The volume of awe-inspiring releases by Cryo Chamber is astonishing. Year after year, nothing but top-quality Dark Ambient albums continuing to provide monumental soundscapes ranging from dreamy, somber textures to disturbing, mechanized haunts. It seems like I have a new favorite every time an album is released. One of my top releases this far is ‘Critical Threat Modeling’ by Sole Massif. On this second album for Cryo Chamber, Sole Massif blends the best of dark soundscapes, haunting retro synths, and a touch of Berlin School textures. Eleven tracks across forty nine minutes is exactly what I needed to hear in order to disappear into a distant, dystopian society, where everything seems to be in slow motion and controlled by autonomous technological advances.
Meditative album opener, “Deca 30 Compound” sounds like it could have been included on an 80’s horror film soundtrack. Mixing retro vibes with simple Berlin School sequences, this track sets the tone for a high-tech adventure into the vast unknown. Following, is the haunting “Reinforced Range of Discourse”. Commencing with a deep but soothing drone, this track quickly expands into a field of relentless, consoling energy that utilizes the full audible spectrum to create a massive wall of sound. The title track, “Critical Threat Modeling”, continues that wall of sound but takes it down a path of industrialized modulations, fitting of an underground world in a futuristic society. Producing an array of mechanized tones and mollifying drones, the intensity grows and sharpens as the song continues along. “Autonomous Targeting Platform” sounds like The Terminator meets Blade Runner. Although minimalistic in delivery, it creates a bleak atmosphere, fit for any tyrannical environment. “Neuro-Inducible Substructure” sounds like a group of rogue robots on a search & seizure mission, destined to find illegal sub-human paraphernalia. After the chaos, stunning Berlin School concatenation is the harbinger of a second round of seemingly aggressive invasions. “Unmitigated Bias Vector” contains a rhythmic beat that accompanies a melodic synth pattern and a melodic source code that shifts between audible patterns. “Mechanism of Filament” begins with a looping sound before adjusting into a sonic environment of eclectic noises and communicative frequencies. “EVFI Protocol Discharge” proceeds with a distorted tone that continues the flow of the album into a deep, mechanized world of autonomy and nihilism. Inaudible vocal patterns spew the new law and order, and those that do not obey will be discontinued. Equipped with more Berlin School textures, the extension of a grim anarchy state is absolute. “Sentience is a Dysfunction” emits a vision of melancholic synths with instigative intent. This is another track that could have accompanied an 80’s horror film. The final track on the album, “Ascension of Compliance” emanates a path to compliance and finality with warm synths and somber patterns that continue to broaden until the end. Bits of vocalized resonance can be heard but are ultimately drowned out by affectionate ambience that signifies the end of disruption and corruption and the beginning of peace and restraint.
Cryo Chamber continues to add progressive artists to the ambient big leagues and Sole Massif fits in perfectly. Greatly expanding on the sounds captured on the project’s Cryo Chamber debut, ‘False Negatives’, a sense of maturity and sound expansion can be heard on ‘Critical Threat Modeling’. As a huge fan of the Berlin School sound, I love the subtle use of it throughout this album. Nothing is overused and the ambience is well balanced. So far, this is one of my favorite Dark Ambient albums of the year and I can’t recommend this one enough.
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Link:
https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/critical-threat-modeling
