'Leaving Hardly A Mark' is the debut album of the LHAM project, behind which lie the Italians Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh, Hall of Mirrors, Twist of Fate...) and Bruno De Angelis (Mana ERG). Cinematic and strongly evocative atmospheres are painted with the use of electronic instrumentation, guitars, bass and effects, following stylistic paths on the borderline between ambient music, moderate experimentation and subliminal "World" veins.

That's their description in a nutsheel and is rather accurate too. An album of 11 instrumental tracks in an hour, it opens with a banging industrial loop on "Access" that is bound to get your attention. This calms down quickly though as it mellows out into an expansive atmospheric piece which is still rife with metallic slices cut from the cloth of industrial ambient. "Rhesus Negative" begins with a buzzing hve of sonic activity but takes a turn into parts unknown, amorphous at first but tending toward something vaguely melodic. "Hail on Mary" has a bit more harrowing demeanor at first, but the gentle guitar figure juxtaposed with the distorted noise is a little bit of comfort amidst the intensity. "Martenot" has big cinematic written all over it, and I can't help but think of Vangelis on this one; the better side of Vangelis, that is. Somewhat romantic but still steeped in mystery. There are obscured dialogue samples in the background that only serve to make it more cinematic. Blade Runner 2099? Nice grinding synth towards the end. The deeper we go into this album the more cinematic it gets. "Ferar Dolom" is the perfect example of cinematic mood music that defies description. Lots of drone but also peripheral elements that add context and texture to the mood.

There's a melancholy running through much of 'Leaving Hardly A Mark' and "Beneath The Ice" really plays that up with a heart-breakingly romantic theme. Ambient guitar is the centerpiece of "Quasi Stable" adding to the variety of atmospheres on this album. More ambient guitar on "Zdravilo" sounding like a shoegaze fantasia. For the first time on the album a sequenced rhythm takes hold on "Fuente Alta" as the music builds in intensity to a strange plateau. The nearly nine minute ender, "Mahon Nakhon" is a melange of many elements LHAM has previously explored on this album, and a fitting summation to an excellent work. Bruno didn't expect me to review this album (just their next release, 'They Cast No Shadows') since 'Leaving Hardly A Mark' was released in 2020, but I could not pass up doing one. (Sorry Bruno, reviewer's choice.) Considering how good it is, it definitely deserves more than a passing mention. Verticchio and De Angelis make an extraordinary team for their unique cinematic ambeint music.