| Dark ambient | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Ambient industrial |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid-1980s,[1] Europe |
| Derivative forms | |
| Subgenres | |
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| Fusion genres | |
| Other topics | |
Dark ambient (originally known asambient industrial) is asubgenre ofpost-industrial music, that originally emerged in the mid-1980s.[1][3] It draws primary influence fromambient music and is characterized byominous, darkdrones, discordant overtones and a gloomy, monumental orcatacomb-inspired atmosphere.[4] Although mostly an electronic genre, artists frequently sample traditional instruments and make use of semi-acoustic recording procedures.[5]
Dark ambient often consists of evolvingdissonant harmonies ofdrones andresonances, low frequency rumbles and machine noises, sometimes supplemented bygongs, percussiverhythms,bullroarers, distorted voices and otherfound sounds, often processed to the point where the original sample cannot be recognized.[6] For example, entire works may be based onradio telescope recordings (e.g.Arecibo'sTrans-Plutonian Transmissions), the babbling of newborn babies (e.g.Nocturnal Emissions'Mouths of Babes), or sounds recorded throughcontact microphones ontelegraph wires (e.g.Alan Lamb'sPrimal Image).[6]
Generally, the music tends to evoke a feeling of solitude, melancholy, confinement, darkness, and isolation.Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music says dark ambient often evokes, "End of days, end of civilizations, feelings of intense isolationism in spite of a socially flattening society."[7] However, while the theme in the music tends to be "dark" in nature, some artists create more organic soundscapes. TheSymphonies of the Planets series, a collection of works by Brain/Mind Research inspired by audible-frequency plasma waves recorded by theVoyager uncrewed space probes, can also be considered an organic manifestation of dark ambient.[8]
The termdark ambient was coined in the early 1990s byRoger Karmanik to describe the music ofRaison d'être and related artists that are heavily associated with theCold Meat Industry record label.[4][9]
Dark ambient has its roots in the 1970s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordableeffects units, synthesizer andsampling technology. Early genre elements can be found onThrobbing Gristle's 1978 albumD.o.A: The Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle, and in the soundtrack to the 1977David Lynch filmEraserhead. Important early precursors of the genre wereTangerine Dream's early double-albumZeit (1972), which unlike most of their subsequent albums abandoned any notion of rhythm or definable melody in favour of "darkly" sinuous, occasionally disturbingsonics; and also,Affenstunde (1970) by fellowkrautrock bandPopol Vuh.[according to whom?]
Projects likeLustmord,[10]Nocturnal Emissions,Lab Report, andZoviet France[6] evolved out of industrial music during the 1980s, and were some of the earliest artists to create consistently dark ambient music. These artists make use of industrial principles such asnoise and shock tactics, but wield these elements with more subtlety.[6][11] Additionally, ambient industrial often has strongoccultist tendencies with a particular leaning towardmagick as expounded byAleister Crowley, andchaos magic, often giving the music a ritualistic flavor.[6]
The albumDeep Listening by pioneering electronic and experimental composerPauline Oliveros in collaboration withStuart Dempster andPanaiotis released in 1989 as well as the albumZamia Lehmanni: Songs of Byzantine Flowers by Australian musical groupSPK released in 1987 are also cited as having made a considerable impact on the development of dark ambient.[12][13]
In the 2020s, artists known for producing dark ambient work include acts associated with the Cryo Chamber[14] record label, run bySimon Heath who has been composing dark ambient music for over two decades, and Cyclic Law[15] from France. The website "This Is Darkness" is devoted to the dark ambient genre in all its iterations.[16]
| Isolationism | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Isolationist ambient |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 1990s, Europe |
| Other topics | |
Isolationism (also known asisolationist ambient) is asubgenre of dark ambient that was prominent in the 1990s. The term was coined by British musicianKevin Martin and first appeared in print in a September 1993 issue ofThe Wire magazine.[17] He described it as a form of fractured, subdued music that "pushed away" listeners rather than comforting them. In 1994 Martin curated a compilation album,Isolationism, collecting various examples of the genre. Journalist David Segal referred to it as "ambient's sinister, antisocial cousin".[18]
John Everall, owner of the Sentrax label, placed the origins of "Isolationist" music in earlyindustrial groups,krautrock, ambient music and experimental composers suchJohn Cage andKarlheinz Stockhausen, and others.[18]James Plotkin identifiedBrian Eno's ambient works as an influence on the isolationist scene, along with American experimental bands such as Illusion of Safety.[19] As Plotkin says,
I really didn't know what was meant by Isolationism [...], because it encompassed this broad spectrum of music that ranged from Ambient to avant garde music to even something more aggressive – like theJapanese Noise scene. [...]Isolationism was a Virgin compilation and it needed a marketing angle. And [compiler] Kevin Martin was definitely responsible for exposing a really large amount of people to music that would otherwise have gone unnoticed, so I guess it's not all bad.[19]