies. Where earlier records often emphasized brooding stasis, “In This Our Life” moves the project into more narrative territory, allowing passages of melancholic catharsis to emerge from dense, claustrophobic beds of sound. Reviewers of earlier records noted the group’s talent for making the sparse feel monumental, a sensibility that informs this new collection.

The production embraces both analogue textures and carefully balanced percussive elements. Tracks shift between shadowed ambience and melodic refrains that linger, and the sequencing creates a discreet arc, from intimate, near-silent openings to more emphatic, emotionally charged culminations. Fans of the project’s prior work will recognize the continuity, while new listeners will find entry points in the album’s stronger melodic hooks and cinematic pacing.

CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digipak. 11 Tracks. Running Time 48:16

Ed Herbers – Tartarus (Self-Released)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

A group of space-faring scavengers are navigating a remote region of the galaxy when the ship’s sensors alert them to an unidentified object looming in the distance.

“Sensors detect a massive freighter up ahead. Looks like it was powered down and abandoned out here. Its callsign is coming through as “Tartarus,” but there’s no other data available (manifest, origin, destination). I’m sure we could salvage some useful scrap from it—let’s dock and check it out.”

Although the ghost ship appears to be empty, the crew quickly discovers that they’re not alone…and a simple salvage mission becomes a desperate fight for survival.

Inspired by media like Dead Space and Alien, Tartarus is an atmospheric and immersive dark ambient, sci-fi horror/suspense experience.


All songs produced and mixed by Ed Herbers.

Mastered by Exit Chamber (exitchamber.bandcamp.com)

Album artwork by Ed Herbers, adapted from a costume piece created by Sam Herbers.

Big thanks to Adventsong for suggesting the album title (adventsong.bandcamp.com)

Several pieces from this album previously appeared in other contexts:
– “Promise & Peril” and “Insomnia” were released as singles in early 2023. At the time, I had no plans to use them on anything else, but as Tartarus started to take shape, I realized both of these tracks were perfect for it.
– “No One Is Going To Save Us” previously appeared on the “Passed Away” compilation, from Passed Recordings, in 2022 (passedrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/passed-away-2)
– “Entropy” previously appeared on “Heavy for the Hollers” a compilation benefiting hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene (liminaldreadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-for-the-hollers)

BLOOM & Christopher Nosnibor – Journeys Through Inner Space (Petroglyph Music)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Some words from Christopher Nosniborr regarding the release:

Journeys Through Inner Space

Art, in all of its many forms, often helps us to understand the world, and, indeed, ourselves. It’s also true that works which are the most personal for the creator have a wider resonance, in that they have the capacity to articulate for others something that reaches beyond art as entertainment, and that often, in the personal lies the universal. For a long time, I have found the act of writing has helped me navigate some of the most challenging times, and particularly recently, I have come to discover the catharsis of laying bare some of my most innermost thoughts on the page, and bringing these to performance.

The texts which form the narratives of Journeys Through Inner Space are taken from my novel The Deserted Island, and work in progress, Reflections on a Life, and explore themes of anxiety, bewilderment, and bereavement. These are not light or easy topics, and are topics we often shy away from. Because they are uncomfortable. But they are realities of life, and while we may wish otherwise, the stark fact is that they will likely affect us all in some way or another at some point. In these pieces, I speak only from my own experiences of my journeys through inner space.

‘Am I Really Having This Conversation?’, and ‘A Slew of Likes and Handy Hints’ – original texts appear in The Deserted Island (Clinicality Press, 2022).

All other texts from Reflections on a Life (unpublished).

The words to ‘Last Days’ appeared on a track bearing a variant title on the Last Days EP (self-released, 2023) 

 

released October 31, 2025

Christopher Nosnibor – Vocals
christophernosnibor.bandcamp.com

Deborah Fialkiewicz – Synthesizers
grahamfialkiewicz.bandcamp.com

Dan Dolby – Synthesizers, Sound Manipulation
dandolby.bandcamp.com

The Implicit Order – They Live In The Sky (2025 Remaster) [Wholeness Recordings]

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Remastered version of this long OOP cassette classic. Please note that the original track order has changed.
AAD

This is a WHOLENESS RECORDINGS release: WHOLE032025
released October 31, 2025

The Implicit Order: Soundtools, Sampler, Synth, Cassette Recorder, 4-Track Tape Machine, Digital Signal Processor.
These tracks were all recorded on a Tascam 4-Track Cassette Machine, no DAW or modern effects were used. A DAW was used to transport them into the digital domain.
Original limited cassette issued in 1997. Reissued as a MP3 digital download by Vuzh Music in 2011.

Various Artists – Tomb Of Iconoclasts (Cryo Chamber)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

The Tombs series returns with a special roster curated by Apocryphos featuring new and familiar artists, creating atmospheres of dread and existential horror.

The knell of a distant bell fallen can be heard within the decayed houses of the gods. Once standing with grandeur and might, these temples are now their own tombs across a wasteland left by man.

Recommended for fans of oppressive dark ambient, brooding atmospheric and layered texturing


Tomb Series Discography:
Tomb of Empires – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-empires
Tomb of Seers – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-seers
Tomb of Druids – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-druids
Tomb of Ordeals – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-ordeals
Tomb of Wights – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-wights
Tomb of Primordials – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-primordials
Tomb of Iconoclasts – cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/tomb-of-iconoclasts

 

released October 7, 2025

Written, Produced, Performed
Apocryphos
Atrox Pestis
Dødsmaskin
Envenomist
Fractalyst
Gnawed
Infinexhuma
New Risen Throne
Plague Machinery
Pœna Sensus
Phragments

Artwork & Mastering
Simon Heath

raison d’être – The Empty Hollow Unfolds (Cyclic Law)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

In a long-awaited unveiling, celebrating it’s 25th anniversary, raison d’être’s critically acclaimed dark ambient opus “The Empty Hollow Unfolds” will be available for the first time ever on vinyl, released as a deluxe Double LP edition on Marbled vinyl and standard Black. Originally issued in 2000 this reissue marks a significant milestone in the legacy of Swedish composer Peter Andersson, whose immersive soundscapes helped define an era of industrial ambient music.

“The Empty Hollow Unfolds” is not merely an album, it is a descent into the void. Widely hailed as one of the most haunting and emotionally resonant works in the dark ambient genre, it transforms isolation into an art form. Andersson constructs a sonic environment of desolate beauty, where metallic echoes, subterranean drones, and Gregorian-like chants collide in a ritual of decay and transcendence.

From the slow, meditative swell of “The Slow Ascent” to the sprawling, twenty-minute dirge “The Eternal Return and the Infinity Horizon”, this record remains a singular achievement, a sound world of spectral ruins and elegant desolation. This new Double LP edition has been remastered specifically for vinyl, restoring the album’s cavernous depth and atmospheric range in unprecedented detail and includes 3 bonus tracks not available on the original release.

Critics have long praised The Empty Hollow Unfolds as a milestone in the genre, once voted the greatest release in Cold Meat Industry’s storied history. Described as “elegantly crafted ruin” and “a travelogue from a land where the sun never rises,” the album continues to evoke awe and unease in equal measure. Its sound, monumental yet intimate, cold yet achingly human, remains as relevant and unsettling today as it was 25 years ago.

Limited Edition 2LP of 400 copies. 200 copies on Marbled vinyl and 200 on Black vinyl. Gatefold Sleeve, matte varnish and black paper inner sleeves. 8 Tracks. Running Time 73:13

Brooddark – Overvoltage (Cryo Chamber)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Brooddark presents his first solo project on Cryo Chamber, a dark futuristic and industrial album

Gritty walls of sounds meets careful distorted texturing, meticulous details abound for those that listens closely to the background of ever changing soundscapes and moods. A dark and heavy album, that is equally parts hypnotizing as it is energizing

Recommended for fans of Warm Distortion, Industrial and Cyberpunk Soundscapes

Llyn Y Cwn – Megaliths In Dub (Cold Spring)

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Label Description:

A deep reworking of Llyn Y Cwn’s “Megaliths” (2024). The original was a profound dark ambient exploration of the sacred resonance embedded within stone circles; “Megaliths In Dub” is the echo beneath the surface, the unheard rhythm that has always been there.

The megaliths stand – timeless, unyielding. Their histories stretch beyond recorded memory, their presence imbued with silent narratives of the land. “Megaliths” sought to channel this ancient energy into pure sound. Yet no history exists without its counterpart – no creation without its shadow.

On “Megaliths In Dub”, suppressed tempos emerge, pulsing with the primal force of forgotten rites. Guitar invocations from the live rituals weave through the fabric of the album, distorting and reshaping the familiar, exquisite dark ambient Llyn Y Cwn has become renowned for.

It is a sonic metamorphosis – a spectral reflection of the megalithic presence.

The stones have been disturbed.

Presented in a 6-panel digipak with breathtaking photography by the artist.

Music & Photography: Benjamin Ian Powell
Mastering: Martin Bowes
Layout Remix: Abby Helasdottir

…………………………………………..

LLYN Y CWN “Megaliths” (2024).

Megaliths (2024) was a sonic pilgrimage through burial chambers and stone circles, crafted from years of field recordings and convolution reverbs. Guided by Julian Cope and Aubrey Burl, Llyn Y Cwn channelled the ancient silence into immersive dark ambient soundscapes.

coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/megaliths-csr334cd


ALBUM LAUNCH + CONCERT:

LLYN Y CWN play Unitarian Church, 3pm Saturday 11th Oct at Harmonicon Festival, Tordmorden
– with The Transcendence Orchestra (Surgeon and Dan Bean), Bridget Hayden, David Keenan…

• http://www.facebook.com/events/1679099982735306
• http://www.tickettailor.com/events/resonance1/1703018

About Llyn Y Cwn:

LLYN Y CWN conveys atmosphere and environment through deep ambient sounds. A phantasm of echoes reflecting the bleak majesty and poetic melancholy of the hinterland of North Wales. A hole within a void, a place defined by absence in a world of negative space.

Ben Powell has been making electronic music for over 25 years, drawing inspiration from his native North Wales landscape and his participation on Arctic research cruises. While most artists can only imagine what these desolate land and seascapes feel and sound like, Llyn Y Cwn is an authentic reflection of these incredible locations.

coldspring.co.uk/llyn-y-cwn