Deepspace - The Glittering Domain
Artist: Deepspace
Title: The Glittering Domain
Label: Hypnos Secret Sounds (Ltd CDR)
2008. Deepspace is a pseudonym for Mirko Ruckels, a
German-born ambient/electronic musician who now resides in
Brisbane, Australia. His previous releases have been
self-released, and The Glittering Domain is his
debut on Hypnos Secret Sounds.
We at Hypnos view Deepspace as one of the
top up-and-coming ambient music talents of the past few
years, and electroambientspace.com agrees,
naming him New Artist of the Year for 2007 and saying:
"Mirko Ruckels is a great new talent, a cross between
Steve Roach and Stars of the Lid, with a dash of Budd
and Eno."
Abstract and definitely "ambient" in nature, The
Glittering Domain simultaneously exhibits a strong
musical sensibility, with a sound and structure reminiscent
of artists such as Vidna Obmana and Numina. Though Hypnos
may be best known for unstructured "drone" style recordings,
we really enjoy a recording like this one that has more
of a tonal basis.
Deepspace described by stillstream.com:
"Lush, exquisite, flawless, refined, striking, beautiful...
we could go on and on with adjectives to describe the
music of Deepspace. One of our favorite discoveries in
the past year, this is an artist to keep a close eye
on - and one we encourage all our listeners to visit
right away."
Track listing, with mp3 sample clips:
Introduction- The Chord of the Abyss MP3 clip
Encountering Giants MP3 clip
The Colossals MP3 clip
Crushed by the Weight of Angels MP3 clip
Elevenward MP3 clip
Lacrimosa's Visitation MP3 clip
The Glittering Domain MP3 clip
The Sleeper (Close) MP3 clip
Purchase direct for $9.99
Reviews
"What you are about to hear on this "exclusive(!)" disc is simply amazing!. All eight pieces here are very well structured and has all the elements that a true Ambient/Space CD should have. You will be immersed by mesmerizing sounds that will take you to places you never thought existed, until now.
The music itself is very similar to the previous albums by *"Deepspace"* and will continue to evoke very abstract, minimalistic and isolated moments through all the tracks, but there is alo a strong sense of pure space music if you study/listen carefully, sometimes it sounds a bit like *'Between Interval'*.
I quote someone else on the following line ---> "It's Lush, exquisite, flawless, refined, striking, & beautiful". I couldn't have said it better myself in the case of this CD. It really is a journey through space & time that has to be experienced.
So far, this is definetely the CD of the year/month, and also my all time favourite space music CD in Electronic music. This is a masterpiece, and also a must have disc for fans of *Vidna Obmana, Numina & Robert Rich*.
Very well done, Mirko Ruckels!"
--Reviewed by Kristian Persson, Sweden, on the groove.nl web site
.
"Darkened Soul is a project of Mike Soucy, and Bathys is his second solo album of dark ambient music after a release on Umbra, the Italian ambient artist
Oöphoi's label. Soucy presents six tracks with Greek titles, all amorphous drones with an emphasis on low frequencies, drenched in reverb. The album
title means "deep" in Greek, and it is an appropriate image for the music. Between the low frequencies and the vast distances implied by the echoes, the
album conjures up subterranean and sub aquatic images, deep underground caverns of indeterminate proportions. While most of the album contains
sounds with a wide harmonic spectrum, almost approaching white noise, Soucy also occasionally and discreetly mixes in sharp and precise sounds.
On the title track he adds a metallic arhythmic hammering sound that adds to the infernal atmospheres, and on Ateleiotos Agkareia (Endless Labor) there
are sounds like a large metal object dragged across a stone floor. Apart from a couple of insignificant and infrequent loops, melodies are hard to spot on
this album, where the primary focus is on changes in texture, with rumbles and sudden sonic blasts providing variation. The individual pieces have their
own characteristics, but the listener joins them for a time as works in progress, little snapshots of the eternal sounds.
--Reviewed by Caleb Deupree, furthernoise.org
.
" Top 10 Albums of of the year"
--Reviewed by "bronal" on the ambient@hyperreal.org
.
"The Glittering Domain" by Deepspace - very satisfying ummm... deep space music - very good to work within."
--Scott M2 on the Hypnos Forum
.
" Top 100 Albums of 2008 (#2)"
--Reviewed by Omega Switch
.
"This album is very highly recommended by me for anyone who likes any kind of ambient music. Deepspace displays a slowly
spacious, evocative and beautifully poised sound encompassing everything from deep, dreamlike pads to bright bubbling
synths- everything is perfectly placed as you'd expect from an artist of this quality. Really excellent stuff."
-Reviewed by Northcape (UK Electronic Artist)
.