Dear reader,
I first started For the Innermost in 2011, at the peak of my interest for the dark ambient genre and, in some ways, the peak time for the scene itself, at least in terms of the number of listeners. The seminal works of the 1990s, exploding with creativity, but often experimenting with electronic, industrial and darkwave elements, had given way to a more introspective, more structured and more defined vision of the genre in the early 2000s, which attracted new fans such as myself.
The world was a very different place back then - few people were connected to the internet 24/7, even fewer carried smartphones in their pockets, while Facebook had just replaced MySpace as the go-to social network (this last bit makes me feel particularly old!). Websites were still the main means of communicating with internet audiences, and blog as a format was at the peak of its popularity. Music was a different universe as well, with the good old CD still serving as the primary medium for dark ambient, as vinyl was usually too expensive to produce for the relatively modest number of copies being sold, while streaming services were still a few years away.
It was at this time that I became increasingly dissatisfied with how little press coverage of the dark ambient genre there was at the time, whether online or offline. Despite a blossoming scene (especially in Scandinavia), album reviews were almost an afterthought in metal-, drone- and industrial-oriented publications, while interviews with dark ambient artists were limited to just two or three enthusiasts running the online equivalent of fanzines from the previous century. As I was in my early twenties, with plenty of time and enthusiasm on my hands, I decided to rectify this situation and start a blog of my own. Inspired by Kammarheit's timeless track, I decided to name it "For the Innermost", and published more than 60 articles over the next three years, while forming a bond of friendship with a handful of artists and labels in the process.
Alas, between the early stages of a corporate career and a tumultuous personal life (including changing countries every couple of years), the blog took a back seat and fell into disuse, disrepair and ultimately death. However, I never stopped feeling the creative itch to go back to writing about one of my two favourite genres of music (the other one being, perhaps unsurprisingly, metal). Therefore, after a full decade of inactivity, I'm happy to finally go back to providing regular coverage of dark ambient (and related) music, out of both love for the genre and need for a creative outlet in the increasingly dreary world of today. While I'm (re-)starting the blog from scratch, I might publish some snippets of the original content from back in the day later on for the sake of historical significance.
I extend my gratitude to Hristo of Shrine fame for helping me out with the technical aspects of getting the ball rolling again, as well as the fantastic background visual for the website.
I hope you'll enjoy the read!
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