Finally I've found the time to review this fine album of the aspiring young artist (though I'm not quite sure if he's that much younger than me) Twyll. The album starts off with the foreboding dark track "start". Though it's the shortest track it has the richest sound covering more frequencies than the following songs. The second track "at your own pace" features some low drone sounds with waves of glassy pads gradually fading in and out. After 1 1/2 minutes Twyll adds a second bright chord pad giving the song a nice high/low sound leaving out the mids. "dad", my personal favourite track, begins quiet with even lower drones and some windy noise until at 1:00 a warm low pad fades in with a beautifully fragile chord pulsating throughout 8 minutes and 30 sec. The whole track feels very organic. "draft" contrasts the mellow "dad" with it's haunting noises showing twyll's ability to produce both harmonic and noisy ambient music. "hands" is more on the noisy side as well but a little more gentle than it's precursor. "laughter" is a very dynamic track consisting of merely one or two pads (I think). At this point you begin to understand why this album is called "gloom". It's a soundtrack for being locked up in a dark room. Dark throughout, but yet hopeful at the beginning getting more and more desperate. "move" reclaims the low drones but now they are less melodic. A dissonant droning pad appears above these low sounds from time to time only disturbing the calmness but never reveal any hopeful harmony. "outside" features a similar drone sound as move but it's a little more active shifting into different frequencies. "room", after a long while", offers some delicate harmonies leaving the listener the choice to either concentrate on them to find some hope or to let them be buried under glassy dissonant noise. At the end Twyll gives the listener about 15 seconds of silence to release some tension created on the prior tracks. But then, just when you fell for the illusion of safety, "stare" comes in creating the most uncomfortable atmosphere. Though there's distinctive harmony in this track, the chords played are haunting. This is the longest track on the album and by far the most alternating progressing from one terrifying chord to another. It's probably the closest to a horror-movie soundtrack. (so many superlatives) "When", though not the big release, is a little less irritating. Like the morning after the nightmare that is "stare". Again there's the glassy pads, this time without a low counterpart but with a delicate mid melody. Well, the next song is called "When (darkness mix)". So there's a hint of what to expect but actually in all it's apparently spooky sound there's an undeniable beauty as the pads resemble strings. When listening to it it reminded me of the scene in stephen king's rose red when the old guy (Vic?) follows some young girl into a foggy garden.. I believe... well it's been a while but anyway if you know the scene, that's the mood. "past" stays with the overall feeling of discomfort. There's undefined metal/breathe/scream sounds, which create an almost percussive pattern. It's a great example how to create tension with sheer lenght because after three minutes you just want to turn on the light and read some garfield comics (of course you won't do that because now that you've come so far you can never sleep if you don't finish this). Okay, the last track. "where my happiness used to be". This one has some good stuff from the earlier tracks and some more. Again there's pulsating loooow drones. What's new are the sounds of dripping water (I hope it's water^^) and a bell both drenched in lots of reverb. There you have it. It didn't get happier, Twyll is even mean enough to call the last track (unfinished) so you always wonder how it was really supposed to end. I listened to "gloom" as recommended: at night and through headphones. If you think you're tough you should probably go out into the wood and listen to it. You'll be surprised how many childhood horror-movie experiences suddenly come back to you. I guess I'll listen to some indie now. Oh yeah... highly recommended. As I promised... Given Willingly 2008-06-27 20:07:17 2008-06-27 20:07:17 5 1 5.00