Search - Oneiroid Psychosis :: Dreams With Pollutions When Virile

A perfectly created atmosphere...

Michael A. Rose | Chicago, IL | 08/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's highly unlikely you'll ever find any musical endeavor that simply sets a mood and lets your imagination creep off into those dark, cobweb ridden crevasses in the back like this CD does. The range that Oneiroid Psychosis shows on this album is simply amazing, as they veer from spooky ambience that creates images of dead things in a hole, to beautiful music that reminds one more of a wake than a murder. The song "Fragments," for example, can almost make me cry with it's simple beauty and majestic melody. That being said however, this disc will not leave you in a happy field... this is the music that burns those fields and reminds you that nothing but dirt and ashes remain underneath.It's difficult to place Oneiroid Psychosis in any specific genre. They do their own thing, releasing discs on industrial labels like COP intl. and gothic labels like Projekt, but always retaining that unique sound of theirs. This disc furthered the range and experimental nature of the group further than ever before, featuring more guitar work and vocals than previous efforts, but still keeping with the signature sound that makes me love them. I suppose one might be able to call them dark ambient, but then they don't fit with other bands in that genre either. That being said however, if you're a fan of Coil, Scorn, Gold Water, Skinny Puppy, Eve Plum, or Necrofix, check them out. Also notice that this list is fairly varied in sound. I told you they were hard to pin down!I would highly recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys sitting around in the dark of night, listening to creepy music while sipping tea under a black light. I would also recommend this disc to any music aficionado that's tired of "pure moods" and wants something to take them deeper. I don't understand how anyone can say this music isn't spooky. Listening to the raw emotion in the vocals alone triggers a deep and frightening sense memory in most listeners that I've had the pleasure of playing this for. And no, I'm not wearing all black with a leather collar right now. ;) Seriously, check this disc out, and you'll never be the same."

As usual - it just gets better

Eric McHugh | Indianapolis, IN United States | 03/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...The music is soothing, exciting, moody, uplifting and complex. It excites the imagination, even for the dullest of minds. The overtones... the undertones... it all screams to be psychoanalyzed and examined on every level. OP puts out recordings, including this one, that I can only describe as epic. This is a buy..."

Very good Darkwave

Matthew | Pittsburgh | 01/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As many have taken note over the past few years, the music of brothers Lars and Leif Hansen definitely captures the deranged gloom associated with neurotic mental states and the mind's nocturnal journeys. These Hansen brothers are about as far away from the sunshine that encompasses the Hanson brothers you may be more accustomed to be hearing about. With the fourth full length Oneiroid Psychosis CD "Dreams," the sinister duo continue to plumb the depths of psychologically and set their discoveries to perhaps the best and most atmospheric darkwave music being released today.The coolest thing about this band is their dedication to mood - just as faithfully now as on their debut release "Stillborn" back in 1995. Now signed to the COP International label, you might expect the band to have boosted the BPM's a bit in order to fit in with the other more club oriented bands on the label. But atmosphere still prevails, an aura comparable to the symphonic score to a dramatic horror film or an intense musical embellishment from modern PC role-playing games. Though the band has some qualities that are comparable to other popular `Goth' artists, Oneiroid Psychosis' musical style is still immediately recognizable as its own unique entity and it is characterized by its own special blend of spine chilling eeriness. Unlike a lot of their supposed contemporaries, these guys are actually DARK, and they are more concerned with making you shiver, question yourself ("Am I hallucinating?"), and immersing the listener in a kind of twitching, aural decay than they are concerned with being catchy or danceable.

While this latest album continues to deliver the demented soundscapes the band is best known for, they have incorporated some fresh elements into the mix as well. Leif has introduced a greater use of electric guitar into the band's sound, as best exemplified on the chilling and punchy track "Withering & Wishing" and the unnerving close of "Winter Day." The addition of guitar is subtle, used only to heighten particularly intense climaxes with the songs. You won't hear loud crunchy power chords or anything here; instead, the parts are played with an admirable finesse, with spidery riffs stretching out to weave a web of unsettling melodic cacophony. However, the fact that the guitar only appears occasionally throughout the disc enables its presence to be even more effective. The vocals are another thing that sets this band apart. Lars' voice may seem similar to some. It has this remarkable ability of sounding like something or someone, but it cannot be placed. To me, in all honesty, he sounds like the creepy reclusive brother of the late Layne Staley. But maybe that is just me. Whatever the case, under the appropriate late night listening conditions, his whispers are like frigid gusts of winter air, his anguished nightmarish pleas are dizzying, and his narration seems to be from the first person account of some demented faerie tale or an escapee from one of Thomas Ligotti's short stories. Oneiroid Psychosis is positively essential darkwave music. This band takes the images and impressions of your strangest nightmares and sets them to an accessible, listenable, and a thoroughly enjoyable musical setting. You would be hard pressed to find another darkwave band as satisfying as this. * Extracted from my review at Starvox.net"