Chances are, you haven't heard anything like this before.
In Sadness, Silence and Solitude is the fourth album by Swedish atmospheric composer Peter Andersson. Six bleak soundscapes are featured here that build on dark, experimental drones, distant bells and chimes, metallic screams and harrowing chants. The music has a very isolationist feel to it, a very despondant, dark tone, and is indeed very much like the sound of someone else's nightmare.
Reflecting in Shadows
The journey begins with a low, almost subterranean rumble and the sound of bubbling water. The rumbling dies down a bit as a forlorn wind wails aside the brief sound of metal clanging against metal. The crescendo plateaus before returning to silence and moments later, out of the murky depths, a Gregorian chant swells in a rhythmic trance before eventually trailing off to the low growl of metal again. The bubbling water returns but only for a moment as it gradually fades away to silence. It is here, seven minutes in, that the song changes direction with a softer chant and the percussive sound of metal against metal at regular intervals. This carries on for about a minute before it trails off. I love the ability these songs have to take you to a different place, and the wonderful emotional quality in the warm sound of a bubbling pool, for example, or the lone voice in the darkness.
4/5
In Absence of Light
An array of voices wash over the listener at the beginning, looped so it sounds like they are chanting endlessly. It works well as a backdrop, and fairly soon after this a drum beat enters the picture with a very simplistic, tribal sound like someone banging on a hollow surface. This is certainly one of the more musical tracks on the album and I think it succeeds at providing a sense of movement, like a wanderer moving across a barren landscape.
3.5/5
The Well of Sadness
Strange sounds in the opening seconds of this song, the ever-present growl of bass subtly rises until the abrupt sound of a knife scraping against metal reintroduces silence. The cycle continues in a nightmarish, but strangely harmonic way. Moments later, a lone and sorrowful chant rises like a sliver of light in the dark, and every time I hear this I picture a mother in mourning, cradling her dead infant in her arms. The tone is very depressing, and the metallic sounds continue at regular intervals until the song changes direction about two and a half minutes deep. The low rumble of industrial noise gives way to an ethereal keyboard section that continues the overall feeling of despair and loss. This is probably my favorite song on the album because I like the sounds at the beginning, almost as if it were a horror movie, the rasping metallic sounds abruptly signify the changing of scenes.
5/5
Deep Enshrouded
A spacey atmosphere lays out the basis of this track, oftentimes accompanied by the harsh swell of wind and various industrial noise effects. About midway the ambience dies down until there is just the low growl of the bass and the sporadic use of the atmospherics that opened the track. About six minutes into the song a keyboard section replaces the rumbling bass and the overall feeling changes from an industrial ambience to more of an emotional, ethereal ambience thanks in large part to the chanting that closes out the song. At this point it seems very clear that the overall intention of Peter Andersson on this album, as in his earlier work, is to create a kind of duality: the beautiful and often times tragic sound of the human voice aside the harmonic wailings of metal and dark drones.
3.5/5
Falling Twilight
I believe this song has the best intro on the album. The faint sound of bells echo as the bass swells to a point and resigns again, accompanied by a very warped pitch that sounds like crying ... or screaming, or somewhere in between. Very harmonic sound, almost trancelike. Soon after this Gregorian chants enter the picture again as well as a keyboard section.
5/5
Passing Inner Shield
Dark drones, rumbles, metallic atmospheres, and screaming wind like sounds account for the first half of the song. Around six minutes various wispy metallic sounds play off each other, like metallic nails on a polished surface. The wind dies down and the second half of the song commences at about seven and a half minutes deep. The direction is very musical from here with tribal drums again accompanied by a very somber, slow melody from the guitar. This dies down eventually and all that remains is the faint growl of the bass and the occasional blast of wind. Around 11:30 a choir of male and female voices signal the end of the journey.
4/5
This is very imaginative music and requires patience on behalf of the listener. As I said before, throughout the album there is the distinct feeling of a duality being sought, a marriage between beautiful and harsh, unsightly sounds; a balance of light and dark. Usually when I write or draw or whatever, this is the music I listen to. There are no lyrics, just wonderfully imaginative sounds. Best listened to with headphones. Overall,
4/5
