Review Summary: Another day passes by.
More often than not I find myself wanting to get away from it all. I want to leave my friends, my family, my city, my job, my college career, my emotions, my dreams, my fears, my humanity and my existence behind. Instead of going out, socializing or doing something productive with my time i'm more prone to just sitting back and drifting off through some kind of barren mental abyss and forgetting about everything. Think about nothing, do nothing, say nothing. My general apathy is oftentimes aided by music to help me reach that state. Drugs ironically play no part. The first time I heard the song "When You Sleep' by Arctique Circles I knew I was falling off the earth again. The song entranced me immediately with it's spacey atmosphere, repetitive chugging and otherworldly vocals. I repeated the song several times afterwards impulsively.
"When You Sleep" is the opening track by ambient duo Arctique Circles. The song is featured on their latest EP entitled "Golden Bloom". I can only describe Arctique Circles sound as ethereal and magnetically alluring. Their core sound takes the best elements from shoegaze, ambient, and dream pop and fuses it with a metallic punch, post-rock flair and hazy atmosphere. I can hear elements of Jesu, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine coursing through Arctique Circle's veins yet at the same time they sound distinctly original. The thing I love about this EP is it's unwillingness to adapt to a formula. The first song "When You Sleep" is a eight minute guitar driven dirge that blends angelic singing with a repetitive lead melody. Closing with feedback you are greeted with a lengthy instrumental piece entitled "The Wolves Gather". The vocals and guitars have been dropped for this one instead letting the ambient washes of keyboard and feedback pour over you. This song I feel would go great with smoking or yoga. As that track ends the EP picks up with the melancholy "Thrilled To Be Here". The name is pretty ironic because I find this song to be incredibly sad. The guitars take a less aggressive approach and provide a sense of dread that I generally get from funeral doom. The dual male/female vocals contribute to this enveloping gloom even though their words are hidden obscurely by the production values. There is a fourth track, a demo version of the instrumental "The Wolves Gather" but at only half the length. Albeit unnecessary it is pretty relaxing and would most assuredly serve as great music for falling asleep to.
This is a very short, very chill piece of music that should be appreciated by most people. Bandcamp has this release available for you to enjoy so id recommend you go ahead and put it on. You shouldn't be disappointed.
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