Hall of Mirrors — Forgotten Realm
The titles of the five tracks suggest that Marutti and Vericchio are taking us as tourists through the forgotten realm that they had built. From the ominous track "The Crossing", through "Gates of Namathur", "Among the Ruins" and finally to "The Fortress", the buildup of the music grows more and more intense. On the track "Among the Ruins" the listeners are being drowned inside metallic, post-industrial feed-back and drones, drilling through one's head until it is hard to remember a few sonic steps back. On earlier tracks, all we could hear was vague ambient rustle, followed by tense, yet soft guitars. Whatever the atmosphere is, Hall of mirrors keeps it musically interesting and highly professional.
Further listens to "Forgotten Realm" reveal more and sonic more details. Hall of Mirrors are smart enough to be too harsh to fall into the 'Dark ambient' genre and too dynamic to be simplified as a drone act. Instead, this album offers you a wide variety of perspective over a dark landscape that Marutti and Verticchio are excavating