The fourth and last volume of the Electronic Manifesto is an heterogeneous compilation released into a limited run of 500 copies and it gathers fourteen bands that have been invited to write their own epitaph. The album opens with three melancholic tracks made by TAT feat. Cypher & Pagan ("La fin de temps" mix Spanish melodies, electronic bass lines, orchestral arrangements and female spoken word), Stendeck ("It ended as it started" is a mix of ambient synth pads and electronic industrial rhythms) and Laag ("Tower of humans" is a convincing electronic mid tempo that gathers melodic deep vocals and electronic mid tempo rhythmic synth sounds with a nice texture of tiny melodies). With "When I was old (feat HIV+)" by Normotone we change a bit the registry thanks to cinematic atmospheres (recitative Spanish vocals with orchestral backgrounds and fragmented digital industrial rhythms). Ab Ovo with "Keystone" follow a similar path thanks to synth pads, piano reverbs, sampled vocals and guitar feedbacks. Flint Glass' "Death ritual" starts like a dark ambient track with ritual percussions just to turn after a couple of minutes into an ambient electronic tune with i.d.m. rhythm patterns. Philippe Petit & Lydia lunch, with "Requiescat in the dark", did a sort of movie for you ears where the passionate recitative voice of Lydia is joined by digital drones and processed strings. With Club Amour's "Science fiction" the compilation enters into the electronic realm with a good instrumental track where layers of synth pad orchestrations are sustained by vibrant bass lines. Melody and rhythm are the core of the track. With Umilenie's "Tempus fugit" we welcome retro e.b.m. music with an instrumental tune where upbeat rhythms (synth and drums) duet with catchy melodic lines. We have the same with Communter's "Analog death", a catchy electronic instrumental that will you beg for more. Veronika Nikolic's "My world (Ruben Montesco remix)" is the first tune to have a dancey rhythm and it's nice how it mixes electro beats with syncopated synth lines and a sensual female voice. Alexey Volkov's "Levitan" incarnate energy and strength thanks to retro e.b.m. 4/4 distortions. Ex_Tension with "The call of elara (remix from the orginal version of 9 Elma)" mix e.b.m. energy and ambient atmospheres creating a good balance. Geomatic with "The skin (feat Ed Randazzo)" sound like Depeche Mode playing e.b.m. R3MUTE's with "Less than zero (feat HIV+, Normontone version)" are here with industrial e.b.m. sounds a la Hocico influenced a bit by electro music. PEDRO PENAS ROBLES & LAURENT MALTINTI with "Vaya con dios (Normotone edit version)" close the album with an industrial i.d.m. version of what sounds like being a classic Spanish guitar folk song. Nice compilation, indeed...

Revisiting old gems isn't an unusual thing for Coph Nia see the versions of "Prime Mover" by Leather Nun and "Stygmata Martir" by Bauhaus recorded for "Shape Shifter" or the ones contained on their latest full length "The Dark Illuminati: A Celestial Tragedy In Two Acts": "Fire" originally performed by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, "Sympathy For The Devil" originally performed by The Rolling Stones and "Religion" originally performed by Front 242. This time for Wrotycz Records they decided to propose four tracks that in the seventies were classic cuts of devilish hard rock music: "Black Sabbath" originally performed by Black Sabbath, "Sick Thing" originally performed by Alice Cooper, "Levitation" originally performed by Hawkwind and an old success of Ozzy Osbourne, "Mr. Crowley" (the best of the lot which contains also samples of Aleister Crowley voice). As usual, the original songs have been ripped to pieces and slowed down just to sound like Coph Nia used to sound: dark, epic and ritualistic. The recitative deep vocals coupled by militaristic kettledrums, orchestrations and dark ambient sounds make of this MCD a convincing one and if you are a fan of the band for sure you'll want to check this out.

Ceremony of Innocence (C.O.I.) is the Neo-Classical project of Austrian Native, Alexander Weiser, who is also known for his Dark Ambient works with Bone Machine and B-Machina. Der Rote Glanz Der Flammenfee is the first release by Weiser under this project, following in the footsteps of a web-released single, Ich Tauche Tiefer. There are eleven tracks on this album ranging between one and fourteen minutes in length. There is also a video of the fourth track, Zeit und Raum, included on the CD.

C.O.I.’s Der Rote Glanz Der Flammenfee is constructed predominantly from synthesized choral sounds and percussion. These sounds evoke a very peaceful and enchanting feeling, but also impart an underlying feeling of imminence and necessity. This album reminds me of walking in a cold, lightly snowing winter’s evening, obviously alone, yet surrounded by moving shadows.

There is a mystery hidden within these tracks, one that will take me many listens to fully explore. The first half of C.O.I.’s Der Rote Glanz Der Flammenfee is a very thought provoking and beautifully sculpted orchestral work that reminds me somehow of the Myst soundtrack. The second half of Der Rote Glanz Der Flammenfee is lighter in nature and integrates more of an early 90’s ambient/IDM sound. The transition is surprisingly well-played, and the levity keeps C.O.I.’s Der Rote Glanz Der Flammenfee fresh and listenable throughout.

This curious release by Ewe is the first of two Fractured and Remixed albums by Zarach Baah Tharagh (ZBT). This is Ewe’s fifth release through Smell the Stench Records. Most of the thirteen tracks on this album are within one and three minutes of length. Each track is typically composed of eccentric keyboards and ghostly ambience.

Ewe’s Fractured and Remixed album maintains a consistent sound of droning, dreary ambience complimented by keyboard sounds, sometimes introverted and pretty, sometimes random and unconventional. The image I get from this album is of a haunted piano room captured at different hours of night: never a room someone would feel comfortable alone in, but some hours are more welcoming than others.

There is a good balance between music and non-music here, and the more eccentric keys throughout this album add a sense of levity. Because of the rhythmic nature of Ewe’s Fractured and Remixed album, I find my mind at ease while listening to unearthly and haunted music. I think ZBT has committed more to the tracks on this Fractured and Remixed release, but I suspect that is because these piano pieces need to be heard in full form. All in all, ZBT’s Fracture and Remix of Ewe’s Demo V is a pleasantly unexpected change of pace.

This massive 4-cd box, released in a limited edition of 300 copies, features two solo albums, Maurizio Bianchi's "Niddha Emmhna" and Nimh's "Subterrean Thoughts", a collaborative one, "Secluded Truths", and a split one, entitling the whole boxset and exclusive to it (while all the other titles are also sold separately). This flow of titles marks the return of Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh in the Amplexus/Silentes catalogue (after "The Impossible Days" and his collaboration with Nefelheim, "Whispers from the Ashes"), and witnesses a period of particular prolificacy for Bianchi, with new solo releases on Silentes, Small Voices etc. and new collaborative works with Land Use, Telepherique, etc. Let's start with the solo discs. "Niddha Emmhna" features two lengthy tracks inspired by verses of the "Leviticus", respectively defined by Bianchi himself as a "plasmatic symphony for electronic particles, erythrocyte frequencies and menarchal viola" and a "hemolytic decomposition for neurologic piano, coagulant clangs and leucocyte sonances". The cosmic synth patterns in "Niddha" are disturbed by the viola and noisy electronics, but the true surprise comes with the overwhelming "Emmhna", an abysmal descent into cacophony which could really remind of seminal past works of Bianchi's like "Armaghedon". This monstrous, unbelievably bleak composition is probably the gem of the whole work. Nimh's "Subterrean Thoughts" sees Verticchio's synth-based ambient in its more sombre vein, already explored in works like "Line of Fire" and "The Impossible Days". I wouldn't exactly call it "dark ambient", but the Roman musician surely prefers tension to relaxing atmospheres. To his usual array of instruments (synths, keyboards, ethnic samples, field recordings, etc.) he now adds recognizable guitar lines in "Subterrean Thoughts", a melody which also closes the cd in a piano reprise. I venture Nimh is going through a process of change and experimentation, as there are many different inputs in these tracks that could be explored further. "Secluded Truth", the collaborative cd, is also the one I honestly like less, possibly because it's where the cosmic ambient influences of the two are more evident, and I'm not particularly moved by that kind of music. I dig the darker tracks, like "The Sacred Outside" and "Leaving the Time", but I'm not really convinced by the rest. In "The World Beyond", for example, the synth melody is a bit jarring when matched with ethnic percussions and digital programming. As a whole, the cd has plenty of good moments, but the collaboration never seems to truly sparkle. The exclusive cd, on the contrary, is enjoyable from start to end. Bianchi offers two obscure tracks, "Land Use I" and the brooding "Land Use II", whose obsessive mechanical loops again remind of his glorious and pioneering industrial past; and Nimh's three pieces are a perfect match, with the menacing tension of "Beyond the Gates...", "Black Earth" and "...the Garden of Loneliness", the last two featuring a distorted electric guitar which brings to mind Maeror Tri and Troum. A recommended listen for fans of industrial-tinged ambiences.