Hall of Mirrors - Altered Nights

Malignant Records is the label that I usually follow its activity. Being a supplier of many highly acclaimed industrial and dark ambient acts for years already, it is really devoted to the process of those genres development. One more fruit of the recent Malignant production is the new album from Italy based formation Hall of Mirrors. Two guys that combined their efforts in this project are Andrea Marutti and Giuseppe Verticchio, both of them are not novices in creating interesting material through their main occupation in Amon and Nimh (relatively). But in order to experiment on the different field, they get together from time to time; and this time it is a turn of "Altered Nights" to see the light during 2012 while for the recording session of this album they invited few other artist to contribute from their perspective, like Pietro Riparbelli (New Risen Throne), Andrea Freschi (Subinterior) and Andrea Ferraris (Sil Muir).

So, what do we have here as a result of this mixture of ideas packed in double cd format. The album cover hints about gloomy places that the artists invite me to join them for a trip, and I think it was picked successfully to describe the general mood of the record. The first part of the album consists of four long compositions. The music in general is very abstract and transcendental, almost nothing happens by sudden. Dense droning layers, designed with looped sections, slowly roll all over the place creating a thick ambience, creeping one over another and then slowly fading away. I slowly drift through old forgotten catacombs which didn't see the light of the sun for many years. The smell of decay and devastation surrounds me; the shadows of ancient evil dance on the musty walls.

Did I mention the word "slow"? Then I will repeat it once again, it is a mega-slow, hypnotizing effect is the most common for all the tracks. Sometimes bass frequencies become stronger, creating an underground humming structure; sometimes it is a higher tone that plays a central role in the performance. Last two minutes of the third track "Night 3: Magmatic Resonance" make the difference with their deep ritualistic beat, and they are totally solid concluding the specific composition. Light electronic ticks, clicks and scratches ride on the wave of static and gentle noise of the fourth track that remains to be on the highest spiritual level.

The second part of an album is based on one long composition of 45 minutes running time. The same viscid structure presents here as well, while the track is constructed by few sections, bind together with a cold and broody threads of a sharp floating background. The transition between the moods is smooth enough providing that special effect of one long track.

After finishing this not so easy trip with "Altered Nights", I can guarantee that it will be really hard to grasp the whole album in "one shot". Sometimes the atmosphere reaches really high levels of emotional control and imprisons listener into the gloomy cell of claustrophobia and desperation. I strongly recommend this record to all dark ambient and drone ambient fans, because it is so far one of the most interesting projects in the genre of this year. Aug 02 2012