John W. Patterson aka SourceCodeX takes the listener on a deep, dark journey into the outer reaches of experimental ambience. Low drones rumble like thunder on “WarInHeaven” to start us off. The music is cold and yet strangely compelling. “DroneMass” begins with otherworldly echoes, followed by a pulsing sound with just a bit of rough textures to it. Sounds growl and roll over the top of one another as it builds. I saw the term “cinematic dark ambient” applied to this music, and I think that’s a great descriptor. It is more intense than your garden variety dark ambient, and seems to be reaching out from the depths to say something. “HellDreamVimana” adds some warbled mangled voice effects that add to the dark, disturbing visions created. By the time you delve deeper still into “Hidden Things Between Things,” you will either be in dark ambient heaven or in need of serious therapy – and I do mean that as a compliment, since clearly the music has the intended effect, in spades. My yardstick for the genre, as I’ve mentioned many times, is Robert Rich and Lustmord’s Stalker. This rivals and possibly surpasses it as a benchmark. Heady stuff, dive down in if you dare.
© 2008 Phil Derby / Electroambient Space
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From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)

Deep, dark ambient soundscapes comprise this intriguing release by John W. Patterson, otherwise known as SourceCodeX. To quote the composer himself, “Primordial Lands Arise is linked to descriptions and/or visions of…Sheol, the Underworld, Hell, Gehenna, outer darkness or the Abyss.” Patterson conjures some disturbing sounds from his infernal machines—sounds that often border on the edge of serenity but which always seem to be warped or mangled in such a way as to produce strange resonances that evoke melancholia and a sense of lingering malaise. Only occasionally is there any melodic center that the listener can grasp onto; otherwise, Patterson revels in cavernous tones with no definite pitch or rhythm. This approach is particularly effective on the longer, extended pieces (“Hidden Things between Things” and “Vain Traditions Abyss”) where snatches of Gregorian choirs and other ancient sound sources fight and flail against the industrialized sounds of clanking machinery and jet airplanes. As a consequence, primordial Lands Arise can be favorably compared with such ambient industrial works as Jeff Greinke’s Cities in Fog and Lustmord’s The Place Where the Black Stars Hang. If not blindingly original, Primordial Lands Arise at least has the virtue of being well-conceived and carefully executed. Aficionados of the darker side of ambient electronics will find primordial lands Arise worth a listen.
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Some great new drone ambient albums this month . . . The new SourcecodeX is well done dark drone ambient. 
~ Scott Raymond of WVKR-FM Secret Music Playlist for October 07, 2007 featured "War In Heaven" from Primordial Lands Arise
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there is no doubt where "SourceCodeX" John Patterson is coming from. Just a minute or so of PRIMORDIAL LANDS ARISE will make it obvious that John Patterson is a fan of H.P. Lovecraft as well as other horror-fantasy world-spinners. With track titles like "DroneMass," "HellDream Vimana," and "VainTraditionsAbyss," Patterson wants to accentuate the darkness and bury the light alive. This is an album which depends more on textures and unholy evocations than on tonality or melody. Listening to this album you will encounter scaly hissing, distant monster fog horns, alien digestive glurp, hideously distorted voices, buzzing cybernetic insect noises, and deep fuzzy drones, and this is only in the first three tracks. 

As the album goes on, Patterson zooms in on you with what sounds like old warplanes, and then plunges the listener into a suffocating hot night filled with toneless industrial drones, looping sonic horrors, and finally an oncoming giant throbbing entity announced by the crash of gongs and a muffled howling. The last track, "AlphaOmegaAdInfinitum," does not offer tonal relief or rays of returning light, but it is at least empty of looming threats, in fact is just empty which might be a relief in itself.

I don't want to see the movie that this would be the soundtrack for. Composer Patterson, who might love that kind of movie, fortunately has a wry sense of humor which offsets the scariness of it all. The graphic packaging for this album, all of it designed by Patterson himself, offers helpful advice such as "We are not responsible for blown speakers or shattered objects," and "Do not drive on long trips or operate heavy machinery while listening to this CD." I would also add, "May experience nightmares while or after listening to this album."
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