Tread the Blurry Forest of the Mind

Underwater Sleep Orchestra returns to guide us through the mysterious miasma of sleep, enchanting us with seven tracks of languid, ethereal soundscapes that paint a landscape in the mind’s eye; the album’s description alludes to “the blurry forest of the mind”. Bruce Moallem (God Body Disconnect) and Pär Boström (Cities Last Broadcast/Kammarheit) released their second collaborative effort which once again displays the mastery these two show with sound design and atmospheric texturing. The title of the album succinctly illustrates for the imagination what this album is: a slow, meandering journey of relaxing synths and subtle pad arrangements. 

Moallem and Boström are both masters of their craft, and this album lends evidence to their finesse with formulating subtle atmospheres of sonic ambiguity. I have mentioned previously how easy it is to fall into the trap of making all dark ambient “horror” - but Underwater Sleep Orchestra maintains a delicate balance of noncommittal ambiguity with the structures of these chords and sounds. Much of the interpretation of these sounds is left to the mind of the listener, which is exactly how this particular style of soundscape ambience should be presented; at least, it seems to allow the music to blend better in the background of the listener. Unobtrusive pads and organs waft melodically among the different songs, additions of strange sound clips and almost eerie inflections periodically appear, much as the ghostly and ethereal apparitions of one’s dreams. The sounds are almost characters unto themselves in the mosaic of the mind’s eye, the ebbs and flows of the sounds lilting just out of reach of the listener, preferring to remain unnoticed in the peripheral of the imagination. The instrumentation is organic, and yet electronic, once again showing the deft mastery with which the two artisans display their craft. 

Insomnolence is sure to please fans of both composers, as well as fans of the soundscape and drone genres; this is certainly another showcase of both composer’s talents and an excellent addition to the Cryo Chamber library; and speaking of Cryo Chamber, you can pick up Insomnolence in CD digipak and digital formats on the Cryo Chamber bandcamp page.