Dark Music Review – Reminiscences
Written by Casey Douglass
Reminiscences is a Dark Ambient album with a cinematic edge that draws its conceptual basis from apocalyptic science fiction. This album features the darkest side of Zalys, focusing on schizophrenic sounds, post-apocalyptic textures, industrial elements and disturbing atmospheres that will summon and invoke thrilling images of a blight future in the vast immensity of outer space.
When
first-person survival game Alien: Isolation was released, I
got firmly into the horror/sci-fi groove, the cold expanse of space
and the hard metal of the space-station just worked together to leave
me fancying more. I didn’t have too long to wait for another piece
of media to come along and scratch that itch. Reminiscences by
Zalys channels that hostile-to-man feeling and mixes it with the
majesty of space.
What
I really enjoyed about Reminiscences is the feeling of
desolation conveyed by almost every track, the tones and drones
subtle and smooth, with just the right hint of high-pitched
resonances and echoes to create genuinely dark spaces.
The
album starts with the creaking metal of “Leaking in the Machine
Room”, its minimal beat and echoing signals a fitting soundtrack
for a camera drone as it explores the nether regions of some hulking
derelict spaceship maybe. That was the image suggested by my
imagination anyway. This is something Zalys makes great use of, the
less-is-more approach to dark ambient, echoing beeps, quiet drones
and lots of space for the tracks to breathe. A perfect example of this
is track three, “Hopeless Mind”, a soundscape that uses some
lovely high-pitched resonances overlaid on a drone that pulsates
ominously in the background.
One
track that tickled my nostalgia gland was “Industrial Dementia”,
a track that uses a lovely resonance that put me in mind of the
opening scene to PC game Half-life, just at the part where the
experiment goes wrong, but a longer and more subtle version of this.
The
final track that I wanted to mention by name is “System Failure”.
It starts in a quite muted way but doesn’t take very long before a
noise begins that sounds like the strange call of some insane human,
or strange creature. Later on in the track, sounds like something
breathing and pacing issue forth, a sinister and chilling thing to
hear.
Reminiscences
certainly lives up to its album description quoted at the start of
the review, every track seeming to evoke some gloomy vision of the
fading splendour of a technological race that has seen better days.
It’s a subtle journey for the most part, nothing really jarring or
in your face about the tracks therein. I give Reminiscences a
solid 4/5, and think it would be a great listen for anyone
with an interest in sci-fi or the more cinematic styled dark ambient
type of album.
Visit
the Reminiscences page on Bandcamp here for more info.
I was given a free
copy of the album to review.
Album Title:
Reminiscences
Album Artist: Zalys
Label: Arecibo Records
