I received this for review in the same package as Kammerheit "The Starwheel." They share similar elements. Both are nice drone, dark ambient music, but overall this seems a lot darker and heavier than Kammerheit I don’t really know how to describe it, but this is some pretty heavy stuff. Not too noisy, but definitely dark, oppressive, and a lot more complex that Kammerheit.

This is not music that soothes the listener. Rather, it demands that the listener pay close attention and never deviate from listening. If your mind wanders, there will be some musical element in the piece that will jar you back. On some tracks, such as "Passage" the music becomes a bit noisier. This is not pleasant drone music. Rather, this seems meant to put the listener on edge. "Lapsing" sounds as if it were specifically written for a suspenseful part of a movie soundtrack. You know something bad is about to happen and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.

What makes this disc interesting is everything that seems to lie just below the surface of the music. Elements surge in and out of the music to make themselves recognized and then fade back into the mix. Overall, if you like your dark ambient music to be really, really dark, this is definitely a must to pick up.

This disc consists of three tracks, each about 20 minutes each. Nice oversize packaging with three art inserts about the size of a postcard. The artwork was done by Lasse Hoile and is reminiscent of Ben Didier’s work for Ad Noiseam. Reminds me of Amplexus releases in their glory days. I have some of Vidna Obmana’s work, although I was unfamiliar with Bass Communion (he also records under the name Porcupine Tree, which I do have and that project is nowhere near as good as this disc).

On to the music. If you are expecting something more new age like Vidna Obmana's River of Appearance, you’ll be disappointed. The first track starts off a bit more dissonant, although no so much as with Obmana’s collaboration with Asmus Tietchens, employing long drones that shift subtly. However, about halfway through it shifts to a more minimalist stance, becoming more and more minimalist as the track nears the ending, to the point where I had to check the player to see if it was still playing. Track 2 starts off as quietly as the last track left off. This track takes on a darker tone, reminiscent of Lustmord, only not quite so sparse. (Doesn’t everything in the dark ambient realm get compared to Lustmord eventually?) This track also shifts about halfway through into lush drone with a bit less dissonance than the previous track. I like the complexity of this track. There is a lot happening under the surface that keeps it interesting. As expected, Track 3 also starts off quietly, building up to soft drones. This track has a slightly noisier undercurrent, but by no means is this harsh. Once again, at the halfway point it gets a bit more interesting with some bass synth kicking in to provide some melody at which point the noisy undercurrent becomes a bit more demanding. Track 3 is by far the high point of this disc. I really wish that the whole disc was like the last 10 minutes! Outstanding.

Overall, this is a decent disc, but I found myself wanting more from the music. It was almost too subtle. After 40 minutes, I found myself wanting to change discs, not because it was bad, but because it was no longer engaging. Luckily, it got better halfway through track 3. Even so, according to Soleilmoon this CD is limited to 1000 copies and already sold out and out of print. You can still get it on Itunes, but then you are missing out on the exquisite packaging.

I had no idea what to expect when I put this in my CD player. Instrumentation listed classic guitars, electric guitars, electric basses, harp, chello, percussion, and drums. There was a credit for "conductor and bass". I had never heard of DésAccordes, Terry Riley, or even Gazul Records so I was pretty much a blank slate for this one. Seems that Riley is a frequent collaborator with Kronos Quartet (with whom I am much enamored) so I was interested to check this out. The piece was originally composed in 1964 and is now being reproduced by French outfit DésAccordes. There are 5 unnamed tracks that run for a total of 48.54. On to the music. According to the liner notes, "Terry Riley set down on paper within a few hours the 53 patterns that compose the one page score of In C." It’s all about interlocking patterns, but often we seem to hear the same thing over and over again. Track 1 is the shortest track, consisting of nice drone with an interesting build. Track 2 starts off being a bit more repetitive. It gets old pretty quick. Shifts slowly over time in an almost imperceptible way. About ¾ of the way through, gets a bit less like listening to a metronome hitting a steady 4 / 4 beat on strings at 200 beats per minute. Starts to sort of fall apart, which is where I think it becomes interesting. Track 2 flows well into track 3, which is unsurprising as the liner notes state that this was always meant to be performed as one continual piece. Repitition still reigns, but much more varied than track 2 and a bit more variation in dynamics. Track 4 was going along fine, until about halfway through when it kicked into what sounded like minimalism mixed with something out of a musical - a jarring, unholy union. It was as if DésAccordes suddenly decided that what Riley had written did not "rock" enough and they were going to fix it. Luckily it didn’t last long, and after about a minute they went back to what they were doing. I thought track 2 was the low point of the disc. I was wrong. This one minute pretty much ruined the track for me. Track 5 is an interesting track but it seems to end a couple of times, leaving you wondering if it will really end this time. I must admit that this was not really my thing. I like repetition as much as the next experimentalist and I have enjoyed other minimalist composers like Phillip Glass and Steve Reich. But if you thought that Steve Reich was not minimalist enough, this may be just the disc for you.

OK. At first glance and with the name of the tracks, I thought that Marc had sent me a black metal band by mistake. Come on – tell me that if you only read the song titles, things like "My Name is Legion for we are Many", "Dirge of the Crucified", and "Forging the Gates of Gehenna" you wouldn’t come to the same conclusion! So I put it in prepared the worst. I’m not a fan of black metal, but I was willing to take one for the team. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this has more in common with Lustmord than with Emperor. In fact, track 8 (Of Empires Burning) sort of reminds me of a track off of Heresy. It wasn’t until after I had listened to the album all the way through that I noticed that the email was for Steel Hook Prosthesis. I wasn’t familiar with this side project. This is nice noisy ambient that never really threatens to get out of control. It’s a good illustration that noise can be pleasant to listen to and that subdued can sometimes be much better. I can’t really think of too many comparisons at the moment because there are not a lot of people who do this kind of work. The low points of the album are tracks 2 (My Name is Legion for we are Many) and track 9 (Cerebus) because of the inclusion of heavily distorted voice / samples that intrude on the soundscape like an unwanted house guest. The voice is so distorted in track 9 that you cannot even try to make it out. Track 2 seems like a sample that just doesn’t work. That said, the rest of the disc makes up for this weakness. This is good music to put on for reading. It doesn’t demand too much attention from the listener, but occasionally gets noisy just when you’ve begun to ignore it. If you think that dark ambient lacks complexity and is a bit boring but think that most noise albums are out to kill you, this is your happy medium. Unfortunately, this is already sold out from the label, but if you happen to find it, pick it up. This is a good one to take a chance on.

First, I must disclose my bias. I am a heavy fan of Current 93. I would guess that Orbit Service are also fans because it has a similar feel at times. So I should like this, right? This is a weird combination of the acoustic guitar music of Current 93 and In Gowan Ring with elements of psychedelic rock and college indy rock thrown in. Those who have spent any time listening to or working at a college radio station know what I mean by college rock - it’s hard to explain. I don’t know what it is, but this CD just doesn’t really do anything for me. Of course there really is no accounting for taste at times, but it doesn’t really seem to be the kind of release I would expect to review here. It doesn’t really fit well into any of the categories I have available to me to choose from. At times, the music seems to have a kind of psychedelic feel reminiscent of Pink Floyd (track 8, Thought You Should Know) while some, like track 5 (The Seven Rays), is pretty much straight slow college rock. For me, the high point of the disc was track 10 (Sad Syrup), an instrumental. I would say that this album is adequately executed. Probably a good band to see live but not really an outstanding album. CMJ would probably love this album. If you're looking for college rock with a bit darker edge this may be your thing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t terribly impressed.