Dark ambient

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Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of new synthesizer and sampling technology in the electronic music genre and other technical advances in music. Dark ambient is a diverse genre, related to industrial music, noise, ethereal wave, and black metal, yet generally free from derivatives and connections to other genres or styles.

Overview

Dark ambient evolved partially based on several of Brian Eno's early collaborations that had a distinctly dark or discordant edge, notably "An Index of Metals" (from Evening Star (1975)), a collaboration with Robert Fripp that incorporated harsh guitar feedback, the ambient pieces on the second half of David Bowie's Low (1977), Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics (1980), a collaboration with Jon Hassell, and the fourth installment of his ambient series, On Land (1982).

Ambient industrial projects like Coil, Lilith, Lustmord, Zoviet France, and Nocturnal Emissions evolved out of industrial music during the 1980s, and were some of the earliest artists to create consistently "dark" ambient music. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, an ethereal wave trend emerged within the dark wave movement, that tended toward moody atmospheric pieces rather than jangly minor-key rock. Ethereal wave was mainly associated with the Projekt record label, with bands like Black Tape for a Blue Girl doing music that ranged into moody ambient soundscapes.

By the mid-1990s, a large number of artists were working in ambient industrial, ambient noise, ethereal wave, illbient, isolationism, and other emerging "dark ambient" styles. Among these artists were Autopsia, Vidna Obmana, Daniel Menche, Lull, Raison d'etre, Lord Insomnia, Nefelheim and Shinjuku Thief. In the same time dark ambient vibrated into contemporary classical music. Example of this can be project Aghiatrias or solo works of composer Vladimír Hirsch.

In 2004, extreme metal artist Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, The Devin Townsend Band), made his first Dark Ambient album entitled "Devlab". This was an unusual approach for Townsend but in 2006 he would go on to create another, lighter ambient album called "The Hummer".

Generally the music tends to evoke a feeling of solitude, melancholy, confinement, and isolation. However, while the theme in the music tends to be "dark" in nature, some artists create more organic soundscapes. Examples of such productions are those of Oöphoi, Tau Ceti, and Klaus Wiese.

Related styles

Ambient industrial

Main article: Ambient industrial

While dark ambient is primarily a descendant of ambient music itself, it is closely related to industrial music. Dark ambient gets the term dark from the dark themes often portrayed in industrial. Themes and sounds of an industrial nature are present, including old abandoned factories, primitive machines, and noise. The dark 'non musical' and realistic feel gives some dark ambient its atmosphere of solitude and isolation.

Ambient noise

Main article: Noise music

Noise music is often regarded as a 'relative' or 'sister' genre to dark ambient, or vice-versa. Noise is considered unpleasant and dark, as is dark ambient. Some noise artists create almost ambient soundscapes, such as Aube, Junkielover, MOZ, Daniel Menche, Kiyoshi Mizutani, Iszoloscope, and some Merzbow. Some, for example Iszoloscope, also compose ambient on the side, such as his Les Gorges Des Limbes album. While the two genres can't really compare sound wise, many labels, such as Ant-Zen, release both ambient and noise, as well as combinations of both, taking both avant-garde genres further.

Black ambient

Main article: Black metal

Black ambient (also known as ambient black metal) is a style that combines elements of black metal and ambient/dark ambient music. However, emphasis may be placed upon one or the other. The electric guitar and bass guitar are often used in conjunction with electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines, or may simply be played in an ambient, atmospheric style.

The infamous Norwegian artist Burzum may be considered a pioneer of black ambient, particularly for the album Filosofem. In more recent times, members of black metal bands have side projects in which they produce this kind of music. Many black metal bands themselves have also begun to include ambience on their albums. Prominent artists who have performed in this style include Velvet Cacoon (US), Wolves in the Throne Room (US), Xasthur (US), Leviathan (US), Nortt (Denmark), Abruptum (Sweden), Blut Aus Nord (France), Summoning (Austria) and Striborg (Australia).

See also

• List of dark ambient artists
• List of electronic music genres
• Dark psytrance

External links

• www.darkambientradio.de
• RADIO INFERNO
• Industrial Ambience 1