Part of being metal is to be un-metal and to follow projects in a related spirit that do not necessarily use screaming guitars, blasting drums, howling guttural vocals and lyrics about doom.
Some in fact are more ambient. Take for example New England’s Khand, a project band from members of well-known right coast black metal bands, which works in the dark ambient genre but with its own twist that more resembles the classics of psychedelic and cosmic ambient music.
The Fires of Celestial Ardour, released via Hi.Arc.Tow as a GPL-licensed free download, is “all over the place stylistically, but it’s all done with a fantasy/sci-fi mindset,” according to Khand creator Arillius.
Touting itself as music for fans of Tangerine Dream, RPG music, Dead Can Dance, Mortiis, Vangelis, Lord Wind, Winglord and related epic dark ambient projects, Khand is more playful than the norm but creates an atmosphere not of darkness, but of great possibility in which darkness and light are not destinations but means to an end.
“I keep this project all low-fi and try not to use any keyboards, samples or programs that came out post-2000,” said Arillius, who is famed in north eastern black metal circles for his unusual lifestyle. He lives and records in a houseboat without windows anchored offshore, and much of his music reflects the motion of waves, the call of seagulls, and the occasional bloated corpse brushing up against the hull. Often he goes for months without human contact except to post misanthropic screeds on his Facebook Page.
For those who like ambient, but like it dark, and like dark ambient, but like it to have a range of emotions beyond “alone in my dark room with a sword,” Khand provides a perfect listening experience that is also free of charge.
Tags: arillius, dark ambient, khand
Beautiful. Listening to the “forsaken planet” my mind wanders back to those days when, as a kid, I would sneak out during the bright summer nights, and take long and cleansing walks in the fields close to my hometown .. love it
really beautiful and trippy, without being sappy.
This isn’t bad. Interesting of the use of old keyboards.
I see fairies, and goblins, and orcs and wizards. This is great! (rolls 64-sided die)
Not bad. I find that metal is saturated with shit bands and ambient is actually taking it’s place so far as imagination, substance and overall validity.
Too many metal bands with too much to say while each band is getting lost in the mix. The state of metal is like crabs in a bucket. Ambient doesn’t say a damn thing and yet says so much. I love it.
Judging by the “Forsaken Planets” track, this sounds like a keeper. The offshore influence is apparent, and serves an excellent landscape. It succeeds most by building up from this mood, unlike the bores of ambient music that merely linger.
Thanks for sharing. I am always glad to find new additions to this propitious genre.