Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Go to the Amber Asylum website  Amber Asylum - Frozen In Amber [Elfenblut - 1996]

Noone in their right mind would call this release new anymore, in fact it's five years old and Amber Asylum's first album. But I'm still reviewing it. Because, frankly, it deserves it.

So who are Amber Asylum? The band has a bit of a "heard about it but not sure what it is" status in the metal genre, though the music is far from metal. The comparisons probably come from the people they've worked with, for example Neurosis whose music some of the Amber Asylum members have contributed to. The outfit is a girls-only quartet playing neoclassical/ambient music (at least on this album) with considerable weight put on violins and piano.

"Frozen In Amber" is dark. Most of the music is played in minors, but even parts that aren't will still have quite an unnerving effect on you. This is music for evenings and nights. At one time you're enjoying a waltz, played with a sick twist that reminds you of the ominous renaissance party portrayed in Poe's "The Masque Of The Red Death"... the next minute you're surrounded by a subtle organ dulling your senses before insane flutes echo out from nowhere, growing in intensity and chaotic nature, leading your thoughts to corridors deep within old castles and the horrors the may contain.

I've had this album for a considerable amount of time and each listening experience just makes the music better. This is really creepy, not from the first listen, but when you get to know the CD... And this is, obviously, a characteristic of good music.

I don't have any other Amber Asylum albums. Yet. But if this was their first attempt, I am most certainly going to investigate deeper. If it doesn't kill me first.

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Jacob Avlund
Latest Reviews

Amber Asylum - Frozen In Amber
Noone in their right mind would call this release new anymore, in fact it's five years old and Amber Asylum's first album. But I'm still reviewing it. Becaus...
190424   Zachary James Watkins - Affir...
180424   Ulvtharm - 7 Uthras
180424   The Bad Shepherd - The Bad Sh...
180424   Impulse - Impulse( Blu Ray)
170424   Jan Jelinek - Social Engine...
170424   Carlos “Zíngaro”, Guilherme R...
160424   The Borderlands - The Borderl...
160424   Rien - The New Source Recording
160424   Worship - Thoughts
150424   Lion-Girl - Lion-Girl(Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom