REVIEWS

Netherworld
Morketid

Glacial Movements Records

Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Netherworld's Alessandro Tedeschi loves the idea of cold, arctic-themed ambient so much that he founded a label, Glacial Movements, devoted to the concept. It's a surprise, then, that Morketid is so much less chilling than you might expect. Named for a Norwegian word describing the sunless winters of the far north and built from samples taken from the arctic landscape, this album's themes come through perfectly in Tedeschi's windy echoing loops, but where you'd expect such isolationist atmospheres to conjure dark, lonely emotions, Tedeschi's ultimate vision is one of peace and comfort. "Dreaming Arctic Expanses" is this album's most obvious offering, thanks both to its title and the muffled snippets from a documentary on the boreal forests of the far north, while "New Horizons" ventures deeper into the frigid terrain with a slowly alternating tone faintly resembling a guitar. Title track "Morketid" is the closest to traditional dark ambient as it's usually perceived, complete with muted clanks and dragging metallic echoes. "Jokul" ably conjures the remoteness of the arctic with breathy hums and nearly imperceptible conversation, and "North Pole" removes even that minimal frame of reference, consisting only of barely-there washes of reverb. Marvelous closing track "Virgin Lands," though, is perhaps the best illustration of Tedeschi's wintry aesthetic. Its washes of fuzzy harmonic tones and low, gentle rumbles are inarguably lonely, but there's no sadness there; instead, there is only comfort and calm. It's said that as you freeze to death, your last sensation is of warmth, and Netherworld's music is like that; paradoxically, for all its focus on cold and loneliness, Morketid is tranquil, even comforting, a real tribute to the peace Tedeschi derives from his visions of endless ice-covered expanses.