Search - Amber Asylum :: Frozen in Amber

Classical music for a fever dream

Scott Sweet | Colorado Springs, CO | 03/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This reissue of Amber Asylum's 1996 debut is pure mood music, and one mood at that. The musicianship is good and the atmosphere is chilling, but the near-total lack of singing is a weakness until track 7, "Aurora." (Kris Force has a BEAUTIFUL voice, made evident on the albums after this one.)Distorted guitar and random clarinet trills lash out from a menacing wall of strings and synth. The vibe is delerium, the music you'd hear while asleep with a fever of 104. Melodies are indistinct and haunting, kind of Miranda Sex Garden deconstructed or Rasputina with no sense of humor at all. Assemble a string quartet, lock them in a dim room with the knowledge that they'll die in there unremembered, and this stuff is what they might play."Romantic" has some nice Spanish guitar interplay with the violin. The opening "Volcano Suite" settles into haunted-house chords with little melody, like some of Kronos Quartet's more abstract work. Amber Asylum also manages to strip "Ave Maria" down to a disturbing, decayed essence. "Radio Grave" has a Lustmord style, like purgatory Muzak."Diablo de la Maquina" features some fuzzed-out vocal samples that actually offer some relief. It's one of the only times on the CD that the band acknowledges the existence of a WORLD or human existence beyond the ambient dread of the soundscapes. Not mystery, but misery. "Western Trance" has a hypno-sonic, novocaine quality much like Steve Roach & vidnaObmana's "Innerzone."Later albums showcase more structure and a lot more of Kris Force's vocals. "Frozen in Amber" is a must for death-ambient fans. Just don't plan on humming along with much of it."