Damned By Light review for ‘Ritualistik Kuttings’ (Quartier23)

ATF (previously reviewed here) has reached eleven years of age. To celebrate the occasion, this double-album was released on the Walpurgisnacht of 2012.

What the thematic main CD presents is a holistic five-track ritual of flesh, blood and growth. The songs are based on splendid and skilledly crafted echoing ambience with a slightly eerie but non-hostile feel. This both metallic and wooden ambience is layered and detailed, and varies pleasingly in pitch and structure-wise from soft background sounds to stronger toilings and wailings that slowly get a tight grip around the listener. You're now surrounded with an aura of mystery, a feel of unknown with a welcoming feel.

The ambience has a lot of character on its own, but its the percussions and other ritual instruments that give it its true power. From gongs and various chimes, singing bowls, rattles, wooden echoes and the opening song's sounds that sound like cutting a piece of meat, the songs offer you something fresh, thought-out and highly affecting.

The songs are not only potent ambient, but certainly suitable for solitary rituals you might practice. The source sounds and mixing are in perfect check, and the atmospheres progress slowly and with all the self-certainty they need. Despite the slow paces, boredom won't be in sight.

As if the actual album wasn't enough, the bonus CD consists of over an hour's length of compositions and experimentations with acoustic instruments. I won't get into detail with this one, but in case you're wondering what the acoustic and ritualistic instruments used by ATF sound without any posti-editing nor manipulation, this one will definitely interest you. It's more experimental and happily energetic, less of a holistic experience, which makes it very different from the actual main disc. Still, it's more than just a very valid bonus. If the disc one is a growing experience for the spirit, the bonus disc is a relaxing one.

If you enjoy dark ambient, ritual music or just acoustic ethnic instrumentation, there's no reason you shouldn't buy this album.

10 / 10

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Damned By Light review for ‘Kthonik Korridors’ (ATF Produktions)

ATF is a ritual music one-man group with nine years of history. When I reviewed the band'sprevious album I mentioned that the album's theme might've been too personal for the artist, thus making the album a bit difficult for the listener to grasp. This album is themed around one of the artist's great influences H. P. Lovecraft, so even if the theme is very personal again, this time the listener can more precisely know what the artist is trying to create and express.

Surprising to me, this album relies a lot more on individual sounds than on some more general and wider ambience, and it has a greatly organic soundscape for the most part. The songs vary from some sparse ritualistic chimes and especially their echoing used as the main element, to some parts backed with simple synth-like but harsher, even slightly noisy ambience and thin droning, to even more intriquing parts such as even drone-like sounds from cutting and otherwise operating on a piece of raw flesh. There's even some oriental flute creating a really deep atmosphere in the third track, which really surprised me. The more usual elements, such as the wide and ritualistic percussion-section, are also present. The album doesn't really get "music-like" at any point: it's an occult ritual soundscape built from sparsely used and small elements, that together turn into something unique and overwhelming. This album really shows the artist's skill in his craft; he isn't afraid of silence and even really slow progression, he moreso uses it for his advantage.

The album plays a lot on dynamics. It has to be played very loud on definition, as some parts (such as a single crude chime hit and it's echo) can be very highlighted whereas there are two whole tracks with a very low volume level when compared to the others - for example, the second track sounds really minimal and distant after the very loud and active ending of it's predecessor. It bothered me at first, but when I got to know the album better I noticed that it's all for the album's own good; it keeps the listener at full attention at all times, and it quides the listener's focus to either a whole soundscape or just some smaller, shorter and/or more fragile sounds that are not so easy to spot. It gives the album a really powerful and primitive pulse that pushes the whole forward throughout it's lenght.

The album has quite interesting cover arts. It looks just like a green and dull mush at first, but on further examination it seems to work a bit like a primitive hologram. It's surprisingly hypnotic to look at, and a rather original choice. The inner covers are dark (blood) red and not nearly as pleasing, but they're more for just containing the info anyway. It could've been done better, less crude and in a more holistic manner, but it's good as-is. A wider visual side would've been nice though, so that there would've been something to really look at while listening the album to deepen the experience.

On the first listen, I thought that the album didn't do justice to it's theme. Later on I noticed that I had been very wrong, as the soundscape isn't as minimal as it is greatly organic, well built and put together, mystical, hypnotic, and even occult - and the playing on dynamics and variation between colder and warmer sounds makes it even more fascinating. It's a really deep listening experience, and one that really makes the listener aware to hear all that's going on. The album isn't afraid to challenge it's listener either.

Aside of the third track's oriental flute-based approach letting the listener explore it just a bit too easily, there aren't too many flaws on the album - and the aforementioned track has very interesting percussions that borderline between calmness and chaos, which make the track more than worthwile. The album really does compliment it's theme.

 

Damned By Light review for 'Invokation' (Witte Dood)

ATF has been going on since '01, if I've understood right, and this is their tenth release. Sadly I haven't heard their earlier works, but the style on this release is quite calm ambient with some bassy drone.

The soundscape conscists of one signal-like high sound with little variation which is quite on top (and pretty much keeps your attention on the track while sounding fitting, thus being a good choice), some more ethereal high sounds and a really overwhelming, calm-sounding bass drone. There's also a variety of some short sound samples scattered here and there as a spice. The higher sounds don't really grab your attention for most of the time, they are there just to create some calm atmosphere; it's the bass that gets the attention. The bass drone sound is really vast, it really takes over the soundscape sounding calm but powerful, and even a bit eerie. It is constantly on the move, changing it's volume level, from droning in the background to calmly "attacking", covering the other sounds, and sometimes fading away just to get the chance to take over the soundscape again.

It's quite surprising how interesting this soundscape really is, despite the calmness and small amount of different (well, at least constant) elements. The overall feeling is really calm even though there's constantly something going on. The higher sounds create a very powerful, calm, overwhelming and even trance-inducing soundscape together with the drone, and, despite the simplicity of the changes within the twenty minutes, the track remains interesting for it's whole lenght. It's like all the elements would've been smelted together. I sense talent and great effort.

9 / 10


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Damned By Light review for 'DCLXVI' (Witte Dood)

DCLXVI (roman numerals for 666) is ATF's second offering on the Witte Dood-label, and number 12 on his whole catalogue. The band's style can be described as ritualistic and slightly brooding ambient on this release, too. There are some things in common with this EP and the band's previous WD-offering, Invokation. Headphones are recommended.

The first minute you'll hear only a mid-pitch thin drone travelling from your ear to another. This drone is most likely made through sound manipulation, meaning that I have no idea of it's origin. It might be some beats? This sound is pushed to the background between one and two minutes, but it'll stay more or less audible throughout the eleven minutes. The space is taken over by a really low and vast drone that has a soft sound with a really slight gritty/noisy touch. This drone keeps traveling from your ear to another throughout the record's lenght, and aside from this panning it doesn't really change, only slightly in volume. The third remaining sound is a high one, most likely a manipulated beat similar to the first one. Occasionally it provides some soft, high, and echoed beats, but most of the time it offers some patterns closer to ambient-esque drone. It changes it's pitch, volume and panning in an unpredictable way, and this way makes the record stay interesting and on the move for it's whole lenght, and provides something to really concentrate on.

ATF really seems to know how to make a hypnotic soundscape. The song builds up slowly, until at the halfway all the elements are very much present, creating a living and moving "thing" that you just have to concentrate on. The minimal elements work very well together in creating this fascinating, calm and even slightly hypnotic soundscape.

Still, eleven minutes of ambient is not too much, especially when the song takes a couple of minutes to build up. There would've been some room for an additional sound, too, although it's visible that the band was aiming to create the hypnosis through minimal elements. I would've gladly heard a sound that would slightly "break" this soundscape on occasion. Nonetheless, this record is strongly recommended for those who are seeking something more daring within the field of ambient, or ritual-music in general.

Damned By Light review for ‘Memetik Etchings’ (Quartier23)

ATF is back again, this time with a physical full-lenght album after some EP's and net-releases (having made a total of over 15 releases within 8 years). My expectations for this release were already high due to a couple of EP's I've heard from the band previously (reviewed here and here), but the album's name got me even more interested. The band promises me memetic etchings, and I'm expecting for them to happen. If you don't know the band, know that their music is intented to be used as "general ritual intensifiers", meaning that the music is meant to be a part of -or to even create- a deep and truly personal experience.

The album consists of 7 parts, yes, but they're so tightly knit together that talking about each of them separately would be nonsense. The main elements are as follows. The synth, or at least something that really sounds like one, creates some semi-ethereal sounds that fill most of the soundscape and are audible at almost all times. They don't usually have a pattern, although their progress shows traces of repetition at times; they're moreso a "sound mat", put out to serve as the foundations for the other sounds. Their sound is usually a peaceful and soft one with occasionally a harsher touch, but it's only to make them more appealing and less usual. They still have variation, naturally; the two-minute part five has an even (in comparison) noisy, albeit softly humming sound, and occasionally they're in the background as a really thin signal just to give the soundscape a little depth and the ethereal and peaceful touch. This sound is often backed up by another synth-layer with a slightly more sharp and a bit eerie sound, giving the synths the variation they need. The other sound also moves more freely in both patterns and volume levels, thus bringing some surprises to the composition.

The album's backgrounds were recorded in an out-of-use sewer, and they consist of for example scratching something against the tiles, croaking frogs, some tile-, wood- and stone-hits, rattles, and various other beats in the distance. They all sound pleasantly organic and their softness due to the echoing makes them fit perfectly to the atmosphere, and gives the album a big part of it's character and personal sound. Their variation and unpredictable nature give the album a good dose of variation and thus more appeal, too. An occasional sound panning from one speaker (or earphone) to another is also a nice add in all it's simplisticity, making the music more vivid and actual: many times both of the speakers have their own backgrounds, too, so there's a lot to discover within the music.

So, what does the big picture sound like? It sounds uneven. For example the watery drones backed with ethereal hums in part three are a true pleasure to the ears, and there are many such moments that really grab your attention to the soundscape and the otherworldly emotions it breathes out. Sadly there are weaker parts, such as the part four in it's ten minutes long entirety. It's really peaceful, and even though it's background croaks and hisses bring variation to it, it's whole remains flat and uninspiring, even thin sound-wise - especially after part three. The fourth part has many good elements, but they're mixed so that the whole is uninteresting and way too safe. Part six and it's signal-drones make this kind of expression work a lot better.

Overall it seems that the record doesn't know it's nature. It partly relies a lot on the repetition and minimalism, whereas partly it relies on a few interesting droning sounds panning from earpiece to another with some beats and synths backing the varying whole up. It's really hard to focus on the record as you don't really know how to look at it; should it be a calming and hypnotic one, or an interesting and highly appealing one? The truth is that by going to both directions the record falls short from it's capabilities, as the tracks and their very varying aims (be it the even very different natures of the tracks caused by the mixing, or the tracks' wholes created by the sounds alone) don't grab the listener's attention the way they should. I was bummed when I realized that the record totally lets go of the listener from time to time.

The artist behind the project said that "M.E." was composed to serve as a part in his rite of recharging his entity, which might also explain the nature of the record; it might've been carved to suit a certain ritual that one must be familiar with to fully understand the record's and it's different parts' purposes. As of now, I can only say that I was let-down, but the album still channels forth sounds, emotions and feeling in a way that many "ritual musicians" can only dream of, and does it in a personal way and sound too; it's just the whole and it's flow from one part to another that doesn't fully work.