Take a moment to imagine an abandoned, industrialized city in a not so distant future, where a heavy leakage of pollutants has caused chaos amongst its civilization. As toxicity fills the air, anarchy quickly turns into desertion as the physical elements of the city start to deteriorate. However, this desolate environment does have life after all, as the seemingly rapid infestation of diseased rodents and bugs manifest at the heart of the contamination and feed on the remains of whatever is left from the catastrophic occurrence. This is a new dark world and with no hope of a possible human return. With that, I present to you ‘Pestis’ by R0[nought], a turbulent, dark ambient adventure that portrays this vivid narrative with its morose drones and potent soundscapes. These six ghoulish tracks provide the textures of endless nightmares through the essence of addictive, yet bleak noises that grip you like a straight jacket.
Blighted album opener, “Xenopsylla Cheopis” accelerates with volume like an early warning alarm, alerting everyone that imminent danger is on the horizon. The bleak soundscapes create an audial distress vessel as the anxiety-filled drones never let up from start to finish. “Miseria” should be called horror ambient, as the dismal sounds in this track, are downright disturbing at times. Brief synth pads add a cinematic quality, but it doesn’t take away from the near ten minutes of terror that this composition provides. The claustrophobic drone sounds on “The Forsaken Dead I” will provide a feeling of consternation as you continue you battle with anxious thoughts while listening to this recording. You’ll find yourself drifting off to a dark place, hoping that you’ll be able to return once the song is over. “The Forsaken Dead II” continues the same unrelenting experience as the previous track, however, elements of industrial ambient are thrown in to increase the mental suffering. “A Blackening Of The Flesh” has components of space ambient but various malevolent sounds create an unpleasant sense of doom, like a flesh-eating virus manifesting its way throughout the spacecraft to claim the lives of all onboard. The albums final arrangement, “Carrion IV” is eleven and a half minutes of maelstrom induced ambient that shifts through dark colors and gray’s, setting an apocalyptic tone for the cold, dark ending. As the song slowly winds down, it fades into a deep, black drone that represents total annihilation.
R0[nought] has gone above and beyond in conceiving a terrifying dark ambient album that empowers the listener to open their imagination (and fears) to conceive a story that conceptualizes the music. Although there are many forms of dark ambient, ‘Pestis’ is extremely bleak and frightful and is slightly more dismal than your typical ambient recording. Additionally, I appreciate how elements of other types of musical disciplines are added, showing a keen versatility of the artist. This is one album you don’t want to pass on so please support this brilliant artist by downloading the album from the link below, or by purchasing the cassette release.
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Links:
https://r0nought.bandcamp.com/album/pestis-2
https://mystictimbre.bandcamp.com/merch?filter_band=2406501586
Dungeon Synth & Dark Ambient Reviews!! 