Triple…what? Yep. I took this as I am genuinely a fan of the varied works of Dis Pater, the mastermind behind this, and have written extensively over the years for this esteemed organ. This though I knew was going to be an ask. Even by Dis Pater’s standards this is epic.

Essentially this is the new album Echoes Of The Thalassic Deep together with the previous two parts of the trilogy Ruins Of A Celestial Fire and Ashes From A Terrestrial Fall. Something approaching three hours of cosmic ambience.

I… It would be pointless, fruitless and pretty silly to attempt to dissect a work of this sprawling into a passage by passage analysis. The results would be turgid AND pretentious. Instead, the first thing to ask yourself is “Do you like dark ambient, or do you think it’s dull and a piece of piss to write?” If you fall into the latter then stroll on by.

If you do enjoy such things then sit back, headphones on and prepare for some void spanning cosmic journeying.

The music is a graceful sedate slow drift on the whole; whether the distances travelled or the vast worlds traversed makes it feel so or our speed is indeed measured I think is, as ever, the domain of the observer. Some parts are full of light and beauty, an almost wistful feel here and there, others more simply inspiring awe. There are darker more ominous passages but they have that veil of Vangelis hinted majesty too. Any threat here is not malevolent, simply being a mote in the eye of the cosmic expanse.

The compositions flow as beautifully as you would expect from Dis Pater and while often they seem simple; a gentle theme repeated and delicately adjusted, they also are beautifully layered in places too. The production is as always as elegant as the music, bringing the rich waves and the sharp chimes together perfectly. Nothing is hurried, there is no urgency here. These distant still worlds and remnants of civilisation lost in deep time will outlast us by unfathomable aeons, we are less than the blink it takes to clear us from their presence.

So where does it leave me? If you are interested or intrigued by cosmic ambient music then you will not go wrong. You don’t put this on to hang on every note though it is worth it. This is music to push back the screaming idiot world outside and create your own calm from which you can choose to travel or to let the void come to you. Whatever, it will treat you with elegance and with a majestic charm.

If this is your thing, it is worth every penny.

(8/10 Gizmo)

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https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-a-celestial-ruin