However, whilst this may in part feel overworked because of the endurance factor, there is a lot on here that is a pleasure to digest and indeed some genuine musicality, which came as a surprise. Hexvessel, for example, gave a fine performance separately but were occasionally in danger of getting a little carried away with their spiritual/fantastical lyrical content. Presented in seventeen chapters that can be approached as singular gateways or a slowly unfolding journey of epic proportions, the debut album of Arktau Eos is a challenging, complex work. Mirror Dawn, a partnership between Finnish acts Hexvessel and Arktau Eos who both performed separately earlier in the festival, brought out the best in both bands. Indeed, it all feels vey natural and understated.Īs stated, this is a lengthy affair and I feel this album would have benefitted from shortening its time span into two parts for the overall effect. After a long period of unavailability we are proud to release the debut album of Arktau Eos ‘Mirrorion Telegnostic Edition’ through our Stellar Mansion series. The ritualism comes as a subtle nod to the arcane and the undercurrent of chimes and vibrations of sound work well in applying this thematically, without force. Of the four or five gigs I’ve seen at St John’s, tonight’s is lit the best, with red uplight directed through a mesh of some kind to suggest a bloody pentacle over the altar and to highlight the paintings either side.
Seventeen tracks come in at just over an hour, so this is definitely one for the patient but then, the audience this is aimed at should have this in abundance. Arktau Eos make ritual dark ambient music and seem to take their self-described religion with no name very seriously. Given the title and the artwork (especially the limited version), there is a feeling of light breaking through the dark clouds that are spewed forth from the bowels of this act and it is refreshing to feel this as short bursts of a frost-tinged breeze, with maybe a hint of the coming of Winter.
Being devoid of electric instrumentation gives this album a distinct analogue feel but then a lot of Aural Hypnox’s roster approaches their Dark Ambient in this manner.