v/a "The Golden Age of Darkness II" compilation CD
[Dragon Flight]
This collection may offer only seven songs total from three bands, but it's long... really long. Over an hour, in fact. Only one song on the entire disc runs shorter than seven minutes, and most clock in at nine or more. Helter Incendo starts out with two tracks of dark ambient electronics. "Open the Gate" uses low synth tones and very subtle whispered vocals (I can't make out a word, everything is manipulated and possibly played backwards) with some other sinister goings on. "The Throne and the Legion" is 13+ minutes of completely menacing ambient tones that have more of a musical thread running through them, as well as some percussive sounds off in the distance. Both tracks are very repetitive, but it works, and the recording is quite fucking slick. Next up are three songs from The Hollowing. "Hariti" is a lot different than most of what I've heard from this project in the past, layering multiple percussive sounds with some intense, intense swells of massive and overwhelming bass, later introducing some musical synths and sampled operatic singing. "Mourning the Frozen" has some moaning vocal sounds and samples alongside busy, bubbling sorts of textures that have a spacey, ethereal sort of quality. In some ways I quite enjoy it, but in others it seems unfortunately cheesy... I don't know. Thankfully it's the one short track on the disc, as it's certainly the weakest. Beginning with some quiet acoustic guitars, "Pyres for the Devoured" quickly introduces some unusual singing with deep percussion and string arrangements (likely synthesized) that later switch over to dark ambient/death industrial noises and spoken female vocals that, while redundant, create a great atmosphere. I love the subtly musical elements and the overall impact of the composition. And finally, When Joy Becomes Saddness closes out with two rather enormous tracks that were recorded live on 88.1 WELH in Providence, RI. First things first, I certainly hope that this project is aware that there is only one "d" in "sadness", and that there is some bizarre intentional reason for which the band name is spelled incorrectly, because, really, if you make a spelling error and spell your band name wrong - consistently - that's a major problem. As for the material, it's different than what I had expected, basically offering up brooding dark ambient soundscapes that aren't particularly musical but do have a consistent feel. "Theory" is straightforward and flows nicely, while "God, No" is similar, but starts with a highly overused sample from "The Exorcist III". The sample works, but I've heard it used so many times before that it really has no impact anymore, and in my opinion is a setback to this otherwise brutal track of completely ominous tones and textures. Some growling vocals even come into play, which is a nice addition. The tracks don't really sound live, aside from a little bit of a distorted flutter above the mix, but that's not a bother. The packaging is somewhat bland in my opinion. The cover has a dark, foggy image of a face that's tinted brown, and such textures continue elsewhere. But four different fonts are used throughout the minimal layout, where two would have been plenty. All you get is a tracklist and skimpy band information (i.e. maybe an email address or such if you're lucky). It's just a bit too plain and way too uninformative. This is a good collection. Overall I'm the most impressed with Helter Incendo's contributions, though both of the other projects are also strong. I do feel that the running time is somewhat tedious due to the general lack of variety the release possesses as whole, and I wish the packaging provided more information to go along with the music. The Hollowing is getting better though, and this being my first exposure to When Joy Becomes Saddness I'm not disinterested by any means. (6/10)
Running time - 65:55, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: The Throne and the Legion, Pyres for the Devoured, Theory]
Dragon Flight Recordings - http://www.dragonflightrec.org

This review has been displayed 821 times.