Dark Ambient Review: Hydromancy
Review by Casey Douglass
Hydromancy is a
dark ambient mini-album themed around water and its use as a
divination method. Released by Subespai, the solo project of Mauri
Edo, at the beginning of October, it’s described as telling the
story of a divination session gone wrong, which sounds like a great
concept for an album to me. With that in mind, I let each of the
tracks speak to me in their own way, wondering what visions they
would bring to my mind.
The opening track is
Rough Start, a track that features the deep rumbling of distant water
currents alongside what I’d describe as a fast “ticking” sound.
The rumbling you get deep underwater is always a sound that I find
quite awe-inspiring, so I instantly appreciated this track. After
awhile, the “ping” of sonar can be heard, which opens up the
soundscape nicely and makes it seem a much larger space. As I became
used to the sonar pings, it occurred to me that the sound could
equally be some kind of crystal bell ringing in the deeps, summoning
forth who knows what from the abyss below.
The next track, A Face
in the Ripples, is my favourite track on the album. Opening with a
siren-like sound and a rumbling drone, the very first image it
brought to my mind was that of a large ocean liner, sinking deeper
and deeper into the murky depths, with me watching from the outside,
hearing the muted siren as it slowly falls past me. Then, I found
myself watching a kind of Lovecraftian undersea race of fish people,
sitting at their dinner tables eating in the eerie green glow of
fungal illumination, the massive ship floating past their
abyss-facing windows. The denizens stop chewing and look on in mild
interest, wondering if the Elder Gods will destroy it without thought
or keep it to toy with later. The odd clang here and there seems to
suggest its not a smooth descent for the ship, but by then, the
diners have already returned to their meals.
The third track is
Revelations, and this also brought some interesting images to mind.
It begins with a staticy hiss and some plinking sounds, and the
general acoustics of the soundscape brought to mind a strange machine
surfacing in an underwater cave, with water running from its strange
angles and curves. A regular knocking sound begins, which to me,
suggested someone trying to get out but finding the exit door sealed.
I really liked this image, the illusion of emerging into safety but
then being stuck in the craft that got you there. As the track nears
its end, a deep vibration sounds, like a frog croak, but much
deeper and more rumbling. I wondered if something was approaching the
stricken craft, something that would open it up in more ways than
one.
The final track is
Bleak Consequences. This track, for me, was an above-ground track, as
it seemed to feature the sound of rain or a stream flowing. After a
deep opening and a kind of fast rhythm set by one of the sounds, it
painted a picture of a really grey day, the kind where the clouds are
almost black and the scenery looks leached of colour. A stream runs
through a valley, but something isn't right with it. Glugging bubbles
begin to pop on its surface; oily blisters smearing a glowing ooze
into its currents. I’d guess for me, this track is saying that what
happens deep in the ocean will eventually affect the land-dwellers
too. A bit like watching Jaws and feeling safe if you stay on
land, and how you’d then feel if you heard that sharks could get
you on land anyway. Near the end of the track, the water stops
flowing, which is also an intriguing end to events.
Before I listened to
Hydromancy, I knew that it was themed around water, I was
interested but not expecting to be wowed. Hydromancy did wow
me though, as I’d forgotten how dark water could really be! I’m
saying this as a Lovecraft fan who is well acquainted with the
goosebumps that might arise when thinking about the watery abysses of the
Earth and what they might contain. I’m also saying this as someone
who has listened to a lot of dark ambient that features water in some
way. Often though, the water is a flavour or scene-setting sound
rather than the main event. Or, the water might be represented by
other sounds in a more abstract way. The exception that immediately
comes to mind is Ugasanie & Xerxes the Dark’s Abysmal,
which is also a great water-based dark ambient album. If you liked
that one, I think you will like Hydromancy. If you check out
Hydromancy and enjoy it, you now know the other one I’d
recommend.
Hydromancy is a
free download from Audiotalaia, and if you’re a fan of dark ambient
and deep sea horror, I’d really recommend you go and download
yourself a copy as it is well worth listening to.
Visit the Hydromancy
page at Audiotalaia here, and check out the teaser trailer below:
I was given a review
copy of this album.
Album Title:
Hydromancy
Album Artist:
Subespai
Label:
Audiotalaia
Released:
October 03, 2019
