Dark Game Review - Darkest Dungeon

I take a look at the lovingly styled Darkest Dungeon over on Geek Syndicate here. I said:

This is Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon, a turn-based procedural RPG roguelike that focuses on the mental aspects of adventuring as much as the physical. Even if your heroes survive the dungeon in body, their minds will almost certainly be shot to pieces.

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Dark Music Review – The Architects

Written By Casey Douglass

Dark ambient is a genre that can use an enormous variety of sounds and inputs. While some artists use sounds from the natural world, twisting them to their own ends, others look to more man-made or mechanical sounds. The Architects falls into this second category and puts these cranking, clanging sounds to great use.

The Architects consists of 8 evolving tracks with a mechanical touch to each one. This album is the product of deep theory, ageless echos and murmurs of voices not heard in countless millennium. By use of ritual techniques and unconventional sampling, Randal Collier-Ford takes us to his world of a union between the old and the new. This is an original take on Drone vs Sound Design, leaving enough room on the album to explore both concepts fully, from empty rooms of pure sound sampling and bowing techniques to tracks with bass driven drone fused with distortion and drum hits from the abyss.

The Tracks:

A New Age

A subtle track that crackles with droning energy, like the sound of some giant plasma-infused machine barely alive but ticking over sedately in a darkened warehouse. That is, until a random power surge tickles its capacitors and sparks a cascading thrum into life.

Construction of a Demon

A gentle ‘plastic thudding’ sound gives this track a beat, joined by what seems like the sounds of night falling in a forest, but everything distorts into a perversion of how they really should be. High pitched whining and fittings being cranked judder into the darkness as whirring sounds and others join the soundscape. The track is aptly named, it really could be a demon being constructed.

Eye of the Watchers

A lighter tone begins this track, albeit one that has a looming darkness behind it, like a lone candle in a dark cavern, the dance between the two forces can only end one way as chittering clanking things move just beyond sight.

The Return

A crystalline note swells and undulates as a moderately heavy drone creases the air, the hint of vocals possibly in the distance but almost at the edge of conscious hearing. The volume of the sounds rises and falls until it erupts at the midpoint of the track, a punchy alarm-like sound echoing in the distance as the drone takes full control of the soundscape. This is a fairly gentle track that simmers rather than comes to the boil, except the aforementioned midpoint escalation.

Grave of the Chariots

An airy sound looms closer, much like a UFO might make if it buzzed over head and then landed some way off. Strange creepers and vines crack the surfaces of the ground, shimmering and pixilated and all reaching toward the silver pulsing vessel. Slight tinkling and shrill ‘squeaking’ filters through the air as a bright light erupts from the vessel and begins to scan the surrounding area like a dazzling laser. A long note dangles in the air like a puppet that has had its strings cut but before it begins to fall. Everything holds its breath. These are the images conjured in my mind by this great track.

Hellgate

A rising sound blooms and crescendos with moments of calm in-between, almost sounding like the soundtrack to a movie that plays when the axe wielding murderer is revealed to the audience in a flash of lightening. Echoes and sounds that seem to Doppler away impregnate the soundscape with a looming threat that threatens to break through whatever flimsy barriers stand in its way. A high-pitched whine drills into your ears as the track nears its end. Did something get through? There’s no way to be sure for certain.

Cove of the Architects

Another track that has a whine at the start, like dirty fingers rubbing around an angel’s halo. A lower resonance joins it and the tone of the track begins to drag down towards something darker. A richer bell-like ringing arrives, along with a gentle bass-drone that adds more layers to the shifting tone, the combined result almost like a long held note on a church organ, until it shifts once more. After the midpoint, things quieten and a fluttering distorted fabric-like sound jostles uneasily with a waxing and waning tone that seems to summon up a sound that might be wind, either real or psychic.

Void

Warped vocals and wet slitherings echo in a large space that seems to serve up plenty of things to focus on. Tonal snatches, half-recordings, was it birdsong? It’s gone. Clinking keys? Gone. A voice? Too late. Maybe this is the place thoughts come to relax or let off steam by screaming. Probably the latter, considering the cries and shouts that twist the soundscape as it goes on.

Thoughts

The Architects is an album that always serves up something interesting for your ears to focus on. The mechanical and metallic sounds work well and certainly bring strange contraptions in dark places to mind. If I had to choose some favourite tracks, it would be Eye of the Watchers, Hellgate and Void, all of them mix the subtle with the creeping darkness in a way that I really enjoyed.

I give The Architects 4/5. It’s a great listen with inventive sounds and pleasing resonances that I think any dark ambient fan would appreciate.

Visit The Architects page on Bandcamp here for more info.

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

Album Title: The Architects

Artist: Randal Collier-Ford

Label: Cryo Chamber

Written and Produced: Randal Collier-Ford

Mastering and Artwork: Simon Heath

Released : 27th January 2015

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Dark Gig Review – Black Label Society

Written By Casey Douglass

We entered the Norwich UEA’s LCR to the strains of Crobot’s last song of the evening, which was a shame. Of the two support bands listed, Crobot was the one that I had most hoped to see at the Black Label Society gig last night.

We listened to the sound-system pumping out various rock and metal tracks as the temperature in the room fought with the chilled Cider shandies in our hands. Yes, Cider shandies, I don’t seem to be able to stomach alcohol anymore. Not that I couldn’t enjoy the aroma that permeated the air from spillages and others’ breath.

Next to take to the stage was Black Tusk, a band I knew nothing at all about. Hailing from Georgia, USA, their wiki lists their genre as variations of thrash, sludge and stoner metal. They rocketed through their songs with barely a moments pause which gave their performance an interesting pace. Their early songs were more thrash than anything, and left me feeling disinterested. As they neared the end of their set, the tone changed to more drawn out, heavier and brutal metal that made my chest shake with the vibration of the bass-guitar. I ended up warming to them, even as I began to feel really rough standing for so long.

Black Tusk departed the stage and the crowd began to grow excited as the crew uncovered Black Label Society’s equipment. A wall of amplifiers nestled either side of the drum-kit, glowing red lights glaring with malice at the fans. It was almost as if they were saying ‘Kiss your hearing goodbye!’ Then Zakk Wylde’s microphone stand was placed in the centre of the stage, skulls clinging to it half-way down like pale lichen. There was a further period of waiting as the sound system belted out Nine Inch Nails and some other songs that failed to get my attention.

The house lights dipped as the crowd sang along to one more song, and then Black Label Society strode out and started to lay down their own brand of heavy. Zakk’s vocals were loud and powerful, the drums hard and belting, just everything you would want. Midway through the first song, Zakk put his guitar behind his head and plucked as perfectly as if it was in front. The crowd approved. He also took to the small platform off to his left for the solos, a nice touch in an admittedly intimate venue. I must admit that I am a bit out of touch with recent Black Label Society albums. I have some of their older ones but nothing more recent. I didn’t recognise half of the songs I heard but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of them one bit.

Before I knew it, we were at the interval, the band members heading off-stage for a quick drink and whatever it is they do out of sight. Not Zakk though. Zakk soloed for what I guessed was around ten minutes straight. It went on and on and on, a guy ahead of me kept putting his hands on his head in disbelief. Zakk moved around the stage and carried on and on. Sweat dripped from his fingers every few seconds. He was still playing as the other band members came back, and they finished his hanging note together.

The latter part of the gig saw Zakk take to the keyboard and do some of his quieter songs. I’m not such a fan of these but they were a great listen none the less. The last two songs however were the two I had hoped I would hear and had pretty much given up hope of hearing. They belted out Concrete Jungle and Stillborn, each with their own twists and embellishments. They are two of my favourite Black Label Society songs and I am just so happy that I got to hear them live.

At the very end, Zakk stayed on stage the longest and thanked the fans, taking the time to salute them, bump fists, shake hands and smile. You could see it was 100% genuine emotion and it was a great way to round off the gig.

Today, I feel so fucking rough and my hearing has no bass; even a flushing toilet sounds like a crinkling carrier-bag, but it was worth it. It was a pleasure to see a band of Black Label Society’s calibre playing a smaller venue like the UEA LCR. There have been some great bands coming to Norwich in recent years, some I missed like Machine Head, some I caught, like Lacuna Coil at the Waterfront. Now I have another to add to my list of ‘seens’, or maybe that should be ‘heards’.

Rating: 5/5

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Dark Book Review – Death’s Realm

Written By Casey Douglass

Death’s Realm is the latest horror anthology from Grey Matter Press. It features sixteen tales that investigate what might happen when we expire and where we might end up after the event, many looking on the darker side of the available possibilities.

“Whether we choose to think about it or not, somewhere ahead of each of us on this road of life is a dark intersection where everyone will certainly arrive,” said Anthony Rivera, Grey Matter Press publisher and DEATH’S REALM editor. “It’s this much-dreaded and deeply mysterious convergence between life and death where the exceptional horror stories in DEATH’S REALM take place.”

I’ve read a fair number of Grey Matter Press’ anthologies and have come to know a little of what to expect, the twisted vistas, the warped characters and The Outer Limits style unhappy endings. Does Death’s Realm deliver another dose of what ails you? Read on to find out.

First, a brief summary of the stories:

Omniscopic by Rhoads Brazos – A lovely dark science tale that made my skin scrawl. Sometimes, scientific techniques reveal things better left unseen and unknown.

Some Other Day by John F.D. Taff – A unique way of showing that loss can cause all manner of problems if it isn't expressed properly.

Haunter by Hank Schwaeble – What happens while you sleep? Normal things I would imagine, but imagine if ghastly things happened! This story paints that picture.

Burial Suit by John C. Foster – An ex-con decides that his dead father mustn’t go to the next life alone; with bloody consequences for a number of people.

Nine by Aaron Polson – Two children and their anthropologist mother struggle to come to terms with loss, especially when it seems to entwine with her studies of a lost tribe.

Penumbra by Jay Caselberg – A tale following the efforts of a dead man to contact the ‘loved one’ he left behind. Flights of fancy and things not being all they seem make this a great read.

Foxhole by JG Faherty – Futuristic jungle warfare and companionship as two friends cross more than physical borders in their journey home.

Drowning by Gregory L. Norris – Water and the fear of drowning haunt a Titanic survivor to such a degree that his whole life is tainted by the fear of them and the ghosts they contain.

The Weight by Jane Brooks – Emotional and psychic baggage is given sinister form in this tale of one woman’s struggle for life.

Harder You Fall by Brian Fatah Steele – Necromancy and an uneasy association with your mentor all merge in this story of deceit and corruption.

Mirrorworld by Martin Rose – A Satanist tricks a man into becoming another item of curiosity in his apartment.

March Hays by Matthew Pegg – Convalescing after WWII, a man discovers that a place he knew as child has become the domicile of strange beings.

High Art by Karen Runge and Simon Dewar – A man who loses his wife is enjoying life now that she’s gone. He soon comes to regret his part in things however.

A Pirate’s Ransom by Jay O’Shea – Pirates get far more than they bargained for on an old abandoned freighter.

To Touch The Dead by Paul Michael Anderson – A psychic reader examines objects from the lives of the deceased and gets far more than he expected.

You Only Die Once by Stephen Graham Jones – A strange tale of death and waiting complete with bizarre creatures and dark rules.

Thoughts

As was stated at the start, each tale in this collection deals with the afterlife and issues that could arise if certain states and beliefs were true. As a consequence, the tone is unremittingly bleak, as would be expected. Stand-out tales for me were Omniscopic, Penumbra, Foxhole and March Hays.

Ominscopic has the air of ‘mad scientist’ about it, all crackling energies and forces best not tampered with. The descriptive passages that cover the bleak discovery paint a very detailed picture of something truly hideous. I liked it very much.

Penumbra takes place mainly in the wishy-washy fluid-like realm of the dead and is a love story unlike any other I’ve read. The language used and the shifting reality of what is happening make it a riveting read.

I enjoyed Foxhole for its mixture of seemingly traditional jungle warfare with super-advanced weaponry. I enjoyed the narrative as well but the setting won my heart.

Finally, March Hays was another favourite as it’s set in a seemingly normal world before little bits of ‘sinister’ start to creep in. I like it because it anchors the strange to the normal, rather than being disconnected and fluttering free. It’s also a story in which the reader doesn’t see all that is going on until the end.

The other tales are all likeable for varying reasons and I didn't actively dislike any of them. Death’s Realm paints a bleak picture of the afterlife and life in general. This I cannot applaud more. I give Death’s Realm 4/5, an enjoyable trip into realities not really meant to be known, written by authors who have visited them, in mind at least, many times over.

Visit the Grey Matter Press page here for more info.

I was given a free copy of this book for review.

Book Title: Death’s Realm

Book Author: Anthology

Publisher: Grey Matter Press

Released: 3rd December 2014

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Dark Music Review – Nielu

Written By Casey Douglass

The first thing that hit me about Nielu was its distinctive cover image. I don’t know what it is about it but it felt somehow quirky but depressing, light but sinister and probably a few other extremes and their counterparts. The next thing that hit me (things hit me a lot it seems) is the distinctive sound. Utu Lautturi hails from Finland and dedicates all of his work to “ever inspiring Nordic nature.” That is probably why I’ve never heard anything quite like this before, and it’s awesome!

Nielu is a meticulously crafted nine-piece journey through various sonic landscapes ranging from abysmal depths to gleaming peaks. Textural ambience, drones, manipulated field recordings and noise elements are supported by traditional instruments like violin, piano, organs and guitar. Vocals (in Finnish) are sparse but play an important guiding role in some of the main conjunctions of the album. Diamond and dirt, ice and fire, stone and water all merge to conjure an extremely visual experience. Each track has a distinct story and are all quite different from each other, yet form essential parts of a whole. The album is mastered for all kinds of speakers but is definitely best experienced with headphones in an introspective setting.

The Tracks

’Tis Not Blood

A strange piano rhythm with distortion/hiss and dripping sounds is joined by a deep drone. This sounds like the kind of music that might play when a lone traveller first sees Big-foot or Sasquatch. Quirky and hinting at the strangeness of the situation. Footsteps on gravel do join with the sounds later which only adds to this effect.

Pu-Erh Tea (feat. Rasplyn)

Birdsong and dripping water on canvas with strong strings joins haunting vocals and deep piano notes. This conjures images of a visit to the wise woman or witch that may live in the forest, someone you are unsure of as to what kind of reception they will give you. The sound distorts at the mid point, deepening the feeling of uneasiness and turns more electronic at the end. Loud and strange.

Only Sap

Soft tones joined by light-hearted violin and piano that warps and reverses to create a pleasing plucky rhythm. Deeper tones and peripheral movements darken the feeling as dripping water comes, the sounds getting louder. A growing noise looms and gets stronger before departing abruptly before building again. If you’re afraid of a ghost manifesting beside you as you walk, this might be the music that encapsulates that. Lots of crinkling sounds and quirkiness. Light one moment with upbeat melody and then crushing you with tension in another.

Mother Mountain, Father Stream

Underwater rumbling sounds like horses stampeding are joined by the tones of an instrument that sounds like an accordion. Finnish lyrics are spoken over the top about 1/3 of the way in. Shrill tones and distortions join them before the lyrics dissolve into swirling water. Darker lyrics then sing over an ominous deep tone with sounds of movement beyond them, evoking the sound of someone digging a grave with a spade. A very high-pitched sound wave follows with other sounds behind before gradually fading to the sounds of insect-like buzzing.

Wait And Witness

This is the longest track on the album. A long string note soon joined by a melancholy wind instrument and hiss that builds into a loud whirling, like being in the middle of a squall or gale. This comes and goes with the instrumental tones and creates a to and fro feeling of calm and storm, ease and tension. The tone changes near midpoint of the track, a hushed roar, like a plane engine idling on a runway. This builds and looms for some time like a storm. Instrumental elements come back towards the end with water sounds and multiple gentle vocals and accordion-like instrument as track approaches ending.

Lint

Crackling and grating high pitched string noises boom into a deep and moody wind instrument track, much like you might expect to accompany a retro cat-burglar slinking inside a museum. Except that isn’t in keeping with the theme of the album and you can hear birdsong which places it in nature, so change the cat burglar to a thief sneaking into a troll’s cave on the hunt for gold and you might be nearer the mark. Whimsical and dangerous are two words that sum this track up for me.

With Mouths Of Fingertips

Rolling vibration and hissing audio sounds like corrupt frequencies from another realm trying to impinge on our own. It grows loud and cacophonous, energies straining to make themselves felt. A piano melody joins as the end approaches before fading into swirling electronic noises and then quieter deeper sounds.

Skinned By Sea

This is a brutal track. It begins with the sounds of the sea smashing against the shore, dragging and playing with pebbles. It maintains this for a fair while, the odd distant voice mingling, a hint of rumbling, the sounds of the pebbles clacking and grinding eating into your brain. With the name of the track in mind, it becomes sinister and crunchy, like the sounds a giant might make as they sit and chew bones. It also makes you feel cold, the stone crackling making you think of fracturing ice. The sounds grow louder, almost deafening, causing the feeling of being lost in the midst of massive forces. Quietly spoken vocals mix in after awhile, taking the edge off things as everything else grows quieter, even vanishing completely at one point, save for the vocals. Then things crackle into life again followed by a massive concussion.

Escort

A slow piano rhythm and high-pitched whine merge into louder distortions and whines. The piano note becomes more upbeat as other things swirl around the melody, deep tones and a maelstrom of electro noise.

Thoughts

Nielu is an album that took my attention and held it in a way that few other dark ambient albums have achieved. I want to call it quirky, folksy, naturey and plenty of other words ending in “y” , both real and made-up. I think the mix of real instruments and vocals with the more atmospheric nature recordings and electronic sounds just creates such a textured arrangement of audio that it feels like you are hearing something that you might not be allowed to, something not meant for mortal ears that has slipped through from somewhere else. That might sound grandiose but it’s how I feel.

I really took to Nielu from the first listening session and consecutive sessions only confirmed my feelings. If you are new to dark ambient or you are an old hand looking for something a bit different, pick up Nielu now, it’s a stunning album!

Rating 5/5.

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

Album Title: Nielu

Artist: Utu Lautturi

Label: Pale Noir

Released : 31st January 2015

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Dark Film Review - Continuum

I review sci-fi film Continuum over on Geek Syndicate here. An enjoyable and well-acted science-fiction film that makes more of the human drives and emotions than other, more spectacular films in the genre. Starring Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Hayley Joel Osment and Victor Garber.

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Dark Fiction - Too Much Reality

Too Much Reality

By Casey Douglass

The metal container stood in his living room like the obelisk from 2001, the light from the afternoon sun caressing its sharp lines and CarryEase handles. He approached it and ran his hands down the side, fingers probing for the release button.

Fully life-like and realistic the advert had said.

Familiar with all known fantasies, fetishes and kinks they boasted.

The best in synthetic technology! More real than reality! They crowed.

His index finger found a small recess and felt something give. A soft hum sounded from inside the packaging. Things began to vibrate. The front panel slid down with a whoosh, the side panels folding back behind the rear. An expulsion of packing steam blew in all directions, the smell of cinnamon and rubber tickling his nose. He waved a hand around to help dispel it.

Then he let out a croaking sound. There she was! The ultimate in “companion technology”.

Her skin glistened as the nano-fibres reacted to the air. She sucked in a large lungful of air and opened her eyes. ‘Hello,’ she said, her voice husky and mid-toned, just like he’d specified.

‘Heh-lo yourself!’ he replied, a wide grin creasing his face. ‘Follow me to the bedroom!’

She stepped out of the container, her naked body glowing as the sun highlighted her curves. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ she said, her voice flat and matter-of-fact.

‘What?’ he squeaked.

‘Just no,’ she answered, her dainty strides taking her away from him and towards the front door.

‘Wait! You’re supposed to love me!’ he yelled as he dropped to his knees.

The last thing he saw of her was her perfect backside as the door slid shut behind it, a wolf whistle piercing the air from down the corridor. He rocked back onto his heels and began to sob.

‘Too real!’ he whimpered. ‘You idiots! You made her too real!’

The End

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