Moloch — Illusionen eines verlorenen Lebens
I’d guess you’d say this album sits more on the dark ambient side of the projects output as over half an hour of the 50 minute album is in the dark ambient/ darkly atmospheric synth meets piano mode. The album opens with the just under eight minutes of “Illusion des Winters” which mixes together bleak winter wind samples, and rather plodding & rudimentary ambient synth rolls that later drift into rather plonky and basic piano runs, before returning once more to bland synth textering. I’m afraid to say I find the track rather amateurish sounding, grating and far too over long- it’s a bad start to the album, but thankfully things really pick up after this point.
Next up we have four more slow to mid paced blacked metal tracks that all fall around the just under five minute mark. First of theses is “Ein düsterer Winter kommt l” which starts off with not very promisingly stand alone wavering synth line, but pretty soon things pick up as a depressive black metal meets goth guitar churn is added, along with a mournful mixture of spoken word & shrieked vocals . The track ends up as a rewarding yet slightly wonky mixture of dark ambience, blacked metal, and grim Baltic licked Goth doominess.
Next we have “Ein düsterer Winter kommt ll” which mixes together skeletal and basic drum patterns with a fuzzed & grimly haze blacked guitar tone. The tracks vocals start off as mumbled grim spoken word then moving towards pained & emotional shrieks. Following this track we have “Dissonanz Tropfen eines glühenden Schmerze”s which is a vocal-less yet atmospheric, simple yet subtle spiral mixture of discordant blacked metal guitar layers & basic drum patterns that form this great doomy tunnel of depressing blacked metal. Next there's “Weg von dieser Welt voller Traurigkeit” which mixers together descending eerier, & depressive guitar chug ’n’ discord with an effective twin vocal attack with one party almost talking in baltic tongues & the other vocal party shrieking emotional.
The album finishers off with the longest track of this release the just over twenty two of "Abgrund meines Wesens" which is a great shimmering, bleack and darkly expansive slice of dark ambience. The tracks built around layers of drifting ‘n’ swirling synth textures that slowly ebb & knit around each other to create this great melancholic yet melodic weave of atmospheric sonics. Really this track is a great & darkly expansive end to the album, and it shows Moloch at the height of his grim/dark ambient powers.
Other than the rather, lacklustre, amateurish & overlong opening track “Illusionen eines verlorenen Lebens” is another great mix of dark ambience & depressive black metal from this creative yet slightly off kilter one man Ukraine project.