- Apr 5, 2003
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Celestiial - Desolate North
Bindrune Recordings - BRR004 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Welcome to the Desolate North, a very empty yet grim release from this dark ambiance project. I say project, because it is front by one man performing everything, which in this case would be ambiant nature recordings with reverb-soaked, incoherent growls... simply sound. There is a cymbal crash at the end of each bar which lasts throughout the whole length of the first few tracks which is very harsh and a bit too loud in the mix. There is also a great deal of acoustic guitar throughout the work in a very subtle way, making it's best appearance on the fourth track. The sound is very repetitive and soaked in reverb; in other words, dark ambiance.
I know Celestiial is listed as a Funeral Doom Metal group, however there is never a bass drum nor distorted guitar on the entire album... how can such a sound be described as metal at all? He's definitely captured the atmosphere here, and the overall extreme slowness of the compositions... but it is neither raw nor heavy. I believe dark ambiance is the correct term for this kind of music... or at least funeral ambient...
Desolate North is paved with despair and the atmosphere it creates, although somewhat lacking, is still fairly well done. A large amount of effort went into the recording of the ambiance, which becomes quite apparent upon listening... owls hooting, birds tweeting and shrieking, wind blowing... and all of this ambiance seems to fit together with the sound of the acoustic guitar and growls. Nothing seems too out of place. It's like a deep wall of sound that remains repetitively until the end of the track. The release is not extremely long, clocking in at only 46 minutes, but fans of dark ambiance will surely find comfort in this Desolate North. It's so thorough, I forgot I had it on.
6/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Bindrune Recordings Website
Bindrune Recordings - BRR004 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Welcome to the Desolate North, a very empty yet grim release from this dark ambiance project. I say project, because it is front by one man performing everything, which in this case would be ambiant nature recordings with reverb-soaked, incoherent growls... simply sound. There is a cymbal crash at the end of each bar which lasts throughout the whole length of the first few tracks which is very harsh and a bit too loud in the mix. There is also a great deal of acoustic guitar throughout the work in a very subtle way, making it's best appearance on the fourth track. The sound is very repetitive and soaked in reverb; in other words, dark ambiance.
I know Celestiial is listed as a Funeral Doom Metal group, however there is never a bass drum nor distorted guitar on the entire album... how can such a sound be described as metal at all? He's definitely captured the atmosphere here, and the overall extreme slowness of the compositions... but it is neither raw nor heavy. I believe dark ambiance is the correct term for this kind of music... or at least funeral ambient...
Desolate North is paved with despair and the atmosphere it creates, although somewhat lacking, is still fairly well done. A large amount of effort went into the recording of the ambiance, which becomes quite apparent upon listening... owls hooting, birds tweeting and shrieking, wind blowing... and all of this ambiance seems to fit together with the sound of the acoustic guitar and growls. Nothing seems too out of place. It's like a deep wall of sound that remains repetitively until the end of the track. The release is not extremely long, clocking in at only 46 minutes, but fans of dark ambiance will surely find comfort in this Desolate North. It's so thorough, I forgot I had it on.
6/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Bindrune Recordings Website
