For the Innermost

Artist: Mount Shrine Album: The Yasu Ether Project Label: Cryo Chamber Release date: August 2026 Some reviews are more difficult to write than others, and this one was certainly one of those, as I knew in advance that I'd never be reviewing this particular artist's work again. Mount Shrine, the project of the talented Brazilian musician César Alexandre, made serious waves towards the end of the 2010s by releasing a string of albums in rapid succession featuring a highly nosta

Artist: Onasander & RNGMNN Album: Illumination Phases Label: Winter-Light Release date: July 2026 Many dark ambient artists have had a penchant for working with others over the previous few decades, but none more so than Onasander (aka Maurizio Landini), the Italian maestro who enjoys bouncing ideas with other dark ambient initiates to such an extent that his solo discography is dwarfed by the sheer number of his collaborations. The latest in this series is a joint creation w

Artist: Fractalyst Album: Ypnos Label: Cyclic Law Release date: May 2026 Allow me to start this review with a controversial statement - dark ambient was at its most exciting when the people making it didn't even know they were making dark ambient (in fact, Lustmord as arguably the biggest dark ambient artist of all time still refuses the label). There were no preset expectations, no neat subgenres such as cinematic or ritual, no clear-cut choices between this or that kind of

Artist: Undirheimar Album: Utisetur I Label: Cyclic Law/Zazen Sounds Release date: May 2026 One of the uncomfortable truths about the ritual dark ambient genre is that the level of innovation in it has dropped sharply since its inception. Whereas it was once the absolute bleeding edge of dark ambient (at least to those attuned enough to understand it), over the past two decades it has become somewhat stale and predictable, bar a few select exceptions. One of the reasons, perh

Artist: Nortfalke Album: Kauntloft Label: Heidens Hart Release date: May 2026 Any regular reader of this website will not be new to my love for Nortfalke, the mystical Dutch one-man project that's been releasing quality dungeon synth (or thereabouts) for more than a decade now. I simply love everything about it: the artistic approach, the use of near-extinct Dutch dialects for album and track titles, but most importantly, the willingness to experiment and go beyond the narrow