Every so often you might start thinking that you’ve heard all that the experimental ambient genre has to offer. Then an album like this one comes along.
A collaboration between long-time acquaintances Durán Vázquez and Dani Kloob, Vinum Sabbati, In the Dawn of Science Fiction is a loose tribute to the works of author Arthur Machen. It certainly evokes horror and sci-fi tropes, with deep drones, shifting atmospheric elements, and hazy textures.
The album begins with a disorienting but relative calm that hangs in the air like a threat. Whispers of melody peek around corners to accentuate static-laden layers of sound. But slowly, track after track, the intensity ramps with more assertive themes and motifs as well as thicker and denser walls of noise.
By the time Ominous Remedy — Transcending Human Condition reaches the listeners’ ears, a distinct tension begins to build through repeating patterns. Buzzing and clicking give way to a synthesized rhythm and scintillations, which are replaced in turn by a massive, suffocating storm of distortion that growls and churns, swallowing all traces of light. Forceful and exhilarating, all notions of ambiance are gone as these gritty, hissing drones increase to a wall-shaking amplitude.
This is an excellent recording that was released November 11, 2025 by Crónica. Make your celebrations infernal by giving it a try this holiday season.
via Avant Music News