THE SHORES OF OBLIVION

2.5 stars. SONISK BLODBAD or SONIC BLOODBATH are an electronic collective from Norway. Starting out as a duo the one constant has been Ole Christensen. There are 20 musicians on this particular record and they include Conrad Schnitzler who passed in 2011, so I guess they are using some of is recorded music. And Conrad was on TANGERINE DREAM's debut "Electronic Meditation" from 1970 which is a good reference for what I'm hearing here at times on this 2022 release. This album number four with their debut coming in 2012.

Dark ambient comes to mind. There's this sinister vibe I get from the music, and even the cover art to me is so unappealing. Empty. I understand they touch on some dark and disturbing subjects. Besides early krautrock there's that 80's vibe with the COIL sounds. The album ends with the very sparse "Aspik" the longest piece at 11 1/2 minutes and a tribute of sorts to Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Steve Reich. Talk about minimalistic.

It's not until we get to that fourth track "The Shores Of Oblivion" that we get some pleasant music, quite spacey. It doesn't last long of course given the title. "An Echo In The Dungeon City Of My Heart" opens with whistling and this is creepy as it turns dark. The opening three tracks do little for me and track two "Alan Vega 2.0" is annoying at times.

Just not my scene in any way. I have a feeling this is a very personal record. I received this cd as part of a batch of cds that Apollon Records sent me a few years ago. No note, and most of the bands represented are not on this site, so I can't review them. This was one of the few.