Gdanian Discovers a World of Mechanical Gods

A new epic space ambient adventure unfolds before us with Gdanian’s newest journey, and third installment on the Cryo Chamber label, Mechanical Gods. Sergey Gdanian is a masterful composer and sound designer, with a unique approach to his imposing mood structures and palette of sounds. His is a style of “in your face” subtleties, with bottom-heavy bass stabs, and overt electronic telemetric expressions, all while maintaining the stoic presence of a dark ambient album. Not only is Gdanian imbued with his own unique style, but we are given a narrative thruline - a connection with other albums, even other projects, and I am now compelled to revisit previous albums to try to piece a larger storyline together. 

Mechanical Gods is the story of a research and exploration vessel, Spirit of Pilgrim, to the planet Kepler 1649c. The humans of Kepler 1649c have experienced a societal singularity, and subsequent degeneration, where they worship mechanical gods, their previous creations. Mechanical Gods comes with a booklet detailing more of the story, in the usual oblique manner per the style and genre of storytelling. Of note, however, is the mention of a Captain Conrad Macrae, of the Spirit of Pilgrim. I recognized that surname, and after some quick research of previous albums, Macrae is the name of the exploration family in the previous Gdanian album, Induction, as well as the Ruptured World album, Xenoplanetary. I thoroughly enjoy artistic flourishes such as these, as well as connective tissue between albums, and now, it seems, with other artists. This connection with other artists is not limited to merely the booklet, as several notable composers join Gdanian in crafting this tale, with songs including acts such as Atrium Carceri, Dead Melodies, and Ruptured World, and the unmistakable narration of Alistair Rennie (Ruptured World) adds a modicum of audio drama to the overall sense of the story.

As previously mentioned, Gdanian has a wholly unique approach to the genre of dark ambient, with a blatant use of electronic voice and overt presence, showcasing an interplay between ambient atmosphere and a cadence that rhythmically pulses in the foreground, yet maintaining the mindset and presence of subtleties - this is a slow narrative tale of imaginative soundscapes, after all. Mechanical Gods is yet another showcase of the brilliance of Gdanian, and fans of the previous two albums will absolutely be thrilled to experience this new sci fi epic. Grab Mechanical Gods in CD digipak and digital format on the Cryo Chamber Bandcamp page.