New Risen Throne — The Outside
New Risen Throne is the project of Gabriele Panci, and has been active since 2002. In all it’s put out ten albums- with its last full-length release been 2011’s Loneliness Of Hidden Structures- so this new double album has been a long time coming.
The album cover is somewhat of an avant-garde canvas, made, it seems to me, using 3D graphics. At first glance, it may seem that we see the texture and bends of a tree or some other organic structure. But taking a closer look, you can see it's a intertwined and deformed human bodies. In the center of the image shows a kind of grotto or cave, which inside features a group of people carrying torches. The picture seemed most fitting & successful. It rather reminded me of the Divine Comedy and, at the same time, the paintings of the brilliant German artist H.R. Giger.
Moving onto the double CD release- the first disc is the album itself, which consists of seven tracks and lasts fifty-six minutes. The second disc is a bonus- it's collection of remixes of New Risen Throne tracks. This CD consists of eight tracks and lasts a around a one hour.
On the new album, New Risen Throne introduces us to the dark and atmospheric Dark Ambient, bordering on noise and industrial. Gloomy sound landscapes are created using synthesizers, noise samples and fragments of field recordings. We can hear clicks, rustlings, a metal clang and much more unfolding in the atmospheric background. All these parts are generously processed by delay and reverb, which creates an overall sound picture of the flow and mixture of sounds. Several tracks also use vocal samples, as well as rhythmic parts of the drums, which slightly nods towards ritual ambient. The main part of the album has a rather meager stereo,which is achieved by using the effects of delay and reverb. However, closer to the end of the album, the stereo becomes more pronounced. From this, I concluded that the tracks presented on the album could be recorded at different times. For comparisons I'd say first off Archon Satani. Also, the likes of works of Raison D'Etre, Desiderii Marginis and, possibly, some of the early works of Ordo Equilibrio.
The second disc, as mentioned, is a collection of remixes of older New Risen Throne tracks. For a listener who is not very deeply familiar with New Risen Throne, it will be difficult to hear the difference between the original version of the track and the remix. I think this bonus CD is rather a tribute to Gabriele Panci from his friends and colleagues - Sysselmann, Visions, Taphephobia, Phantom Ship, Vestigial, Apocryphos, and TeH?M. Also, one remix was performed by Gabriele Panci. However, this collection sounds very integral, although the tracks have a clear variety in approach to the sound. We can hear a deep Dark Ambient with industrial tones, and rather airy keyboard passages.
I would say my overall impression of the album was very positive. Of course, I mostly paid attention to the first CD &. I can say that this is a wonderful example of Dark Ambient, which gave me the same vibe as the classics of the genre. As for the bonus CD, this is certainly interesting and solid piece. However, it's more fan focused. To summarize, I can say that Gabriele Panci did a great job and The Outside will appeal to all Dark Ambient fans.