Sounds of Darkness

Time for a quick step into a (slightly) more modern recording of the ominous and spooky. This collaboration is one of the finest.

Robert Rich is one of the most well-known ambient artists of our time. He’s been recording for 20 years, collaborating with a variety of artists, and working with a variety of media. He practically invented the “electro-acoustic” sound, combining electronic sounds with tribal and biological influences.

Brian “Lustmord” Williams might be the first artist to be labeled “Dark Ambient”. He takes recordings from crypts, caves, and slaughterhouses, combines them with ritual chants and Tibetan horns, and sticks an ominous low rumble underneath it all. This guy is seriously spooky.

In 1995, the two collaborated on this album, which was inspired by a 1979 Russian film about a guide who brings his two clients to a mysterious site known as “The Zone”. I confess that I know nothing about the film other than what Wikipedia tells me.

“Stalker” plays like a 70-minute journey through … I don’t know. A swampy, spooky countryside? A bleak wasteland? Hell? It is a mostly beatless ambient CD … the sounds you hear are of an organic rather than industrial quality. I’ve spent several minutes now trying to come up with the words to describe the sounds … I can’t. It doesn’t try to frighten you, it simply unsettles you slowly. If you’re willing to be a little bit adventurous, and haven’t spent much time exploring Dark Ambient music, this is a terrific place to start.