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  1. The National – ‘Day I Die

Ears wide open for the new album of brilliant American indie rockers The National! Their seventh album ‘Sleep Well Beast’, is out on September 8th, while the band offers us their latest single ‘Day I Die’.

Fast rhythm, awesome melodic guitars after refrains and especially after 2.10 minute, the track takes off!

Enjoy !!

Theodoros Rentesis

  1. None – ‘Nothing Is Right

Berlin-based solo artist None (birth name Anna Nin) released a few days ago her latest gem, pessimistically called ‘Nothing Is Right‘. Atmospheric, dystopic soundscapes matching perfectly the visuals of Nils Helling. For the time being, enjoy this one, til None’s next full-length out on Unknown Pleasures Records!

Christos Doukakis

  1. Atrium Carceri & Cities Last Broadcast – ‘Laudanum’

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Cryo Chamber releases. There is a consistency of aural and physical quality across their releases that is almost unrivalled, at least in the dark ambient scene. Yet, this latest release, ‘Black Corner Den‘, by Atrium Carceri and Cities Last Broadcast seems to be reaching for even loftier pinnacles of success.

This featured track, ‘Laudanum‘, the first on the album takes us deep into the dark and hazy opium dens of the nineteenth century. The slight nod toward jazz noir gives it that late night metropolitan feel. The tape loops and manipulated piano with their hissing warmth add the hazy, thick smokey feel of the recesses of some hidden back alley opium den. All the sounds coalesce into something that is almost mind-altering in its repetitive subtleties.

This makes the perfect recipe for a vinyl release. Cryo Chamber have finally taken that leap into the format after pondering the idea for the last few years. The crackles and pops of a record spinning on a turntable really fit so well with the concept of this album, taking us back in time, to a place that some would find wretched and haunting, but would make others feel right at home. Of course, for any fan of dark ambient, we are all pretty comfortable fitting into that category of “the other”. Welcome back after the long summer break! Enjoy!

Michael Barnett

  1. John Maus– ‘The Combine

The Combine‘ is taken from the forthcoming album ‘Screen Memories‘ (October 27, Ribbon Music). American electronic/avant-garde musician and composer John Maus strikes back with 220 seconds of retrowave, carrying influences from legendary Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and ‘Discovery‘-era Daft Punk. Epic!

Christos Doukakis

  1. Epica – ‘Immortal Melancholy’

This is the first official video from the new Epica’s EP ‘The Solace System‘, released on September 1st via Nuclear Blast. The video was created by animator Davide Cilloni. Coen Janssen (keyboards) revealed that this video is the first part of a concept on which the new album is based on and the next videos will unfold this in the form of a story. In ‘Immortal Melancholy‘ the main character finds herself between two dimensions.

Mary Kalaitzidou

Compiled by Theodoros Rentesis, Christos Doukakis, Michael Barnett & Mary Kalaitzidou