This album is the work of Slovenian instrumentalists Shadow Universe, whose promised offer is of a contrast between simmering ambient soundscapes and heavy anxious darkness. There’s certainly plenty of the latter going round in the world at the moment.

It starts with the sound of an old piano in an empty room. A gentle and warming pattern develops. Without the need of build-up, the sound expands into tragic post-rock before dropping back into the calming world of the piano and accompanying soothing backdrop. This time the transformation is explosive but no less atmospheric or touching. Such are the subtleties of “Organism”. “Don’t Look at It and You’ll See It” reinforces the sadness though the piano and orchestral delicacy. This flowed through me like a gentle stream. It’s a lovely, evocative piece. The heights to which it rises at the end are masterful but not at all overstated. The start of “Hymn for the Giants” reminded me a little of Mike Oldfield, but also of a clock ticking. It has a calming post-rock strain, descending into quiet reflection and bursting out momentarily like a volcano before switching back and forth between simple oceanic reflection and the “heavy anxious darkness”. If “Hymn for the Giants” is compelling, “Losing Home” is devastating. Tragic to the core, the drum beats sombrely while a distorted trumpet makes the sound of urban decay and sorrow. This went through my innermost soul. In some ways it’s like Netra without the trip-hop. “Antares Goes Supernova” takes us into the floaty world of dreams. A mystical sound, like that of whales communicating in a vast ocean, is made. The drums patters like a heartbeat, becoming more rapid. A deep roar come in and the sound becomes more powerful and expansive. A floating ambience as if we are travelling deep in the ocean or high in the stars introduces “Season of Eternal Maze”. Again the instrumental sound is deliberately dreamy. Much use is made of distortion and echoes but it all serves the purpose of depicting this hazy and sensitive soundscape. The guitar plays a soft and melancholic tune with Shadow Universe’s cosmic-sonic world floating along in the background.

In “Subtle Realms, Subtle Worlds”, Shadow Universe create a delicate and yet vast world of possibilities, with a soft beating drum, dreamy reflection and brief yet almost uncontrollable moments of darkness. The title says it all.

(9/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/shdwunvrs

https://shadowuniverse.bandcamp.com