Various Artists — Cycles II

Cycles II is composed of nearly two hours of haunting and beautiful ambient, electronic, and industrial music. Highlighting acts and releases since Cyclic Law's fantastic 10-year anniversary collection, Cycles, this latest compilation melds darkness and light, tragedy and joy, and the concrete with the ethereal. The lineup on this release speaks to the draw and power of Cyclic Law and their catalog; these are some of the most talented and fascinating acts to come out in recent years (and longer for some). In addition, this sampler brings newer and lesser known acts to a bigger audience, letting their artistry be heard and presented among bigger names. This works extremely well for all parties involved as the tracks curated for this release all flow and work amazingly well together. On paper, seeing Leila Abjul-Rauf's "Moving On Its Own" next to Neraterræ & Dødsmaskin's "Fate Unveiled" may get some scratching their heads, but Cycles II makes it work very well. It is the strength of Cyclic Law's catalog in bringing together so many amazing and talented artists over the past two decades that allows such a widely scoped compilation to flow so well.  While øjeRum's "The Land" and Taphephobia's "3rd Floor" elevate and fly gracefully higher, Funerary Call's "Cerements of the Moon" and Sutekh Hexen's "The Sky Below" bring out the grim and menacing depths and add wonderful balance to the mix. And this is just a handful of the twenty-two artists chosen to represent the second decade of Cyclic Law's brooding reign. 

 

Cyclic Law has been releasing top-notch dark ambient, experimental, and industrial music for the past two decades. Always continuing to find and highlight new artists, their catalogue has expanded greatly in this time (over 200 cycles!) and their roster has definitely become legendary. After hearing the 22 tracks on this 20-year sampler, one becomes even more highly interested in what Cyclic Law will release in the next ten years and that classic retrospective one can assume will be Cycles III