Arktau Eos — Unworeldes
As in the case of their last few releases, which have been sparse, repetitious and quiet, their music is more about ritual intent than actual sound. With just a handful of intuitively calculated gestures, they transform the deep, reverent silence that permeates each piece into an otherworldly, time dilating sinkhole, slowly drawing the listener into threateningly strange realms beyond emotion as we know it.
Slithering and insidious distorted feedback wails are more prominent than in the past, but there is a strong organic feeling to their music, as if electronics were hardly used, and computers not at all. This is what sets this group clearly apart from most of the 'dark ambient' genre, a form of music in which it is common for digitally created reverbs themselves to be the primary elements of tracks. Arktau Eos proves these tools are only distractions which render relatively simplistic results compared to the complex and imperfect resonances of nature. Theirs is a timeless sound that could have come from any era of human civilization. Upon hearing it, a primal part of the mind is awakened.
The dusty, uneven tones wind around each other in a blank, uncaring song, lonely and mournful in much the same way as a howling wind can sound mournful, even as it is inanimate. Massive, rattling instruments belch out dry bass pitches; it's often unclear whether they are stringed or some kind of horn. The pace of the music is very slow, but at the same time the members seem intensely engaged in what they are doing, their almost manic; I have tried to sleep to this music and it keeps me awake, so uncomfortable is the plane they have reached.
There are hinted melodies and chords in the feedback and the deep bowed string pitches, but it seems the sound has been perhaps intentionally detuned. The timbre of each instrument is full of dissonant, abrasive resonances that clash with the fundamental tones. The effect is a very earthy and loose tonality which gives the music authentic primal and ancient feeling, best evidenced by the dense, droning orchestration of "Black Leaf Gaze", the 3rd piece. The closing "Geometry of Emptiness" returns to thinner sound spaces, a forlorn, vaporous dissipation into nothingness.
Arktau Eos' "Unworeldes" is one of the most powerful and original ambient records I have ever heard, easily equal to their previous "Mirrorion" and "Scorpion Milk", which have been long-time favorites. Even those typically opposed to long, minimal tracks may find this recording strangely hypnotic. There are many recordings in this day and age claiming ritual intent, but this one strikes me as the rare genuine article, a mesmerizing opus.