Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 1, 2017 12:25:00 GMT -5
Sort of an estranged cousin of Dungeon Synth, Black Ambient has really fascinated me in recent years and I'm eager to find some real gems. I'm also considering starting my own Black Ambient type project, and wondered if anyone had any advice or experience with that. If this should be moved to a different part of the forum, let me know! These are a few of my favorite, more dungeony releases: werwolfsblut.bandcamp.com/album/dungeon-dirgesvisionsoftheshadowkingdom.bandcamp.com/album/the-obsidian-realmThere's a lot more great stuff out there, some of it approaching the noisier side of things. I'm really fascinated by all of it and looking for more info!
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Post by Witherer on Jun 2, 2017 15:00:38 GMT -5
I'm not really familiar with the stricter definitions of the genre, I feel like I've seen it used interchangeably with Dark Ambient and Ritual Ambient in the past or for any Dark Ambient or even Black Metal that brings in some Noise/Industrial flavors. In any case that whole area is deeply fascinating. Wish I could have grabbed that Dungeon Dirges tape while I had the chance.
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 2, 2017 17:14:42 GMT -5
I'm not really familiar with the stricter definitions of the genre, I feel like I've seen it used interchangeably with Dark Ambient and Ritual Ambient in the past or for any Dark Ambient or even Black Metal that brings in some Noise/Industrial flavors. In any case that whole area is deeply fascinating. Wish I could have grabbed that Dungeon Dirges tape while I had the chance. Yeah I feel ya...I feel if I could more solid definition that might help. And I agree regarding that tape...I didn't grab one either
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Post by chaucerianmyth on Jun 4, 2017 0:50:51 GMT -5
Sort of an estranged cousin of Dungeon Synth, Black Ambient has really fascinated me in recent years and I'm eager to find some real gems. I'm also considering starting my own Black Ambient type project, and wondered if anyone had any advice or experience with that. If this should be moved to a different part of the forum, let me know! These are a few of my favorite, more dungeony releases: werwolfsblut.bandcamp.com/album/dungeon-dirgesvisionsoftheshadowkingdom.bandcamp.com/album/the-obsidian-realmThere's a lot more great stuff out there, some of it approaching the noisier side of things. I'm really fascinated by all of it and looking for more info! Somehow, when I saw the title of this thread I knew it was gonna be you lol. Definitely looking to get more into this genre, myself. Like, is it just dark/ritual ambient? Is it dark ambient with stronger black metal influence/aesthetics? What's the deal!?
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 4, 2017 8:12:23 GMT -5
Well the RYM definition I've been using is: "Black Ambient is a subgenre of Dark Ambient music, which incorporates in its sound some elements usually associated with Black Metal scene. The typical for Dark Ambient slow and dark atmosphere is taken to extreme levels of dirtiness, and is often complemented by harsh shrieks and haunting whispers, resulting in a very dark, sinister and hypnotic sound. Abgzvoryathre by Moëvöt is a characteristic album for this genre." But this definition in itself could probably use some refining. As is it can refer to a pretty broad array of sounds ranging from Emit to Abruptum to Gnaw Their Tongues but I also see it used to refer to the earliest of Burzum's ambient output and stuff like Cythraul and the acts mentioned above, that seem to be more in the vein of like less melodic dungeon synth. Part of my intentions in making this thread are to clarify what exactly the genre entails and what distinguishes it from, say, dungeon synth or like a black noise type project. I'll go ahead and post a link to that Cythraul project for those unfamiliar:
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 8, 2017 22:31:24 GMT -5
I've gotten started recording some material so keep an eye on my thread in the chambers section for a black ambient update soon. Really inspired by a lot of the aforementioned artists and Emit on this one. Prominent noise component but it has a different feel than other stuff I've done, I'd say. I really wanted to focus on atmosphere here. I'm looking for more synth-driven black ambient to inspire me!
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Post by DieuxDesCimetieres on Jun 8, 2017 23:04:37 GMT -5
As is it can refer to a pretty broad array of sounds ranging from Emit to Abruptum to Gnaw Their Tongues Was a time when all of these were labelled black noise. Not that it matters one iota of course where one draws the line for these micro subgenres, but then you usually saw black ambient used in conjunction with the LLN projects and projects like sounded like them.
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 9, 2017 8:02:35 GMT -5
As is it can refer to a pretty broad array of sounds ranging from Emit to Abruptum to Gnaw Their Tongues Was a time when all of these were labelled black noise. Not that it matters one iota of course where one draws the line for these micro subgenres, but then you usually saw black ambient used in conjunction with the LLN projects and projects like sounded like them. Ah definitely, there is a bit of a distinction to be made in that case. I guess I'm used to the way Rateyourmusic categorizes things, since they don't have a "black noise" genre, a lot of that music gets labeled as black ambient and noise or as black metal and noise. I could definitely see those being considered fairly separate, black ambient and black noise. I guess in recent years I've come to refer to it all as black ambient, just based on the classification system I'm used to. I've come to view noise as a potential component within black ambient but not something present in all black ambient. I guess many artists use more ambient and more noisy sounds in conjunction with each other so I guess I've always perceived black noise and black ambient to be used to refer to a lot of the same artists, making it even harder to distinguish between the two subgenres. That's part of why I use "black ambient" as a catch all for the two sounds, because to me being black ambient doesn't prohibit the presence of noise, so it seems like a good umbrella term for all these artists. I guess even more loosely I can view "black ambient" as a stripped down and warped version of black metal that takes various sonic elements and repurposes them into a more atmospheric and freeform product. That kind of description can apply to any number of different kinds of artists with different sounds, but there is sort of a unifying similarity in which they all are making nebulous, blackened music. "Black noise" is a term I use too but less often because I feel it's kind of less descriptive and can often get confused with just very raw bm. "Black ambient" as a term I think can include a lot of that noisier work, but I guess using it has its own set of problems. I guess I've never seen a particularly thorough definition of "black ambient" that inherently precluded the inclusion of noisier stuff, but if that realm of sound should be excluded then that'd be good to know!
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Post by Witherer on Jun 9, 2017 9:10:56 GMT -5
Raw and amplified dark ambient is the initial concept I've used for some of my work in this area. There's quite a lot of room to start with something like Lustmord or Cryochamber's smooth sounds and head in the opposite underground/anti-cinematic direction.
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 9, 2017 9:22:20 GMT -5
Raw and amplified dark ambient is the initial concept I've used for some of my work in this area. There's quite a lot of room to start with something like Lustmord or Cryochamber's smooth sounds and head in the opposite underground/anti-cinematic direction. That's kid of what I've been doing on this album I'm currently working on. I'm running my keyboard and my vocals through distortion pedals and going from there. I view it as adding a certain grit and grime to what is at its core fairly droney, ambient music (in my case at least). I'd love to hear some of what you've produced so far, if you have anything up online
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Post by Witherer on Jun 9, 2017 13:00:56 GMT -5
I'd love to hear some of what you've produced so far, if you have anything up online I haven't uploaded any of that specific material anywhere yet but I do have another album up from earlier this year that contains some of the same ideas.
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 9, 2017 14:11:06 GMT -5
I'd love to hear some of what you've produced so far, if you have anything up online I haven't uploaded any of that specific material anywhere yet but I do have another album up from earlier this year that contains some of the same ideas. Very cool! I like this visual aesthetic, and the track is nice and eerie. Very nice!
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Post by chaucerianmyth on Jun 11, 2017 9:35:40 GMT -5
I've gotten started recording some material so keep an eye on my thread in the chambers section for a black ambient update soon. Really inspired by a lot of the aforementioned artists and Emit on this one. Prominent noise component but it has a different feel than other stuff I've done, I'd say. I really wanted to focus on atmosphere here. I'm looking for more synth-driven black ambient to inspire me! Let me know if you find any of those synth-driven Black Ambient projects! That's definitely something I'd be interested in hearing. Also, looking forward to your own Black Ambient release. It sounds like a genre that you would take to very naturally.
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 11, 2017 9:54:44 GMT -5
I've gotten started recording some material so keep an eye on my thread in the chambers section for a black ambient update soon. Really inspired by a lot of the aforementioned artists and Emit on this one. Prominent noise component but it has a different feel than other stuff I've done, I'd say. I really wanted to focus on atmosphere here. I'm looking for more synth-driven black ambient to inspire me! Let me know if you find any of those synth-driven Black Ambient projects! That's definitely something I'd be interested in hearing. Also, looking forward to your own Black Ambient release. It sounds like a genre that you would take to very naturally. Here's another release (which you're probably already familiar with) which falls sort of at that DS/black ambient crossroads: It's tricky because I feel like the meaning of "black ambient" has in fact changed over time and it's moved in a less synth/key oriented direction and incorporates a lot more noise and jarring sounds. Just really not a lot of info out there and it's hard to say what really falls into the genre when it's so poorly defined (as far as I know). But part of me actually loves the extent to which the genre escapes clear definition. It seems to free up a lot of room creatively speaking and I've had a blast dabbling in it myself. Other parts of me long for a bit more guidance but I just am not sure there is any haha
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Tyrannus
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Post by Tyrannus on Jun 11, 2017 19:35:34 GMT -5
Here's another interesting item to check out:
Are vocals a requirement or black ambient? I think they might be a big factor.
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