Review: Mount Shrine - The Yasu Ether Project

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 nostalgic, tranquil approach to drone ambient, inspiring a host of other artists such as The Void Wanderer and The Underwater Sleep Orchestra in the meantime. Sadly, Mount Shrine's creative bout was cut short by César's tragic COVID-induced death in April 2021, putting an abrupt stop to one of the most promising discographies among the more recent crop of dark ambient artists. Five years later, Simon, the owner of Cryo Chamber, who had released virtually all of Mount Shrine's previous work, has decided to provide an official release of César's last known body of work, entitled The Yasu Ether Project, thus bringing the Mount Shrine story to a premature close.

Sound-wise, listeners familiar with Mount Shrine's work will find few surprises here: minor-key drones couched in static, field recordings focusing on nature, melancholic synth passages, an occasional electronica-inspired passage, and a warmth reminiscent of a vintage lamp amplifier to wrap around it all. The only change versus the project's previous releases is the prominent place given to bird sounds, which are peppered throughout the album in a very subtle manner, but adding an important dimension to the atmosphere. There aren't many ingredients in this sonic kitchen, nor are the tracks themselves radically different from one another, and yet the album's one-hour-plus running time almost flies by, not by being particularly engaging in itself, but by making the rest of the world disengage for a while. Indeed, if there's any single quality that elevates Mount Shrine above most of his peers, it's the ability of the music to instantly transport the listener to a simpler, more tranquil place, away from the humdrum of everyday life. It's impossible to sit (or, ideally, lie) through The Yasu Ether Project and not have your mind wander off either outwards or inwards; the album has that uncanny quality of plucking the strings of your soul that we tend to keep well-hidden from most of the world, and I've had some of the best introspective sessions in recent memory while listening to it over the past few weeks. The quality of the material is impressively constant and it flows impeccably from start to finish without any obvious standouts, and it will be small nuances and personal preferences that determine anyone's favourite track; for instance, I was particularly enchanted by Mountain Ashes and its slow synth crescendo that fits the majestic nature of a dormant volcano, while Polysunset is simply a perfect closer, rendered even more so by the unfortunate post-realisation that it brings Mount Shrine's body of work to a permanent close.

Considering the role bestowed upon it, trying to objectively rate The Yasu Ether Project against the project's other releases would be a pointless exercise; nevertheless, even without the emotional baggage attached to it, the album absolutely holds its weight and I would deem it among the very best of Mount Shrine's output. That it ended up as Mount Shrine's swansong is a cruel twist of fate, but one that makes me appreciate it even more. It's a bittersweet testament to César's talent, and as worthy an in memoriam as any musician could wish for. May he rest in peace.

Rating: 9/10