“Pay particular attention between the twigs of dead tones and you will hear the specters transform into angels”
1 Ethereal Abyss 7:56
2 Underwater Fields 7:37
3 Utopian Blossoms 7:38
4 Beams of Sunlight 7:45
5 Endless Serenity 7:45
6 Immersive Deepness 7:42
7 Introspective Oceans 7:43
(CD/DDL 54:06) (V.F.)
(Dark ambient)
A wave of sounds makes the winds drift from their tonal colors in a slow undulating movement. Even in this envelope where one hardly discerns the murmurs of specters from the dissonant winds, Ethereal Abyss is winding in its ambient mass that muffled beats animate an artificial life. From dark breaths to winds caramelized by an azure metallic coating, the turbulence of Ethereal Abyss survives thanks to the deaf implosions which propel its vague impulses in apathetic spirals. The vision of Dark Ambient here is sacked by these sharp points which inject its antinomic colors. It's quite surprising that the names of Alio Die and Bakis Sirros are so forgotten when talking about ambient music. However, each artist has a fairly eloquent track record in the matter! THE UTOPIAN BLOSSOM is the 3rd collaboration between the Italian sound sculptor and the Greek thinker of ambiences of all kinds. And from album to album, they advance in the territory of a more accessible EM. Accessible remains a word filled with suspicion when you stick your ears for a first listen. But pay particular attention between the twigs of dead tones and you will hear the specters transform into angels in order to whisper us sweets that stick us to the 54 minutes of this literally enchanting album and which is a logical sequel to Elusive Metaphor, produced 6 years earlier.
The current flows more easily with the warm breezes of Underwater Fields which seems to be the backdrop of Ethereal Abyss decor. We hear all these little wonders playing in its shadow with a vision that does very Michael Stearns in M'Oceans. Certainly, the grip of the dark side of ambient music subsists with these waves of reverberations which murmur and approach the shore of serenity. But the reflections of the chimes and the ethereal murmurs keep the charms uncovered. Utopian Blossoms offers a barely felt rhythm from the tip of the ear with deaf impulses and ever more deaf blows in a dense musical tapestry where the colors of the abyss flirt with the iridescent crest of tinkles. There is a lot of intensity in this title haunting the senses. Tonal richness has always been a prominent element in the works of Alio Die and Parallel Worlds. This texture is more omnipresent in the rather disturbing atmospheres of Beams of Sunlight which has from its title only the scattered chants of sparse chimes in a dark vastness. An organic fauna invites itself in this fight between the two musical currents which exults the true nature of the Dark Ambient. Dark and intense, let's say that this is not the first title to discover on THE UTOPIAN BLOSSOM. But the sounds are a source of curiosity, at least for me, which draws us into a trap called charm. Endless Serenity marvellously bears the heavy tribe of its title! It's as dark and calm as a windstorm in the deserts of Steve Roach or the oasis of Juta Takahashi who has just released a new album by the way. The more we move forward in the album, the more the dark side of Bakis Sirros rises to the surface. The heavy and dark sound tapestry of Immersive Deepness invades our senses and struggles to hide this frame of snake and its rattling bones which crawls between the strange gasps of the muffled bangs of a door towards darkness. Very immersive! And if we accept to sink into the paranoia of the title, we also perceive here this phantom rhythm which pushes the moods of the other direction. Introspective Oceans completes this album with its darkest vision which brings us back to the textures of Circo Divino, first album of the duo Alio Die and Parallel Worlds which appeared in 2010. It's dark, powerful and intimidating, even if lifeless, with a compact sound mass radiating the songs of sparrows witnessing this dark advance that has absorbed us since the first winds of THE UTOPIAN BLOSSOM.
Sylvain Lupari (April 13th, 2020) ****¼*
Available at Alio Die & Parallel Worlds Bandcamp