Dark, expansive, alluring
348109
Esquire recommendation. Scooped it up and immediately was taken for a ride.  A journey into the darkness of the human heart.
433080
I'll say it right off the bat: this album is not for pop listeners.  This is very niche ambient, with dark moods written throughout.  I first got my hands on this when I was hosting electronic music radio shows at KSVR-FM in Washington State, and while the album turned me off at first, through successive playings, I grew to love it.

The layered quality of this album is pretty amazing, with both synthetic and natural sounds interwoven again and again into an aural tapestry that can only be described as desperately haunting.  This album easily matches the best ambient from giants like Steve Roach, and in many respects, I think this album does Roach one better.  Not a "noise" album at all, Substrata has bona fide musical composition; just of a sort so odd and out of the ordinary that an untested ear might not recognize it at first.  Certainly I didn't, and I like to think of myself as a hard-core electronic music audiophile.

Especially interesting is the use of the Twin Peaks spoken word clip on track 6.  Not being much of a David Lynch or Twin Peaks fan, I did not know the origins of this clip until recently.

If you're an existing electronic or ambient music fan, and want to stretch your tastes a little, especially during those late night aural soujurns with your CD player, pick up a copy of this.  It's not for everyone, but for those who can appreciate its subtle, unusual qualities, you won't be disappointed!
2033401
Even though her only other album that I have is 'Jagged Little Pill', I'm quite a fan of Alanis Morissette; but her distinctive music is an acquired taste and will not appeal to everyone. 'Flavors of Entanglement' is a collaboration with Guy Sigsworth - electronica whizz kid from my own sunny shores; he produced the album and co-wrote the songs (but AM wrote the lyrics - and can't you just tell). Her vocals sound a little mellower than on 'Jagged', but they still retain much of her earlier quirkiness - and she is definitely in fine form vocally.

The combination of electronica and AM's idiosyncratic style isn't quite a 'marriage made in heaven' (more a burgeoning love affair), but I think the balance is about right - thanks, in no small part, to some gutsy vocals from AM, which she projects with laser-guided precision. The synthesized sounds are both interesting and exhilarating, but there can be no denying that the real substance of this album, is in the songs (especially the lyrics) and AM's delivery of them. One only has to listen to 'Not As We' and 'Torch', to realize that AM is still more than capable of rendering some stirring songs with well crafted lyrics, without resorting to an over-reliance upon electronic wizardry.

Some comments about may favourite tracks :

CITIZEN OF THE PLANET - The song starts with synth laden strains of 'Arabian Nights' - pleasant, 'easy on the ear' stuff. However, don't get too 'cumfy', because the chorus which follows, with its fusion of powerful vocals and high density synths, will literally blast you into the cosmos. Strange lyrics (but great to listen to) - something to do with sacrificing family ties to go forth and seek 'enlightenment' by experiencing the wider world (I think).

VERSIONS OF VIOLENCE - Another high-octane offering, with pulsating electronic pyrotechnics aplenty - including some noteworthy bass harmonics. AM sings in two different keys on this one. The overall sound is somewhat reminiscent of Evanescence and, arguably, the track is a little over-produced.

NOT AS WE - A wistful, slow tempo song with piano accompaniment only, and featuring ethereal vocals and exceptionally fine lyrics. AM reflects, with sadness, upon (yet another) relationship which has crumbled. She puts on a brave face ('I'm faking it, 'til I'm pseudo making it') - but, at the same time, the song is tinged with a sort of 'life goes on' resilience ('...... begin again but this time I as I, And not as we'). 'Torch' has a similar theme, and is also fairly light on the electronics.

MORATORIUM - Fans of sequenced drum loops (at least, I think that's what they are) should enjoy this track; also, listen out for some ghostly chorals (electronic, of course) in the background. I liked the song for its lyrics - AM is telling us that emotional relationships are all 'getting a bit too much' for her, and she needs a break. Scarcely original, but she manages to convey this sentiment in four different ways by her colourful use of words - and besides, any songwriter who can work a word(?) like 'focusless-ness' into the lyrics, gets my vote.

Of the remaining songs, only 'Underneath' comes as a disappointment; it's due for release as a single, so it must have something about it. I guess a lot of people will like it, but I'm afraid it didn't push many of my buttons. I don't dislike 'Incomplete', it's a pleasant (almost folksy) song but, within the context of the album', it's a bit too 'pretty' for me.

To sum up, 'Flavors of Entanglement' is a rather mystifying melange of disparate vocals, sharp (if occasionally impenetrable) lyrics, frequent tempo changes and techno trickery. It's an album that can be enjoyed in it's entirety - but I found it easier to take in small doses. 'Flavors of Entanglement' is a good example of well executed modern pop-rock (but for grown-ups only?). Apart from maybe 2 or 3 tracks, not recommended for lovers of soothing music.
1527598
Each track of this well-chosen compilation flows seamlessly into the next, creating a warm yet dark ambiance that is at once foreboding and oddly reassuring. Highly recommended!
1669978
The new I, Synthesist album builds on the same electronic and dance roots that Chris Ianuzzi drew on for 2004's Avalanche.  (He's been on the scene in NYC since the 1980s, working with electronic pioneers like Man Parrish, Suzanne Ciani, and even Vangelis.)  But this time around, he's expanded his vision of expressionist electropop, journeying beyond pure synthesized pleasure into darker and more adventurous territory.

The sonic spectrum is gritty and glitchy; melodies veer suddenly into dissonance, then back into line; voices are reflected, distorted, and multiplied.  Strong beats anchor everything (until the expansive ambient piece that concludes the disc).  Ianuzzi's vocals resonate throughout with a very human sense of desperation, confusion, and passion.

It's a hard album to sum up in a short review: the sound and feel are constantly changing, from song to song and from moment to moment.  To me, it evokes the mixture of uncompromising futurism and real emotion in John Foxx's post-Ultravox solo album Metamatic.

Songs like "Telepathy," "Don't Belong," and "Time Machine" have been getting enthusiastic crowd responses at I, Synthesist live shows (and deservedly so).  But my favorite track is probably "Waterfall," an intense blast of feeling that hums in the brain like a fragment of a dream.
3564314
Usually, I'd let the music of this masterpiece live up the title I just bestowed on it, but I'll do my best here.
This second LP shows a fully realized body of work of somber, painfully personal and sometimes extremely dark affecting music. The lyrics are so amazing, it's bewildering how all the thoughts ended up so dead-on and gorgeous. Stuart paints some dark and lovely landscapes for the beautiful band backing him. This second CD also sees the band slowing the tempo and deeping the thought. Songs like "Cherry Blossoms" and "She's Gone", are stripped bare right before your ears. Both haunting your head with each word and each note. Chilling piano, artfully mastered strings and a full range of horns add to the delicious mix already present.
There's even psuedo-childhood tales of terrible relatives gone bad and eventually sad. ("My Sister") This of course is delivered with a very playful bit of music, twisting the sad story into a dark humorous one that a long lost relative might leave in their journal. The disc becomes even grand in nature at times. The overwhelming "Tiny Tears" and heartfelt "Talk To Me", thrive with a lush production and stylish delivery reserved for much more high-profiled records. A very nice side effect to being a great band with this particular disc.
This is a perfect mood record. (NO, not like Enya) I find myself getting lost within its trees at times half-way uncomfortable, but always wanting to explore more. It's a record that begs for candle lit walls and tall glasses of red wine. For severe quiet and almost gut-wrenching attention. It's ... , it's beautiful, it's deviant and it's dirty. It wants the listener to lay down on the floor, stare into space and take it all in. It's all of this and so much more.
Now Stuart's Nick Cave-like voice might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the sheer quality of it along with the music, makes one forget any short-comings that this record simply DOES NOT HAVE. It is my favorite record because it offers something bands like Radiohead only fail to deliver, a truely unique experience. This is not a jab at Radiohead mind you, but I just want to point out that a record like Kid A can never hold a candle to this disc. Yes it's that good. I will only say get it if you are truely OPEN-MINDED and have a jones for something amazing that has really gone over-looked.
The last ten years have given us music lovers a great collection of wonderful and diverse records...file this one under both.
3668981
I, like the introduction to this novella predicts, am one of many who read "The Lottery" without knowing who the author was.  I read confidently forward, sure that I was going to find as much deep, dark enjoyment in here as I did in the aforementioned title.  I wasn't disappointed.

"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is very dark, and I expect the reader must have at least a few macabre sparks in his or her heart to get all I did out of it.  The synopsis reads as if we're supposed to consider the Blackwood sisters strange and/or neurotic, but I had a distinctly different experience as I turned the pages.  There's an air of mystery around the family, and we never come to understand *exactly* what happened, or why it did, but we do get enough pieces to know that there's a reason the Blackwood sisters hardly ever go out.  We get the sense that they are a compelling combination of polite and misanthropic; superstitious and self-aware; loving and dangerous.  Merricat, particularly, is under no delusions about how the family is viewed.

There are so many nuances I don't want to ruin that I'm afraid I can't say much here.  This is a tale with great appeal for the misanthropic introvert who wants to be locked away in a self-imposed exile.  It may be fiction, but it's a great testament to the notion that people will persecute and hate in broad daylight, and attempt to ease their guilt (if they feel any) at night, when no one can see them.
1961106
Very interesting directions this album takes place. Very emotional and after it is over I feel this is a dark masterpiece. Takes awhile and some listens to get into. Starts off slow and more classical/orchestral with an operatic atmophere they have used in the past but with the addition of the Adelaide orchestra it creates a very interesting soundscape. After that, they recreate the legendary song "Drink the Midnight Hymn" into a dark and doomy recreation "Midnight's Hymn" which is memorizing. From there the album turns into a gloomy and sorrowful experince blending and turning more into doom metal and gothic metal and rock with "and I am suffering" and "domine". Terrific album. I can't wait to hear the next two that come out.
3364387
When this came out, I was so used to "Discrete Music" and the previous "Music for Airports" that I had a goodly bit of trouble wrapping my head around this set of rumbly, dark, murky atmospherics. But  over the years, I've come to have a special love for this release. This is  not the Satie-like ambient of those other two works, but rather like a  soundtrack recording for a very obscure, dark film in which most action  (action?) is obscured or is occuring just off-lens. Swampy, midnight music.  Whereas it's easy to describe some other Eno works, this thing, even some  20 or so years on, defies adequate description. Suffice to say, it's  something worth having for most anyone, especially if you're someone who  often finds yourself awake at 2-3 AM and have trouble finding music for  just that 'certain atmosphere' for the time of day. A singular, beautiful,  and intriguing release.
2192963
Gorgoroth's key objective is emotion. On "Antichrist", their concept is based around the mysteries of medieval metaphor, through melodies and (now) lengthy opuses reflecting a romantic touch to the dark ages. This would turn into cliche by lesser artists, but Gorgoroth make it beautiful. The sound production is fuzzier and less distinct than on their previous release, percussion is ritually repetitive and vocals now and then form a clean chant, all in order for this band to broaden their horizons in sorrow-filled music. Initially seemingly aimless, this disc turns out to be a masterful, almost baroque-inspired piece of dark art.
3470580
King Diamond creates more atmosphere in the first four songs on this album than some horror writers do in five hundred pages. Following the course of his spectacular "Fatal Portrait" album, King delivers conceptually and musically on this album.
The story involves the possession of a young woman by the ghost of a stillborn child and the attempts of her distraught husband to rectify the situation. The music is a complex neo-classical/metal hybrid with some of the most melodic solos and powerful drumming ever. And then, of course, there's King. While the man's Satanic parading and piercing falsetto have driven away more than a few would-be fans, it must be said that his melodic lines and vocal harmonies are absolutely outstanding. He can jump from a demon growl to a glass-shattering wail effortlessly, and his lyrics are pure poetry (even more impressive when one considers that the man is Danish- most native English speakers would be hard pressed to rival his mastery of the language). His own religious beliefs are not at all apparent on this album (unlike the Mercyful Fate albums), so those who are sensitive about crap like that can enjoy as well. Abigail is a wonderful ghost story in a Gothic setting, with some of the most tasteful music ever as a backdrop.
4047228
I just received this album in the mail today. I put it in my cd player and I was instantly amazed when I heard the first couple of notes of the first song. Pete Johansen's amazing viollin playing skills add depth and sensuality to the album. Anita Auglend's voice is beautiful and angelic. Although this album is softer and gentler than Perpetual Desolation, it's still an excellent album. I recomend it to veterans of the goth metal scene as well as people who are just now being introduced to this beautiful, dark and sensual genre of music.
2422745
Jonathan P. Davis erects a shadowed pantheon of voices and destinies in his latest collection of short stories. Identities speak from the recesses of silenced histories and margins carved by dread and desire. As the reader descends more deeply into each mind, revelations spring upward from a ferment of suffering, foreboding, otherworldly possessions and cruel hilarity open to a night sky of musings and ambitions. This suite of stories is baroque, horrific and humorous, and always sensual. Davis binds them together by a concision and earthy expression that can only come from a deep understanding of how humans live as products of their continued, dark and ironic interactions with one another.
2249877
1940s Mexico City is dazzling with vibrancy and energy, cleverly concealing beneath the surface sinister secrets and deadly dealingsWithin this historical time-capsule is a fascinating, multi-layered story based on a murder that is but a taste of corruption and deception. Suspects include an ambitious politician, but all too soon it is revealed that this single death is but a portion of something much greater at work. With mysterious and unexplained deaths and drug trafficking, the plot thickens as each individual character weaves carefully around the dark side of success. Beautifully merging together historical fact with inspired fiction, this remarkable story is enlightening, illuminating and thoroughly compelling.

I was captivated by Arturo and Serranos relationship, which at times was as harsh as a freshly sharpened blade, with the electric tension between both characters radiating off the pages. Alongside the intense power-play between the cat and mouse (with submission and retreating always resulting after innumerable heated conflicts), was a deep connection between the darker side of life. When Arturos business is threatened, he seeks comfort with seductive dancers who add a touch of impassioned romance to this otherwise disturbingly delicious tale.

This is a story ultimately about those consequential choices and decisions we make in life, which define and shape the course of the future, for all. It is about smoldering passion and heated jealousy that pierces ones inner core. Darkly sinister, beguiling and bold this is an ambitious work of considerable dexterity and significance. I certainly think that D Grant Fitter is a forthright writer, who tells it how it is and embraces the atmosphere, the richly descriptive commentary and shocking realism that is so impacting. Vividly evocative, imaginative and textured this vibrant book captures the drama of a Golden age together with a sinister under-city. Brought to mind were the dark alleyways of Gotham City (Batman), in which lie those influential people who dominate those powerful emissaries above.

Indisputably exceptional, well-written and quite remarkable I am awestruck by an outstanding work of profound depth and substance.

*I was given a paperback copy of City of Promises by D Grant Fitter, to read and review. I would like to thank the author for this wonderful gift, which is a splendid read*

[...]
3659477
With most of the plot taking place in the domains of fae, Sinners showcases a darkly unique version of the Sidhe mythos. The author not only offers her own spin on the traditional lore, but continues to build up on it, adding urban fantasy-like elements, which combine the magic of the Fair Worlds with the scientific progress of modern humanity and its grim environmental consequences. The idea of carelessly shortening our lives for the sake of pleasure, bringing memories the 'live fast, die young' philosophy, is cleverly integrated into a world ruled by nearly immortal and all-powerful Sidhe lords, raising questions of how, given the right circumstances, deadly temptation is able to defeat even the most ancient wisdom. And Niavin Arkezea, the main character of Sinners is right in the middle of that conflict, offering new addictive, dangerous experiences to the world-weary members of the Sidhe court, many of whom are only more excited by the poison hidden within. The path of a young drug lord is steep, and the fast pacing of the novel reflects that. While not very long, Sinners is surprisingly action-packed, following Niavin's story as he tries to stay at the top of his trade and survivethrough a tangle of deadly court intrigues.

The descriptive language of the novel is stunning, every visual coming to life in myriads of intricate details, from the fantastical landscapes and collossal architecture, to the captivating and quirky displays of Sidhe fashion. It has a special appeal for artistic people, as most of the scenes would make great illustrations, and the visual language of Sinners is highly creative and inspiring. The Winter and Summer courts with their clashing luster and flair, the different races inhabiting the Fair Worlds and their dwellings, the vast manors of Sidhe lords, full of surreal architecture, - all of it screams to be re-imagined as art. The atmosphere is deeply immersive and dark, and the world of Sinners is definitely one to dwell for those who like their stories sharp and bittersweet.
1666981
14th album from this U.K. band who, amazingly, just keep getting better.  Here they capture the essence of passionately sophisticated dark pop/rock melodies.  The songs are almost unnaturally fluid and smooth, with an edgy liquid eccentricity, rooted in a peculiarly British psychedelic pop aura.  Motorik beats move with a sinuous, hypnotic flowlike dark-eyed cobras weaving a basket of mysterious notes.  Every line, every beat calls you to the moment, pulling you deeper into the magnetic rhythms.  Compelling pop hooks insist you come along.  And, though the journey is beautiful, the tingling sense of danger radiates in surreal soundwaves.  Eerie electronics and tenacious tribal post-punk guitars hint at an opiate chorus line of gargoyles around every corner.  Wires music moves like an ocean current, with unpredictable strength and an undertow that will take your to the center of nowhere and everywhere.  Its simultaneously exciting & comfortable, edgy & invitinga rollercoaster ride that you know youll enjoy and you're pretty sure youll survivebut the attraction lies in the lack of certainty; its a stunning beauty hung with icicles.  Sometimes, it reminds me of The Soft Boys, XTC, Traams, Girls Against Boys, The Factories Of Love, Elf Power.  Very few other bands are playing on this level, with a creative flair and ability that taps into the subtle magic of natural brilliance.  This is a truly special album, so good it gives me shivers.  Highest Recommendation.
2988331
Lush, yawning expansiveness has been a sort of sonic trademark of Hecker's. I was a fan of the dense dreaminess conjured up in his last, "Harmonies in Ultraviolet" and I think Hecker plays on the same themes here, on this meticulous follow-up, while slowly pushing himself slightly further down the slope. Fitting analogy there too, I think, cause  icy meridians, quiet purple snowfalls, dark wintry nights, and colossal crunching glaciers are some of the unintended imagery on the record. Hecker creates soundscapes that somehow sound both quiet and cold.  The music is meditative, melodic, lonely, surprisingly deep, and occasionally winsome. As a whole, the record is astoundingly affecting.

I think the opening track "100 Years Ago" is unabashedly cloying, and bookended by the honking finale "200 Years Ago"  an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise pristine creation. But as the album gently buzzes and rollicks into its stunner climax tracks--"Paragon Point" to "Her Black Horizon" to "Currents of Electrostasy"--one is truly transported. Eyes close, breath goes shallow, and one can only listen and feel.

Electronic music in the current moment still seems to me to be a liquid, difficult genre to pinpoint, understand, and master. There are deft and different approaches: from the Icelandic mumblings of Mum to the static retro shoegaze of M83 to the underground and scratchy groove of high end dubstep acts like Burial. But Hecker seems to me a master of his game; he's the only one still standing in the gauzy shadows without a brand, without a gimmick. He's content to turn the knobs, and paint a picture. You're with him all the way. And in that there is innocence, and in that as well, at times, transcendence.