Ashtorath

Переслушав немало разнообразного эмбиента, я был удивлен, не найдя на контакте группы поклонников этого замечательного исполнителя. Это нужно исправить :) Биография (с официального сайта) позже будет перевод: "Beyond good and evil as Nietzsche would have it." Hailing from Canada, Ashtorath appeared in the winter of 2001, seemingly out of nowhere and complete with ethereal poetry, dark imagery, and a fresh take on music and creation all together. It was a sound not only unique, but actually devoid of ambient influence at the time of its conception. This was perhaps the first project of its kind; dark ambient forged by converting themes and stories into pure atmosphere and sound. The term "Audio Wreathing" would later encompass this concept. Where most would consider synthesizers, keyboards, and samplers to be ideal for ambient work, Ashtorath solidified the notion of physical instrumentation with as little editing as possible, to literally play dark ambient instead of constructing it via machines. In addition to pioneering new techniques of playing guitar, Ashtorath would go on to become one of the most influential dark ambient projects of its time - lending experimental concepts to underground metal and ambient acts from all over the world, and collaborating with some of the most talented artists in the ambient genre. The independent full-length album Darkstorm Entwined was set forth with mp3.com in January 2002, and received acclaim from metal and ambient fans alike. Offering such tracks as "StormShard", "The Darkwood Forest", and "Princess of Death", hundreds of copies would be sold without the aid of a label and tracks from this release would go on to recieve airplay and placement in international compilations. Ashtorath's second full-length The Everlasting Gray was soon to follow with a December release, and saw the reinforcement of melody and structure in opposition to the languid soundscapes of Darkstorm. Ashtorath soon scaled the international Dark Ambient charts with numerous tracks reaching the top ten, eventually becoming #1, #2, and #3 simultaneously. In 2003 mp3.com closed its doors and, for a time, Ashtorath was without means to continue as it had. It was at this time that Despair-ial-Indrid re-assessed his musicianship. With one foot in Metal and one in Ambient, the choice was made to join GloomScry - a Melodic Death Metal project with Gothic and Classical influences. Despairialindrid took an interest in sound engineering and film composition throughout 2004 and contributed to several underground projects in addition to working with GloomScry. 2005 saw the partial completion of Ashtorath's 3rd release, Litany of the Final Days as well as the re-mastered version of Darkstorm Entwined, which was to be re-released through Nothingness Records. Work continues on these releases into 2006 where Ashtorath will presumably recover from its loss of distribution.