Boreal Dawn - In The Icy Embrace 

Of The Winter Queen

One of my all-time favorite dungeon synth artists is at it again. J. Browne, the same guy who brought you Widersinnen and Shelter Ov Shadows. I like him, simply because that he is the sole owner of a certain sound and style which he himself has created. In other words, a lovely kind of personal uniqueness that differs from each release.. and still... you can identify his sound on the spot. The same thing I can say about other favorite dungeon-synth artists like Fåntratt and offcourse Talog. This release is one among the many side-projects of Canadian-bred J. Browne, released via his own label Realm of Sleep. All the physical releases have been sold out, so you have to manage with a digital copy!

First track Hypothermic Healing being a very icy piece with a lovely kind of warmth to it. Think Finland, naked people rolling in frosty snow and then straight into a warm sauna... that kind of feeling. The melancholic and hypnotizing synth tones feel completely like a cold blanket against warm skin, it chills you down without a doubt. I am inside a huge and epic cathedral of ice... is also in my mind here as well. Incredible beautiful first track/opening!  

The second track Life Lays Beneath A Blanket Of Snow has a certain kind of Berlin-school/kraut-rock meeting Steve Roach sound of feel. Early ambient music if you please. It still has that dungeon vibe over it, Tangerine Dream/Harmonia running in the background to a game of Dungeons and Dragons maybe?. Fans of another dungeon-synth act called Foglord would dig this track for sure!

The third track Her Kingdom, Her Will Be Done continues the adventure further into pure ambient minimalism. Almost on the planet of Dune here, completely devoid of life... but soo incredible calm, and beautiful. The sound of this track makes me think how sound is/travels through the very air when the snow has fallen, that kind of calmness... Time stops. Again, epic and beautiful without the drama fuss.     

We flip the cassette and continues on the B-side, where we will find the longest track on the album. It´s called In The Icy Embrace of the Winter Queen (Like the album). Although a long track, it is (so far) the quickest track to jump on a sort of melody. A beautiful, melancholic monotone beginning with additional synth work a bit later on. Lots of peaceful intensity is being built here, brick by brick!. Although the winter queen being quite icy, I wouldn´t mind being embraced by this. Again, breath-taking stuff here. Otherworldly loveliness. 

An incredible journey from the start and to the end. An essential classic in the modern age of ambient music if you ask me. Not only would it please dungeon synth fans, but also listeners to some of the pioneers of ambient music as well. Let us all hope that this one will be re-issued in one way or the other, it deserves more attention!. 

Bandcamp (label+band):

https://realmofsleeprecords.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-icy-embrace-of-the-winter-queen

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/label/1612579-Realm-Of-Sleep-Records

 Cyanosis - Stench

Yes I know, there is a type error. It´s offcourse Cyanosis, and not Cyanosys... Or is it? Not sure. Cyanosis/Cyanosys is a highly productive death-industrial/dark-ambient solo act from Costa Rica. The same guy behind another excellent experimental act called Eye Floater (see the former review!). This one (I think) is the debut with this act. Love the base-to-basics-collage industrial feel regarding the cover-artwork! A shiny and beautiful simple digipack with tons of darkness inside. A limited CD version from Cognitive Discordance Records, an album which is also included in the limited (and extremely rare) 4 CD boxset!  9 tracks, about 60 minutes in total. 

The first charming track is called Kill Your Enemy and starts the album with an unpleasant mixture of ethereal drones and death-industrial sound aesthetics. Interesting and recorded spoken-word samples going on in the background, adds nicely to the mysterious and frightening soundscape. Highly evocative, surreal, and distorted vocal parts as well!

The second track Prolonged Unconsciousness almost had a classic Raison D´être sound here, could it be the sampled chanting monk? Or could it be the feeling of being inside a HUGE cathedral, with the whispering sound coming from the lips of the spirits hiding within? It´s that feeling of atmosphere. Epic ambient with a gothic touch, nothing wrong with that... I fxxxxx love it!

The third track Tearful Abhorrence of Displeasure (bad-ass title right?) is a slow and sinking feeling. Dark ambient torture stretched out to the very maximum. Slow martial drumming, torturous sound of moans and screams. clinical atmosphere... I am thinking of Unit 731 here... Kind of scary here kids!.

The fourth track Throw Them In The Fire is a hypnotizing and looped piece. Offering mechanized and repetitive sounds and ritual music sound textures. Sounds like a very deep hole in the background, like some sort of an abyss. A relentless beast of sound torture!

The fifth track Don´t Say No, say yes to... high pitched crystal-drones in surreal hypersonic stereo-effect and the sound of someone screaming... while falling into an endless pit. Nothing wrong with that is there?!. At this point, the listener will experience psychedelic side-effects!. Somewhere along the line between Controlled Bleeding and Illusion of Safety so far. 

Where Pain Dwells is the sixth track, pain hides inside ambient pleasantness and those highly stretched-out ghostly whisperings. I really dig it when that cathedral-like feeling is there. More mesmerizing chanting here. Love this track to the bone people!.

 

The seventh track is called Defleshed, ouch!. Are we talking about Hellraiser, or maybe that torture method that the Vikings used?. High-pitched early power electronics sounds meet up with the sound of early CMI! This stuff makes sense, it really does. Lots of cool stereo effects going on, from one speaker and to the other. The organic and ritualistic soundscape at its best!. Maybee Clive Barker could use this for the next Hellraiser re-boot?...

Lost Fate being the eighth track on the album. A psychedelic Wunder Baum into some lost dream from Twin Peaks. A mind-bending piece with intense sound drones that can levitate anything! Feels like a trip to the dentist, while being high on that painkilling gas stuff that some dentists use!

The very last track on the album called Vestigial ends the album with hypnotizing martial drumming. Not that far away from some of the early recordings with Ordo Equilibrio or Megaptera. The sounds of ghosts being very warped and disturbing here! Interesting way of ending an album, with extra rhythms at the end?... Why Not?!. A lovely apocalyptic ending here!  

A 100% masterpiece from Costa Rica here kids. An essential and modern death-industrial album that you all should own. The sound quality is superb, with lots of edge and guts and new-thinking ideas! Costa-Rica... The future home base for dark-ambient/death-industrial? I hope so! Stretch is a black pearl of sheer beauty, I cannot put one bad finger on this!. 

Bandcamp (label):

https://cognitivediscordancerecords.bandcamp.com/album/stench

Facebook (label):

https://www.facebook.com/cognitivediscordancerecords

Bandcamp (band):

https://cyanosis.bandcamp.com/