By: I have been a fan of Spectral Lore’s brand of atmospheric black metal for some time now. I started listening to them, or rather him, around the time ll was released and have followed him with interest ever since. Last years effort, lll, was my album of the year. However, on this release, Ayloss strips any remnants of black metal, or metal in general, and gives a full album’s worth of ambient music.
I must begin by stating my love for ambient music. I have been listening to ambient music for close to ten years now, I started with Aphex Twin and his Selected Ambient Works, moved my way back to the start where I discovered my love for Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, and minimalist composers. Then, catapulting into modern ambient territory, I fell in love with Stars of the Lid, Lovesliescrushing, Eluvium, William Basinski, and dark ambient artists like, Desiderii Marginis. Metal musicians like Ulver, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Devin Townsend have all tried their hand at the genre with relative success, in my opinion, though there has not been a compelling ambient album produced by a metal musician that stands next to the aforementioned modern day ambient artists. Voyager sets off to change that.
The album starts with early ambient worship. Tracks like, ‘Experimental Spectroscopy,’ ‘Voyager,’ and ‘Destination,’ all carry the forebears of the genre within them. Eno’s Apollo is a strong influence, while The Orb and Biosphere are sprinkled throughout. Adventures into vast expanses where tones and minimal sounds sweep the plains of distant planets before trailing off into the blackened abyss let ahead, keep the tracks separated into movements that tell a story about a journey; Robert Rich and B. Lustmord are areas of interest, along with The Magnificent Void by Steve Roach. But, before we reach the end of this journey, ‘Asteroid Mining,’ brings us back to the basics once more, seemingly to remind us whence we came.
Now, the next two songs, ‘Interstellar Cloud Attraction,’ and ‘Sun Drone,’ are by far the greatest ambient tracks ever produced by a metal musician, in fact, possibly two of the greatest ambient tracks ever recorded. These two tracks are up there with ‘An Ending (Ascent),’ ‘Lichen,’ ‘Sovfx,’ and ‘Indoor Swimming at the Space Station.’ With these two songs, he leaves the worship behind and strikes out into his own realm, his own feel, his own style, and while the influences float by, they never overstay.
These two tracks craft expertly draw and release rhythms that move around melodies that haunt the memory of the listener. Ambient music is a delicate process, the melodies must be strong enough to withstand the straining of its integrity, the strewing of its tendons. It needs to be realized in entirety before the removal process begins. This portion of the album, and with all sincere hope the contents of his next two ambient albums, is inhabited by a new, compelling ambient musician.
