I can’t say enough good things about this project! It took me a few listens to really appreciate the full impact of the album; but the payoff is pure dark delight! Lest my overt enthusiasm be misconstrued for manic-depressive syndrome, let me first say that I am a total sucker for well-done dark ambient music. And this is as nearly well done as it gets. The person behind The Victim’s Shudder goes only by the name of DM Winn, whereabouts unknown. The label, NOTHingness Records is out of Belgium. That being said, let’s get down to the music. "In Lasting Joy, of Slowly Dying" opens with a piece titled "A Sleeping Box" where droplets of water play against a clicking sound with baby-babble and the faint tinkling of an abstract music box melody that becomes more psychotic toward the end of this short, introductory episode. "Agnellus" continues the cycle with restrained high-pitched squealing strings and bits of a singsong child’s nursery rhyme. A thumb piano in the background plays a counter-melodic sequence and then deep cellos enter and somberly state the brief theme while a storm cloud of malevolence builds in the atmosphere. A female voice, which has been humming in the wings emerges wordlessly, comes to the fore and follows the sad and foreboding cello melody. All the while high strings still squeal in apprehension. A deep male voice has a muffled verbal exchange with the female voice while the music builds with menacing intent. The female voice rises, singing sustained "ahs" while strings provide backing accompaniment ending on a high, dissonant psychotic chord. The sequence repeats. Merely describing the mechanics of this doesn’t even begin to do it justice. It is so well executed that it’s mind-boggling. You have to hear it to get the full effect.The third track, "The First Sleep", again features the female voice (Diana W, who does a very nice job in a Black Tape For A Blue Girl sort of way) while harp, and strings play seemingly innocent counter melodies. A brief respite from the psychosis. On track 4, "The Fall And Embrace" a piano plays somber chords while in the background another sinister storm brews. More female voice, subdued and counter-melody string chords. The fem-vox continues to wordlessly sing her own sad song in an Ophelia-like manner and a sampled discussion on exorcism is dropped into the mix. The strings and piano build in an increasingly distressing manner. An impending doom may be at hand... "Bells" is another transitory piece, enveloped in the protective embryonic innocence of childhood. With "Nox Intempestia", we really get the impression of a portentous resolution soon to occur. The insanity grows with woodwinds carrying a demented carnival tune interspersed with stately piano chords and stray higher register strings while male voice jibbers in the background. "The Crashing of The Spheres" begins with the piano chord theme hinted at before, and now fully realized and expanded upon. And yes, there truly IS a crashing as the sound of glass smashes across the speakers and the sonic-storm rages and howls! And all the while the piano keeps playing... ."Mente Concipio", the final track, and longest piece from "In Lasting Joy, of Slowly Dying" sounds very-much like Ordo Equilibrio, with a recitation by a male voice over slowly played piano notes and a rich mélange of atmosphere. No point in giving away the words of the recitation, wouldn’t want to spoil your listening experience. You just need to hear it for yourself. This continues in a repeated cycle for eleven and a half minutes until its abrupt conclusion. On the contrary to being boring, it is GREAT atmosphere, totally gothic and sublime. There are just so many elements of some of the best dark ambient projects I’ve ever heard here (Ordo Equilibrio, Caul, Ildfrost, Lustmord, Endura and probably a heap of CMI projects) that this CD is a MUST HAVE for fans of the genre. Maybe The Victim’s Shudder utilizes more neo-classical elements than the average dark ambient project, and maybe that’s what sets it apart from the slew (as opposed to the few in years past) of composers in the genre presently. Whatever the case, I believe that if what you’ve read about it so far intrigues you, you will enjoy "In Lasting Joy, of Slowly Dying" very, very much. Note: While this release is a CD-R, NOTHingness Records is a CD-R label and you’re still getting a high-quality product packaged in a DVD-style plastic case. (At least that’s the way they sent it to me.)

After deleting the production of the final box containing the Beyond Sensory Experience trilogy ("Tortuna", "Urmula" and "Ratan") Old Europa Cafe decided to release KORRELATIONS: an album of unreleased tracks and re-interpretations managed by Alexxx, Doshaska!, P3, Zdan, Henrik Nordavargr Björkk, Morge and Alko. The new tracks "Korrelations", "Yes Satan", "Inside Erasmus's bed" and "Ratan II" are a sort of sum of the three previous releases. "Korrelations" is an ambient track with hypnotic layers and treated vocals (really suggestive), "Yes Satan" on the contrary is based on rhythms and loops (try to imagine an upbeat tempo of a real drum with treated violin inserts, distorted bass guitar mixed down, forming a first obscure part and a second one, more trip hop oriented). With "Inside Erasmus's bed" we enter again into the dark ambience created by Drakhon and K. Meitzer. Ambience that ideally continue with Ratan II, a disturbing track with subtle vocals and rhythms. The re-worked tracks pass from the raw ambient sounds of Alexx ("The two - trace problem") to the industrial distortions of Alko ("28.9.11.9"), passing from the ambient exoticism of Doschaska! ("Urmula"), the dark ambient of Zdan ("Himmelen") and the light minimal techno of Henrik Nordavargr Björkk ("Tortuna"). This is a good item which will introduce you to the next release "Pursuit Of Pleasure" that will be released anytime soon by Cold Meat Industry.

Composed between 2002 and 2004 in Kirjakkala (Finland West coast) where mornings last only 33'33", TSACA TSAP is the third album that Ramo Teder composed as Pastacas. Respect the old releases this is more musical and it sees a more intense use of acustic instruments respect the sampled sounds. The voice is the thing that has been treated more heavily and as a final result you've got sixteen tracks that oscillate from jazz, pop, ambient, techno, improvisation and musical virtuosity where the song, all of a sudden, could stop including a part of treated sounds (tape slowdown effect, flanger, etc) just to start again as a light pop song. Try to imagine a strange version of King Of Convenience that has been hijacked by a eccentric dj. The final result is really particular and personal and by listening to these particular songs is like walking into Ramo's living room without your shoes on and sitting down on the floor just to see his creatures taking form. Also the language used (a mix of Estonian, Finnish and one totally invented) help the creation of the strange thing called TSACA TSAP. Please be quiet and take your place...

Totality 6.10.94 is the third ambient/experimental solo effort by Steven K. Smith. Smith has collaborated on several projects including Daye of Skye and that in being the other half of the ambient band Dolmen. Totality 6.10.94 attempts to create a sonic realization of the 1994 solar eclipse through use of sonorous environments in a three movement phase.
The opening track appropriately titled "The Approaching Darkness at Noon" begins with a moody synthesizer wall drone that had me prepared to partake in the adventure. I waited contently for the piece to evolve so that I could begin my journey but to my dismay, it did not. It just got on my nerves. This set the tone for the entire CD. The drone just did not let up or progress. It was... well... a wall (excuse the pun) that I thought would never end. I was gritting my teeth before the second movement dominated my headphones. Buried deep within the title track I felt saved by the introduction of a very nice piece of tribal rhythms which cued moody and shadowy apparitions. They crept through the darkness of the objectionable drone and my hopes for Totality shot up. But this was a misinterpretation on my part because as soon as the rhythms conjured up their dark imagery, they dissipated just as swiftly and continued with more of the monotonous stagnate drones. And so was the CD.
If Smith had at least made any attempt at some unique sound design or, at the very least, allowed the movements to progress with organic behavior I believe that this endeavor was indeed an effort. It really feels like Smith holds back natural progressions. The sounds and walls are so muddy that I felt dirty after listening. And like sonic mud, Smith languishes for any display or creativity. I honestly feel that little or no effort was involved in the making of Totality and that it may have been an "off the cuff" project. This is a shame in that within the mere seconds of distant vocal experiments and brooding rhythm an embryo is awaiting to take shape.

I honestly wasn't impressed by Diskrepant's recent split with des Esseintes, harsh old school industrial noise which I found a tad too primitive. On the contrary, this new full-length is an entirely different story, and a very positive surprise. Per Åhlund seems to be deeply inspired by Eastern spirituality (the inner cover states that "religion is a thing of the past - spirituality is not"), and this is evident at least in the musical aspect of the work: "Preparing for the fourth stage" heavily relies on treated and untreated recordings of ritual instruments (gongs, bells, rattles, etc.), vocal mantras etc., which are carefully mixed with minimal electronic drones. The second and shorter track, "Entering the Fourth Stage", is even more subdued and static, with barely recognizable (often reversed) samples and low-end currents. The whole work is surely dark and at times brooding, but not in a tipically "dark ambient" vein - rather conveying the feel of both meditative detachment and mind-altering vertigo that is indeed typical of Buddhist chants. A very soulful and respectful work, from this point of view. Along with Halo Manash's "Syoma", this is my favourite ritual-ambient work of 2004.