Spectral Lore / Underjordiska – split
CD-R, New Age Dawn/Stellar Auditorium, 2008
This is a split instrumental ambient album of 67 minutes, divided in two parts made by two “experimental black metal one-man bands”.
The press sheet states the album is of a cyclical nature, visualizing the descent into the abyss and subsequent returning ascent into the world.
The first part contains music of Underjordiska (aka Dawid Dahl), the second one is composed by a musician who goes with the name Spectral Lore.
Underjordiska starts off nicely with moody guitar and synths playing over sounds of crashing waves.
As the music progresses, the guitar sounds sadly enough shift bit by bit to a more unpolished, experimental and raw sound. Here we decent to desolate, deep and dark territory underwater, the chilling soundtextures.
Spectral Lore continues where the previous track ended, picking up the same gloomy deep moody atmospheres for another 36 minutes, which features noise textures, harsh, distorted soundscapes and alienating, brooding atmospheres with strange guitars interludes.
One can feel an ascent is taking place as we head again toward the ocean’s surface as the track progresses. Toward the end, the piece settles in a more harmonic, blissful ambient manner.
All in all, this is a hard album to endure, despite the few enjoyable but too occasional moody, quiet ambient passages.
Like all other releases on the label, this very edgy, psychedelic album is limited to 300 copies.
