Dark Music Review – Episode

Written by Casey Douglass

A mental journey through unconscious destruction
With recordings from 2013 to 2015.

The “destruction” part of the above album description seems to be the most apt part, the two tracks that make up Sound Awakener’s Episode are raw soundscapes that to some might be simply dismissed as noise. Listening more closely, you can hear the artistry in how the volume, pace and composition of the tracks changes as the time marker moves on. Let’s take a look at the tracks in sequence:

The Tracks:

Episode – Distorted sound that seems to contain various noises. I could hear hints of wind, rattling foil, an engine. Episode is a maelstrom of ebbing and flowing noise that makes the listener feel like they are caught in a digital storm. There are moments where the sound stops totally and then stutters back into life even more violent than before. There are also great reverb type effects that sound a little like an elephant trumpeting in a blizzard.

Stones Turn To Ash – Very harsh distorted static at the start that seems to keep a balanced range. There are hints of other noises but the sheer volume of the main destructive tone leaves me more unsure if they are just audio hallucinations. As the track nears its end, I think I hear a rising and falling tone, like someone tuning a radio or messing around on a theremin.

Thoughts

The first thing I would say is that these are not two tracks for the uninitiated in experimental or noise based recordings. I have been listening to dark ambient and experimental stuff for a good many years now and I can’t really imagine anyone coming to these as their first exposure to this kind of music and coming away impressed. There are certain degrees of nuance that can only be detected by ears acclimatised to these kinds of track so it goes without saying that I don’t recommend these to everyone.

That being said, I enjoyed my time spent listening to them. They have enough quirks and variation to them to keep the interest, and while they might be uncomfortably raw at times (especially the beginning of Stones Turn To Ash), they never quite get to the “Sod this, I can’t take it any more!” level of audio barrage. Of the two tracks, I much preferred Episode. While a fairly desolate track, it had a bit more to it than the wall of sound thrown up by Stones Turn To Ash.

I give the album Episode 3.5/5, mainly due to the enjoyment of one track above the more monotonous second track. Played one after the other, the listener can experience the progression from one to the next and appreciate the more violent second track, which is the main reason my rating isn't nearer 50%. As a snapshot in time and an audio-emotive endeavour, I felt Episode does a good job of encapsulating what a journey through unconscious destruction might just sound like.

Visit the Episode page on Bandcamp at this link for more information.

Album Title: Episode

Artist: Sound Awakener

Release: 18 May 2015

Contact Me

Dark Music Review – September Traveler

Written By Casey Douglass

 

I was very impressed with Sound Awakener's Hidden when I reviewed it awhile ago. Nhung Nguyen has a real knack for using moody strings and harsher sound samples to create compositions that hang in the air like some strange and dark insect swarm, hypnotising and edgy. I was very pleased when Nhung Nguyen asked me to review another of her albums, September Traveler.

September Traveler is a collection of Sound Awakener’s early works in 2011 and 2012 (except "The call is fading"). It is also the soundtrack for Irene Cruz’s exhibition What dreams are made of, which took place in Berlin from 6th to 18th February, 2015. The title September Traveler refers to the journey through moments, total darkness and lost, blurred light. The atmosphere of the music is cold, soft and a little bit dreamy, mostly created by drone elements and field recordings. All sales from this album go directly to support Sound Awakener's recording equipment need. Your purchase is gladly appreciated!

The Tracks:

September Traveler

What sounds like string-based distortion mingles with a high-pitched tone that puts me in mind of fairground music slowed down and played backwards. It sounds like the soundtrack to some strange dream, but a dream that starts darkly and becomes a little lighter and more hopeful towards the end.

Learning to Drown

Looping strains of piano dance and compete with a looming drone in the background. A muted thudding begins in the distance and pulsates below everything as the piano fades and comes back. The result is a track that grows in pace and feels stifling, as if it’s closing around you.

Pale Morning

Chirpy tones tinkle in a light soundscape that feels cold but not hostile in any way. Maybe a morning frost glinting in weak sunlight. Something dark does feel like it is coming closer as the track goes on however.

The shade you’ve become

Muffled voices and distorting electro-sound moves from ear to ear. Harsher piano and string notes add an element of discord as the background sound begins to take on the guise of an angry bee. It rattles and hums as reversed and slowed piano pierces the soundscape, giving movement to the shade mentioned in the track title. The track becomes deeper as it continues, higher pitched sounds echoing back from unseen walls as the other notes mingle in the increasingly harsh medley. Space emerges; strings twang, piano keys sound and thumps punctuate the void left behind.

The call is fading

Stark piano and a swelling and dwindling background sound create a feeling of absence and loss, the notes swallowed by the airy space they float inside. The track ends very abruptly which was a surprise but very effective rather than petering out.

Thoughts

September Traveler has a less chaotic sound than Hidden but one that is no less interesting. Piano is used to great effect, as you would imagine with Nhung Nguyen being a classically trained pianist. I also like her use of strings though, especially the deep and brooding distorted ones she laces her tracks with. All in all, September Traveler is a fine album that deserves a place in any dark ambient aficionado’s music collection and I happily rate it 4/5.

Visit the September Traveler Bandcamp page here for more information.

I was given a free copy of the album to review.

Album Title: September Traveler

Artist: Sound Awakener

Mastered by: Nicky Bendix

Artwork by: Irene Cruz

Released : 6th February 2015

Contact Me

Dark Review – Hidden

Hidden Review

Written By Casey Douglass

 

I always enjoy finding dark ambient works that are a little different to what I’m used to listening to. Hidden by Sound Awakener, is one that departs from my ambient taste to quite a large degree, which intrigued and challenged me. Sound Awakener is a solo music project from Nhung Nguyen, a musician from Hanoi in Vietnam. She has been working on Sound Awakener since 2011 but has only now begun to release her work in 2014. In that time, she has developed her own techniques to bring about the sound that she has created, which tends to feature machinery, found sounds and other extreme sounds from musical instruments.

Using intended clicks and distortion to create a hidden space. but not a shelter.

This short album description is certainly verified upon listening to Hidden, a seemingly violent and jarring trio of tracks, but to label it as such and then move on would be to do it a great disservice.

The Tracks:

Around

Around starts with what sounds like a printing press thumping away. It isn’t long before the sound distorts and becomes rawkish with variations in distance and timing. It put me in mind of what a machine might sound like if it growled at me. The latter part of the track slips into a quieter frame, giving the ear respite and the sensation of travel. My own imaginings saw me flying along an optical cable into the bowels of the internet, rings of light dancing past my eyes.

Hidden

Hidden put me in mind of someone hiding in a cupboard in a large abandoned room, the kind with rough exposed floorboards and cracked window panes. The track begins with shuffling sounds and movement, as if things outside the cupboard door are hunting for the hider. They sound insect-like but technological. Peeking through the crack in the door might reveal one shimmering with pixels. After a higher pitched sound, the multiple scuttlings are replaced by larger and more singular sounds, as if the brood mother has squeezed into the space and has taken up the search for you.

Diary

This track starts with an undulating sound wave with hints of guitar and other less easily recognised noises. I think the best way to sum up this track is to start with what it made me think of. I had visions of a kitchen, sunlight shining through the window but some of the room in gloom. Hanging over the open doorway is one of those bead curtains that people use to keep the flies out. This track seems to give sound to the motion of the beads rocking backwards and forwards after something large has pushed through them, with the exception that momentum is never lost and they never settle down. It sounds energetic and swaying, the rhythm very pleasing and strangely relaxing.

Thoughts

Hidden has to be one of the more challenging dark ambient albums that I’ve listened to. Someone unused to dark ambient or less eclectic in music tastes might have said “It’s just noise!” but it really isn’t. Whatever the noises and sounds presented to the listener, they create strange rhythms that draw the mind in and certainly create an effect. These rhythms are key to what makes Hidden something worth listening to.

I really enjoyed listening to Hidden and I’m interested in hearing more of Sound Awakener’s tracks. If I had to choose a favourite track, it would have to be Diary as it almost lulled me to sleep a few times and I kept repeating it as it almost got to the end each time.

I give Hidden 4.5/5. It’s not my usual brand of dark ambient but I am seriously thinking it should be.

Visit Sound Awakener on Bandcamp here for previews and purchasing options.

I was given a free copy of the album to review.

Album Title: Hidden

Artist: Sound Awakener

Released : 28th November 2014

Contact Me