This appears to be a Norwegian/Italian duo, who released their debut album in 2020 and I am reliably informed (by my own damned research) that it was black metal. This EP however most certainly is not. This, gentle reader, is more aptly described as dungeon synth. Maybe they will be ok with that description, maybe not and will prefer something like ‘ambient black metal’ but as a big fan of that much maligned and indeed ridiculed sub-genre dungeon synth, I do not use it as a criticism in the slightest. More a badge of honour, a determination to do things the way the artist wants to and the rest of the world be damned.

So what we have here are three musical passages with a total running time of just under twenty-five minutes.

The first passage is slow and gentle, a relaxing scene setting. It is on the whole based around acoustic guitar strumming with background keyboards for the atmosphere and melody and fairly gentle snarled, growled vocals. Whilst more than the basic live-in-the-studio simple keyboard sound that Mortiis laid as the foundation of the genre, this gentle lilting first it isn’t as multifaceted as say Guild Of Lore or Druadan Forest but it carries itself with a natural grace and softness.

The second passage doesn’t disturb this path. A little more vocals, almost spoken word in their snarling style. Perhaps because the style is so similar to the first there is sadly little sense of progression or journey, merely a meandering around the space already created and with no real further definition of that space it remains simply a hazy, misty clearing. And this continues into the third passage.

It’s harmless and it is relaxing music to be sure. It is delicately played and deftly presented. But in the end I’m not sure it really stands well alone as it’s atmosphere is laid out in the first few minutes and never travels from that point. It is more like passages found in the midst of albums, bridging music or moments of contemplation before the journey recommences.

It’s not bad at all, simply what it is; a delicate, quiet little EP that will relax rather than enthral.

(6/10 Gizmo)

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https://atmfsssdtp.bandcamp.com/album/kalde-minner-fra-fortiden