Album Notes

"This is a gem of a collection that fans of the genre should definitely seek out. Haslam's "Utterance" is full of swirling dervish drones, along with an unsettling undercurrent of haunting sounds, including the synth drone equivalent of creaking floorboards. Creepy stuff. Tsuru's "Several Levels Down" is softer and a touch brighter, with feathery soft synth pads and breathy textures. Sparse bass notes give a hint of structure to hang upon, just barely. Embracing The Glass's "Radiation Generation" moves into almost pure drone tones, with just a slight pulsing quality to give it a sense of movement, along with very subtle building of additional layers. It is dark yet soothing. Droune's "Mineral Orb" sounds like a sample of a slowed down gong, definitely with a mineral or metallic timbre. My favorite is SanRenSei's "Dream," with a deep low synth pad and soft light shimmers above it. More abstract and very cool is Collision Sect's "Counteracting Gravity," an interesting looping piece. Reaching for the perfect drone is Circle Tempal with "This is Where We Sleep at Night." However, unlike pure drone music it does shift back and forth between two different keys - if I can use that term for music that doesn't have discrete notes in the usual sense. Last is Embracing The Glass' Jeff Sampson with "Outside Perimeter Two," easily the most beautiful track on the album, a particularly refreshing way to finish. Highly recommended." -- Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

"Great minimalist ambience!"-- George Cruickshank / Ultima Thule

"This compilation from the Burning Shirt label more or less serves as a representation of a loosely-associated Massachusetts-based movement of dark ambient artists. Almost all of the tracks are characterized by dark electronic drones: Haslam's freezing, howling soundscape, Droune's dissonant but rich palette, Collision Sect's muted awryness, the shrill ethereality of Tsuru and Jeff Sampson, and an atypically dark, electronic-sounding Embracing the Glass, which evokes the frazzled, moaning, near-kaput machines of a deserted post-apocalyptic setting, all make for a solid assemblage of thoughtful ominousness."

-- Ryan Wynns / From Dust


"...honestly one of the best compilations I have ever heard (and trust me, I have heard many). Very well balanced material, with pieces from different artists seamlessly flowing like a whole..."

-- Vladimir Jovanovic / Inner Space