Dark Ambient Review: Shortwave Ruins
Review by Casey Douglass
On first thought, the
squelch and crackle of radio communication might not suggest itself
as a candidate for a chilled, relaxing listening experience. When
it’s married to hypnotic rainfall and gentle drones, by someone who
knows what they are doing, you’d best bash that “first thought”
over the head and bury it where you hide your other hasty ponderings.
Shortwave Ruins is Mount Shrine’s latest Cryo Chamber
release:
Album Description: Mount Shrine presents us an album filled with radio chatter and warm drones layered on cold textures. Your shortwave radio crackles with life as it rests on your heavy backpack. It follows your every step across the rough terrain as you narrow your search for the abandoned station. It is up here, far from civilization that the answers linger, lost for years as the stations self sustainability has kept it alive. Recommended for fans of sedative ambient and for drifting into a place of comfort.
The radio chatter is a
common theme that links the tracks together. It varies in prominence
from track to track. Opening track: Reach None, features it very
strongly at first, the repetitive nature lulling the listener into a
state in which it kind of feels monotonous, but also kind of nice. It
is absorbed by the other sounds as the track continues, and then you
find that you might even miss it. Other tracks might contain two
people chatting back and forth in a muted, distant way; accompanied
by the squeal and hum of radio frequencies trickling through the
electronics. It all felt quite cosy and warm to me, like how hearing
the rumble of a distant crowd can be lulling to the mind.
Another element that
makes Shortwave Ruins relaxing, as a whole, is the rain. If
you are at all familiar with Mount Shrine, you’ll know what Cesar
can do with rain, the way he somehow makes it even more relaxing.
There are moments in Shortwave Ruins where it sounds like rain
falling on tent or hood fabric, which is relaxing enough, but when
you add in the way that Cesar tinkers with the sound, making it
softer, distorted, or more muted, it’s like the best kind of
lullaby. That being said, he can also do the opposite. On some of the
tracks, such as Earthbridge, the rain almost takes on the mantle of
logs crackling in a fire.
When you merge the
aforementioned rain and radio with the drones and other tones on the
album, you get something that is supremely relaxing. Each track also
gives the listener different feelings about what kind of mental space
they are in. The first track, with its prominent chatter, made me
feel like I was high up looking down on a grey, mist-filled
landscape. Later tracks hinted at being in a tent, or even hearing
raindrops splashing onto trees or rocks. I didn’t really get a
sense of a narrative, beyond maybe flying, landing and journeying on
foot, but I didn’t need it. It could have been a lonely experience
though, if not for the voices on the radio.
Shortwave Ruins
is a safe way to feel alone, yet not feel too far from others. People
who live alone often like to have a TV or radio on for company.
During this Corona Virus pandemic and lock-down, these
devices often just fill the four walls with useless conjecture and
speculation, and maybe, if you are really lucky, some actual
information. If you want to get a million miles away from it all but
don’t want to feel the pang of actual isolation, drop into the
misty, rain-covered world of Shortwave Ruins and listen to the
voices on the radio. The people hinted at in the album description
might be ghosts now, but even ghosts can provide comfort.
Visit Shortwave
Ruins on Bandcamp for more information and check out
“Earthbridge” below. You can also find out a little bit about how
Cesar creates his music in my interview with him last year.
I was given a review copy of this album.
Album Title:
Shortwave Ruins
Album Artist:
Mount Shrine
Label: Cryo
Chamber
Released: March
17, 2020
