Gustaf Hildebrand - Primordial Resonance (2005)

Gustaf's second full lenght is a unique, evolved experience offering you to embark upon an odyssey through ancient and lifeless surroundings. Sweeping ambient soundscapes and delicate textures mingle with the distant shrieks of surreal machinery - conjuring up images of abandoned and forgotten places, clouded skies and dead cities where time has been standing still. A captured moment from a strange no man's land lit by a perpetual gloom, Primordial Resonance is a voyage only limited by the imagination of the listener.

The last release I reviewed that featured Gustaf Hildebrand was the joint collaboration with Peter Bjargo titled ‘Out of the darkling light into the bright shadow’ [read review here]. A difficult different type of recording to review which I think went down with the artists concerned as well as an iceberg meeting the Titanic… and I actually liked it!! Then again I do have eclectic tastes. With "Primordial Resonance" Gustaf is back alone on home turf with the follow up to the incredibly well received and reviewed debut "Starscape". The cosmic oracle doing what he does best…but with an added twist.

Gustaf specialises in le Grande (there was another French word I wanted to use but can’t remember it) ambient soundscapes. The giant statements. Be they of the spatial or dark variety he goes for sweeping panoramas in a big way. His deft use of electronics is always a pleasure and never a chore but on "Primordial Resonance" he uses other instruments which add further dimensions to the dynamics. Metal scrapings never sounded so harsh yet fittingly aren’t out of place. Bells / chimes add a mystical element to the already heady concoctions he brews up.

Conjuring up all manner, a plethora, of chaos and horror in bite-sized six tracked chunks that lasts just under 46 minutes is a tribute to his skills. That each individual track is a different aural experience within the dark realms only quantifies this fact. Darkness be my old friend. The music a full on experience of ominous voices and visceral thrills that has the audacity…and actually gets away with…to use chanting monks in a setting never normally associated with these pious men of the cloth. One of my lasting memories, of many it must be said, that this recording left ingrained in my head long after it finished was the use of the sounds of children and of babies crying. Not since Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’ have those sounds been used in better context. Just like every great recording ever before it the more you hear it the more you find. The hidden treasures that need seeking out and absorbed into the subconscious.

Do not just assume or dismiss out of hand "Primordial Resonance" as just another dark ambient recording. There’s so much more to it than just that. This is a musical experience where thoughts and perceptions are put into question. The dividing line between the forces of light and dark a gossamer thin strand of a spiders web. Where the underlying feelings of abject despair are matched by a sense of a new hope. For there is light to be found here. A faint glow maybe but there all the same. Embark on this adventure and read into it what you will. The second coming of Gustaf Hildebrand has finally arrived. Halleluiah!! Comes in the usual high standards of packaging to be expected from the Cyclic Law record label. Looks liked the loaded dice just keeps rolling for this record label…

TRACKS
01.Omega Continuum 06:47
02.Post Oblivion Fields 07:46
03.The Hollow Structures 06:07
04.Omnivoid 06:47
05.Ruins of a Failed Utopia 08:23
06.Wanderer of Strange Spheres 09:33