Review: Ajna - New Revelations of Being

Artist: Ajna

Album: New Revelations of Being

Label: Cyclic Law

Release date: October 2025

It feels like mere weeks ago that I published my review of Ajna's excellent previous album Algol, perhaps because I've listened to it so many times in the meantime. And yet, almost a year since its release, the prolific American artist Chris F. is back with another entry to add to his already sizeable discography. However, as you may deduce from the cover art already, this latest album - inspired by the writings of the French avant-garde playwright Antonin Artaud, famous for being expelled from the surrealist movement by André Breton himself - is a radical departure in terms of scope and mood.

Indeed, while Algol was a wondrous, frequently overwhelming drone journey on a cosmic scale, New Revelations of Being travels in the opposite direction and explores the microcosm of a troubled individual straddling the thin line between genius and lunacy. To that end, the album employs the more introspective side of Ajna's creative canvas, relying less on lush, powerful explosions of sound and more on cavernous rumblings and subtle dissonant drones for the mise-en-scène. There is no mistaking Chris F.'s handwriting here, but the various sound elements he typically espouses are used more sparingly and carefully versus his previous work, purposely decreasing density in favour of atmosphere. The result is marvellous; the soundscapes are dripping with a sense of place, whether it's a dimly lit room late at night, the sterile corridors of an asylum, or the misty, yet vaguely threatening shores of Ireland. (I strongly suggest you read up on the life of Antonin Artaud before listening to the album, as it really reinforces the experience.) Chris F. showcases his mastery of dynamics throughout the album, letting each track slowly develop and inflate (or deflate) to its true size over its running length, as well as switching the spotlight between various sound components I often wasn't even aware had been there from the start - an approach that makes repeated listens much more rewarding.

All of the above makes New Revelations of Being an exceptionally well-crafted dark ambient journey and one of the best conceptual albums in recent memory. It's not easy to put out two albums in the span of a year that would maintain the same high level of quality, especially when they're so different in terms of direction, yet that's exactly what Ajna has managed to do. Comparisons aside, however, this release is certain to be an excellent companion for the darker, colder days that lie ahead for those of us in the northern hemisphere.

Rating: 9/10