For the Innermost

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

Artist: Gydja Album: Níu kom ek heima fyr Niflhel neðan Label: Winter-Light Release date: May 2026 In the current era of utter commoditisation of music and quasi-anonymous dark ambient works emerging in their dozens on the internet every month, coming across a new release of a mature, established artist feels almost soothing. Such is the case with Gydja, the main project of New Zealand-based audio-visual artist Abby Helasdottir, whose work I haven’t had the pleasure of review

Artist: ERGA Album: Fragment of Their Yearning Landscapes Label: Self-released Release date: May 2026 Erik Gärdefors, the talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind Grift (among others), is back with a new project called ERGA. The choice of name (basically the first two letters of the artist's first and last name) is no coincidence and, diving into the album for the first time as I gazed upon the beautifully symbolic cover art, I was sure that I was about to listen