LANDSCAPES

Landscapes is only better than some of the previous albums in that it is more that just one track and that the complete runtime is a decently manageable 70 minutes. However, this album is worse than the previous releases in that the atmosphere has changed from "washing machine in space" to "jet engine in a tundra snow storm" - windy and unbearably cold and emotionless. The element that remains constant is the unfortunate lack of any progression within the two long compositions. However, "Ice Planet", a 40+ minute epic, is convincing of its title - the track really does sound like an icy and barren planet with cold mountain peaks and cold deep caverns, and occasionally some experimental sounds of possible extraterrestrial life of the most mysterious sort can be hidden through the intense windy soundscape. Though my imagination can convince me of such a landscape created through sound, it's not really great after the first 10 minutes, and this track could've greatly benefited from some variation.

So, since a little over 10 minutes of this album has been enjoyable within my personal tastes, I do consider this to be a very, very slight improvement over the past few albums. Unfortunately, it still doesn't rank anywhere near the better albums that Phrozenlight has released.