ARKTAU EOS: "Unworeldes"

Arktau Eos' brand new vinyl-only album Unworeldes continues the journey in similar sounds as Ioh-Maera, its sibling released around the same time. So, what you should expect is some extremely dark and brooding ambient combined with the ritualistic, occult aspects these Finnish bands are known for, and for what they'd deserve more recognition than they currently do. But I do realize that this kind of music is of challening nature; it requires careful listening and to be properly delved into.

Now one could ask what makes Unworeldes differ from Ioh-Maera, as in why weren't they released together and why is this only on vinyl. I can't give objective answers to those questions but I do have a gut feeling that this record just happens to fit to the format perfectly. There's something more organic, analog about the sound if compared to the abyssal basses of Ioh-Maera. Don't get me wrong though, this is damn deep as well, just in a little different way. It sounds old and atmospheric, like a vinyl should.

What comes to the individual tracks, well, they're pure splendour. "The Cypress Watcher" keeps it rather quiet for the first minute but then the low frequency bass emerges along with a high-pitch note that always appears in waves. "Coven of the Seven-Winged" crawls up slowly too, but after two minutes there comes some hissing cymbals and an utterly beautiful melody, both sorrowful and mysterious, somewhere in the haze of this soundscape. "Black Leaf Gaze" is probably my favourite with its very dramatic melody pattern. It's like a possessed, low-tuned mellotron playing dirges with some feedback backing it up. Beautiful. "Geometry of Emptiness" closes things with reverberating choral sounds and with the album's first and only percussion pattern.

I find Unworeldes simply enthralling. Somehow the production as well as the faint melodies make it even surpass Ioh-Maera. This one also benefits from the format in that it's a compact four-track whole with two sides of almost equal length, so the coherence is definitely there. What else I'd ask for? I can't think of any downsides here really, but I'm still not going to give full points since there's always room for improvement, I believe. I want to see the day when Arktau Eos top even this album.

4.5 / 5

ARKTAU EOS: "Ioh-Maera"

I've deliberately avoided listening to any ambient music for a long time, for the sole reason that I haven't had proper equipment to truly enjoy this particular style of music. But now that my shiny new headphones are in, I was more than glad to give the new Arktau Eos albums a go. I've followed these Finnish groups for various years and they've always kept my interest: there's no way to deny the ingenuity and brilliance of Halo Manash or Zoät-Aon. Now Arktau Eos is coming up with two brand new releases of which the other, Ioh-Maera, is CD-only, consisting of five long (around ten minutes a piece), haunting tracks that probably derive from some other plane of existence.

"Unbinding Kaamos" starts it all, creeping up slowly with a deep bass tone pattern. After a while, discordant male chanting emerges, uttering Enochian secrets on the brink of insanity. Brooding cymbal-like hissing in the background. With "Noxfaros" things get more active via the incorporation of a repetitive percussion pattern. Compared to the preceding track, the humming is slightly higher and extrovert. Culmination happens in a noisy drone reminiscent of guitar drone that fluctuates between the left and right channels.

"Sunken Luminaries" soothes the atmosphere a bit. The feedback drone is still lurking but otherwise it's calm now, though the constant feeling of oppression lingers on. Then, "Ioh-Maera" returns to rhythm. A deeply reverberating pattern is being repeated among the layer of low-tone, malefic chants. At six minutes or so, hell breaks loose with the vocals heavily proclaiming IOH-MAERA, IOH-MAERA... "Otherstone Refraction" brings a bit of relief after all the infernality of the previous track. This is the first time I sense something vaguely melodic on the album, but it's really minimal. A steady hum carries on through the track, slowly ending the journey.

What's left after the session is a confused mind which feels like it departed this life for the course of the album. This, of course, requires rather heavy volume; otherwise you end up dismissing the whole thing and turning on something 'more lively' music. Anyways, Ioh-Maera manages to do exactly what I think an ambient album should do: keep my attention throughout and bring me to some other sceneries. There are no big twists on the album, but it simply sounds so damn good and organic that it's pure pleasure to listen to. I could have shortened a couple of the tracks a bit here, but it's not like I'm bored at any moment of the experience. Those into dark, ritualistic ambient should not miss this one – nor the vinyl-only album either.

4 / 5