Fractalyst Shows the Way to the Watchtower in his Cryo Chamber Debut

Cryo Chamber debuts the first cinematic experience from the project known as Fractalyst. Helmed by Dimitris Valasopoulos, our first journey with Fractalyst is titled, Watchtower, an analogue escape into a dismal post-apocalyptic wasteland. Utilizing analog and modular synthesizers, composer Valasopoulos paints a vivid world of industrial hives now being left behind and giving way to the broad vistas of an empty world above. These images Fratcalyst paints are brushed with subtle strokes of muted pads, the warble and grit of analog tape is ever-present under the beds of sounds used, with field recordings adding an interplay between the eddies of note swells.

This is the story of a discovery - in an underground facility, a set of coordinates are discovered. These coordinates point to a place only known as The Watchtower, supposedly a “new Eden” for civilization, and this album is that journey, through the eyes (and ears) of our lone protagonist as we traverse above ground, and begin the trek to this mystical tower.

The sounds and canvas used in this album are unique, and almost “feverish” would be a term I would use to describe them, the tremulous miasma of an almost fever dream state, with dynamic use of sounds and techniques, and the distinct nature of this palette of sounds make Watchtower stand out among its peers, heralding its own individual voice of sound design and audio direction. Sound design maestro Par Bostrom even shows up for a featured credit in the second track, as we get Cities Last Broadcast to lend some aural evocation in In the Dead of Night.

Watchtower is an excellent debut of analog mastery from newcomer Fractalyst, and this certainly is a welcome addition to the Cryo Chamber roster. You can purchase Watchtower in CD Digipak and digital format on the Cryo Chamber bandcamp page.