OK, I have been living in a cave for the last few years and have not heard Squaremeter before, nor had I heard any Panacea. First off, this was not what I expected from an Ant-Zen release. If you are looking for rhythmic noise, this is not one to pick up. But you should give it a shot anyway if you are in to engaging music that blends ambient textures with noise and the occasional burst of rhythms. The promo material states that "B. Lustmord was mentioned as a possible inspiration to Squaremeter and now it seems, Mootz’s intention for this album was to create a 21st century "Paradise Disowned" that is coupled with an imaginary soundtrack to a "The Seventh Sign" sequel." I would not really call this standard dark ambient. Although there are some Lustmord-like elements here (I’m thinking specifically of Monstrous Soul) this is a bit more complex and engaging but sometimes that complexity gets in the way. On to the music. I really liked the first half of this disc. For me, the standout tracks were "White Breach" and "Acr Flow" and "Gazed Radiation". All of these manage to use elements of dark ambient while adding just enough elements of noise, synth pad, and beat to remain engaging to the listener. Not quite the kind of thing that you could just put on and read with, but pleasant listening. "Second Angle" was also nice and would sound right at home in a science fiction film. On the down side, I was not too into the other tracks. "Diffraction" has a staccato synth line that gets a bit too repetitive. "Reanimation Limit" has good elements as well, but also has some synth elements that just didn’t seem to work. "Deviation" is OK and starts to get a bit more chaotic and noisy toward the end, which was a welcome change of pace after "Reanimation Limit," but it never seemed to let go and unload with both barrels. Overall, when the music is good, it’s really good. When it’s not so good, it’s still not too bad, because half of the tracks are structured in such a way that it is like having two or three tracks in one so the parts that are not terribly good are not that long. Squaremeter does do a good job of using silence in his tracks to add tension, which is becoming a lost art. So while this disc is sort of a mixed bag, it’s still a disc worth checking out. I have a feeling that this is the kind of disc that gets better with repeated listenings.