Dronny Darko - Outer Tehom

Welcome to the field of drone music Dronny Darko, otherwise known as Oleg Puzan, a Ukranian citizen who self describes himself as such, "I am ambient driven, drone influenced synthetic music junkie...". His talent for thick and heavy drone work was noticed by Cryo Chamber, and therefore he and the label met to a mutual agreement, now releasing his album Outer Tehom.

Tehom refers to the Hebrew word meaning the Deep or Abyss, and was first mentioned in Genesis 1:2, and was where the waters for Noah's flood first began. So, the title of the album does borrow from Biblical terms, but I'm not here to conduct Bible studies, so have fun researching into that shit.

Anyway, the album is quite interesting as it serves up four different tracks each coming in at thirteen minutes exactly. Four tracks, thirteen minutes a piece, coming in at a total of fifty two minutes. And it begins off with Black Arts. Quite the interesting introductory sequence, in which a very deep pitched horn is blown, or at least that's what it sounds like, as atmospheric ambiance rings right in underneath, sort of serving as an echo to the noise.

A slight bout of running water, possibly from a stream or some other small form of water, is also passed through, followed by incoming samples. This all serves a significant purpose of not only bringing out some nice set pieces, but also to creep the imagination in full. What follows are quieter segments, ramming in on single notes with varied sounds accompanied them; whether it sounds like the creaking of an old ship's wheel as it turns, or the slight tapping of metal on metal, each segment comes in nicely. I didn't necessarily find the final three or so minutes all too invigorating, as the drones were a bit too bland, but the noise underneath them worked well enough.

Mortal Skin had a very quiet build up to the actual mechanisms that moved the song through and through. Again, the samples that came in around the two minute mark were wonderfully pulled off and placed, managing that sort of creepy effect that was already established. The theme kept fulfilling its destiny.

Around the seven minute mark of this track, a little bit of nastiness came through in the form of some sort of goblin talking, or demon, or something evil. It at least sounded like that; transferring from left to right and back over, and finally ending off with an echoing growl, the madness came to an end. Lastly, the ending went well enough on this track, just more drones, but also weren't remarkable.

Snake Hole came in as the next track, and had some lovely little chimes here and there. A sort of static belly formed around all other noises, whether it sounded like a ghostly tug boat roaming through the fog, or some other dead and passed entity is something I debate, but it was quite the good sound. A bit brighter sounding at times with higher pitched effects, it gave off a more positive vibe than the two previous songs. Although some of the drones were a bit stale, the effects surrounding them kept the quality up.

And, lastly, with howling winds Arcane Shrine hit. I really liked how the winds tied in with the song, sometimes making it sound as if subliminal whispering was occurring, which really tickled my fancies. But, then there were moments when there was actual whispering, which made me question my sanity at points. Still, it was quite lovely. Towards the end, another low key sample was placed in, and a soft drone led us out of this album.

And, very well done from a pretty new producer who I've never seen or heard the likes of from. Pretty sure his name is borrowed from the movie Donnie Darko, as it shares uncanny familiarity, but if I'm wrong, I will take back my words. This guy knows how to spice up the old drone territory with lots of good effects and well placed samples scattered about. There were a few segments that bored me, as the tried and true drone sections were just boring in comparison to some of the epic sounds placed in the album. Ironing out the little wrinkles there are in his project's works could mean the difference between being good, and being great. And I have a feeling that with his next album, he might push out an album possibly better than this and many other artists focused within the drone field. Nov 20 2014