Dark Ambient Review – The Edge of Architecture
Review Written By Casey Douglass
From the moment I first
heard ProtoU’s own flavour of dark ambient goodness, I’ve come to
view Sasha’s work as an almost guaranteed way to relax. Yes, I can
easily lose myself in demonic rumblings and sci-fi energy swells,
but, as is mentioned in the album description below, the blend of
cold and warm, field-recordings and electronic tones, soothes me more
than almost any other. Only the mighty Azathoth still takes
prime position in being my go to relaxation track. Anyway, on to The
Edge of Architecture:
Sasha further explores the themes of her first collaboration album Earth Songs. While her album "Khmaoch" explored the roots of civilization, "The Edge of Architecture" probes into the future of the modern age. Black gigantic buildings loom over our hubris as we reach for the unnatural with each new brick in the wall. The night reeks of dark fluid as flickering neon lights reflect on wet streets. Winds howl over a jungle of steel and shadows of automated builders creak in the distance. Field recordings blend with deep drone and ethereal overlays on this immersive album. For lovers of Sasha's unique style of cold and warm ambient blended together into an emotional ride.
While
The Edge of Architecture’s description and album art hints
at darkness, concrete and abandonment, I actually felt a number of
tracks brought daylight to my mind, dare I say it, even blue skies.
Quiet Sky is the opener, and begins with the terse reports of
air-traffic controllers merging into relaxed warm tones. There are
doses of birdsong and insects later in the track too. For some reason
this track just filled my head with the image of a deep blue sky, and
not much else. A feeling of deep emptiness, and this is something
that I carried on feeling for the duration of the album.
Any
other sounds that emerge, even if hinting at civilization, seem
ghostly and more echo-like in the context of the tones around them. I
don’t mean they literally seem like echoes, but just suggest
themselves as such. As an example, Falling Home, after what sounds
like a storm, works in the sounds of children at play. Rather than
feeling that they are there though, it felt more like hearing the world
through closed curtains, all you can see maybe the sunlight through the
material.
I
think my favourite track was Glass Fractals as it features an audio
effect that I’m not sure I’ve heard before. Each tone is
accompanied by the tiny crack a bubble might make as it pops. This
gave the very pleasing effect of feeling the notes gently popping
into my ears, and I found it quite uncanny. I also enjoyed Hidden
City as it felt like a track that was built around the clever use of
radio static at its center.
The
Edge of Architecture is another high quality entry into ProtoU’s
portfolio of layered, emotive dark ambient. The field-recordings and
clever use of subtle effects, such as the bubble-popping notes, makes
each track a dark caress in a world that has gone to shit, but in
which someone cares. I was going to say a bit more but I don’t
think I can top that last sentence for accurately saying what I feel.
Check out the The Edge of Architecture page on Bandcamp here for more information,
and be sure to check out Glass Fractals below:
I was given a free
copy of this album to review.
Album Title: The
Edge of Architecture
Artist: ProtoU
Label: Cryo
Chamber
Released:
Feb 06, 2018
