Amorphix - Wreathed in Shadows of Light and Ash

Hear The Track Here

This has been a good month for welcoming back some once familiar faces, earlier this month Freqen-Cee and now Amorphix returns from some desolate hinterland to display his wares for the unwary. 2006 was dotted with tracks from this very dark Electronica artist and very smart (if well scary) they were too. He's back and assuring us that nothing has changed because 'This one is a real pitch black, dark ambient soundscape and perhaps the darkest and most minimal so far completed' Oh goodie, lets hand out the colostomy bags and blindfolds (because I really, really don't want to see it). Now if you think I am showing more of my Milky Way sized yellow streak a tad more than normal, you'd be right.

When I say 'very dark' in relation to this artist, I do mean exactly that. In many ways the effect Amorphix's music had on me at the time was akin to tracks from The Dead Company - the same brooding menace. First off, let me say it would be best to be horizontal for this track - yep, it's one of those. Even though Ambient has never been a musical favourite of mine, I've always found Amorphix's particular take on the genre to work its magic on me and I see no reason - having listened to Wreathed In etc - why my initial impression of his work is in any way faulty.

Sure, its all a bit floaty, and at just over nine minutes long is going to be a stretch for all but the most intrepid of Ambient heads. While it didn't really fit in so much on my daily round (too much else going on) when I had a quiet moment for (ahem) 'refreshment' and a quick lie-down this was the track that induced the fastest response. Not because it was infinitely boring (as is most ambient IMHO) but because it provided such vivid and realistic visions along with the music. Much more cosmic in nature and sound, I think, than the bulk of this musicians work but just as good.

Class Ambient. Highly Recommended.