Intense soundscapes somewhere on the border between ambient and dark ambient, it is up to you the listener to explore and find out which mood it bestows upon you. The album has a thick atmosphere of tribal and ritualistic field recordings (mostly acquired in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia) and from time to time it explodes in rich percussion and otherworldly chanting as groups of revelers work themselves into a frenzy. A creeping wall of drones is closing in on and encapsulating the experience, and you have the distinct sensation of sitting in at a strange shamanistic ritual. Other tracks drift off into an ethereal wilderness, a forlorn realm of civilizations long forgotten. "Sama Sadja" is really toying with something inside my head, but it does so in such a pleasant way that I keep coming back for more.

Thought-inducing music from a living, breathing universe. Floating, pulsating, droning, morphing soundscapes among background noise emanating from countless stars, swimming in the warm radiant hum of a giant planetary core, dancing to the intermittent beats of a bazillion radio pulsars; all rupturing the stillness of the black void. Peter disassembles our galaxy in search of what lies beyond; space is after all, just an illusion.

Cover albums dedicated to the Commodore 64 home computer is nothing new and countless are the remixes and reinterpretations of game soundtracks floating around on ye olde interweb. As fabulous as the integrated SID chip still is, chip music seems to remain a niche style mainly catering to us rapidly aging nostalgics who spent our youth in its company (mind you, some fanatics still keep their machines on life support) eagerly awaiting the old datasette player to finish loading. Stefan Poiss confesses to be one of us in the liner notes and goes on to pay his tribute to the good old days with a set of infectious remakes of some of the many iconic game soundtracks, but what truly makes R.E.T.R.O shine is the personal journey found in between. Witty and mellow songs with heartwarming wordplay such as “now I know I’m just an emulation” or “will you still love me when I'm sixty-four?” The album ends on two moody pieces that remind the listener to look forward after all. The music of both mind.in.a.box and the Sound Interface Device are not for everyone but if you are in the target group chances are you will get an extreme kick out of this remarkable little album.

A sweet split of two of the more interesting acts in the current ambient/drone circle, and genre lovers will have a fairly good idea of what to expect. "Soundscape One" sees Atheus serving up a longform ambient/drone piece which although a bit static captures a haunting mood elegantly and stays with it throughout. It is not pure ambience, nor relentless droning, but rather a state in between, like a vast and slowly unfolding cosmic maelstrom of dark matter forming into a sphere of gigantic proportions. Relapxych's approach is warmer and takes it one step further by tucking the intense and ever expanding drones into a lush ambient mousse which after hitting a crescendo then dips midway into a more quiet ambient mood before gently rising back into drone territory again. An excellent EP pleasing to both eye and ear, perfect for late night listening.

Take two scoops of eerie longform drones, add some singing bowls and sprinkle liberally with voice and percussion, stir gently. The result is of course, Mind Riders, an album comprised of a set of forgotten works that complement each other nicely. "Spiritual Body" is inspired by the teachings of Daskalos, a 20th century mystic hailing from Cyprus. These are long ambient pieces accompanied by traditional percussion and distant voices. The first part sees Wiese's singing bowls join forces with hand drums, a hypnotic feast not to be missed. Still it is "Call From The North" and "Northland Wind" that capture my interest the most. These are deep cold drones, haunting wind, a faint twilight sky under brooding dark blue clouds hanging ominously above our heads, burdened by their crystalline ice. Mind Riders is a beautiful example of how to channel the unrelenting darkness into invigorating energy as the grinding winter cycle besets us once again.

Very lush twilight soundscapes with a recurring theme of bubbling water, silent wind and the chirps and groans of birds and small assorted night critters. Ambient passages are intermixed with more melodic structures of a very serene nature. I was caught completely off guard by "The Vision"; the closing twelve minute piece is an aural vortex that sucks you into a realm of mystery and manages to crack the everyday matrix that surrounds us, giving us glimpses of an intriguing otherworld in the process. It reminds me of the most hypnotic works of David Parsons and is one of the best soundscapes I have heard in a long time. With "Waves From The Sky" ambient lovers can enjoy a true sleeper hit on the familiar and ever pleasant Hic Sunt Leones label.

One long piece inspired by a small snow covered and inhospitable piece of rock on the fringes of the Antarctic, its eternal claim to fame being having served as the temporary home to a group of marooned crew members of the vessel Endurance, an explorer under the command by Ernest Shackleton lost in the Weddell Sea in 1916. Here though, ignoring the hardships of survival, the island is painted in blissful colours. You can almost see the sunlight glistening in the icicles as they melt in the midday sunshine. In Schabtach's world, Elephant Island is a serene and peaceful place. There isn't a whole lot going on during the hour it takes for the track to reach its conclusion, the same patterns and sounds are used throughout, but on the other hand it never dips into boring territory either. It is a nice and mellow piece perfect as a winter backdrop and ought to be appreciated by most ambient enthusiasts.

The Bardo, the intermediate realm through which the deceased must wander on his or her way toward rebirth, is a fairly common theme in ambient circles and it keeps popping up again and again. This time Cyril Henry has been finding inspiration in the equally popular Bardo Thödol (better known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead), and delves into the otherworld using a sparse audioscape of a lone eerie flute, distant rumbles, tribal percussion and some hypnotic drumming. Monks and the devoted pop in to chant their tantric mantras and from time to time the sparse and fairly minimalistic soundscape grows more intense and rhythmic through more aggressive strings and percussion. On top of this, the artwork complements the scene beautifully. All in all very atmospheric but perhaps mostly suited to the craving ears of esoterica-lovers.

A wailing organ, hammer on metal, some percussion, whispers, angstful declamations and random echoing screams, paired with some totalitarian fundamentalist überrmensch crapola that induces nothing but boredom and a raised eyebrow at best. From what I could gather from a fellow Russian reviewer (who by the way also saw through the limitations of this work) this is a concept album dedicated to exploring the beliefs and rituals of totalitarian youth organizations and churches. Megasnore... Wading through the muddled lyrics (bla bla chosen ones, aristocratic army of blood, heroes of race bla bla, you get the idea) the music just sits there in the background like some wallpaper industrial muzak; getting absolutely nowhere. It is a pity because there have been some truly great soundscapes from m'sieur Komarow in the past. This, as you have guessed, is not one of them.