Here from Poland’s Zoharum is next in their series of reissues from important euro ambient project Vidna Obmana. This CD set takes in two late 80’s collaborations with US ambient/noise/ electroacoustic PBK, and as the gloomy gothic archway photo artwork suggests- the sonic setting is largely shadowy, unsettling, and ornately hazed/ hidden.

The two CD set comes presented in a black & white six-panel digipak- this as I’ve already mentioned features moody pictures of gothic stone archways-  taken I’m guessing in either a church or a cathedral. It’s a simple yet effective bit of packaging/ art- which very nicely sets you up for what you can expect within the sonic flow of the two-disc set.
 
On disc one, we find Monument Of Empty Colours.  This seven-track album originally appeared in the year 1989, as a C60 on Decade Collection- with Vidna Obmana handing electrioncs, loops & tapes. And PBK electronics & tapes.  The track runtimes hit between the three & ten-minute mark, though they are mostly on the longer side. We move from greyly simmering ‘n’ droning press of “Exhaust Dark Crown” which sounds akin to a mix of claustrophobic insect buzzing & glumly cluttering metallic shimmer. Onto deconstructing lush harmonics meets uneasy tonal swimming of “The Fall Of Romantic Simplicity”. Through to oppressive drone haze, chiming sweep, and jangling near harmonics of “Doors Of Secret Rising”.  The album's title is most fitting, and sonically it’s an uneasy celebration of where oppressive/ glum meets the golden- the latter tries to break through, yet the former always overcomes.
 
On disc number two we have Depression And Ideal. This six-track originally appeared in 1989 as a C50 on Canada’s Freedom Is A Vacuum under the title Compositions : Depression & Ideal- with the pair playing the same sonic set-up as on the previous release. The tracks have runtimes hitting around the seven-to-ten-minute mark. We move from the swarming & jangling unease of the opening track “Synthesis Of The Ideal”. Onto stuck-yet-hazed chime meets hissing weaves of “Aftermath/Vision”. Through gloomy buzzing slumber meets distant foreboding jangling of “White On White”. For the most part, this album seems way more oppressive and sinisterly enclosing than the first album, with all the faint golden promise gone- and now all that stretches out before you is centuries of weathered & cold stone disquiet.
 
It’s certainly wonderful to see Zoharum carrying on with their Vidna Obmana reissue programme, with more very soon/ in the works. Both albums featured have their own uneasy charm, and they certainly work well presented together here.