Customer Reviews

Throne of Drones

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The Throne of Drones is a release on Sombient records, which is a division of Asphodel. Though the tracks are from artists on various other labels. Therefore you get an excellent mixture of artists which include some of the most talented and best known artists in the space/drone genre.

Included are better known artists like Steve Roach, Robert Rich, and Biosphere. There are other lesser-knowns like Ray Guillette and Rhythm and Noise. The quality on this release is top notch material, ranging from the spacious mysterious sounds of Steve Roach's "In the Catacombs" to the cello-only "Etude for T.O.D" by David Darling.

There's a couple of pure atmospheric tracks on The Throne of Drones, and there are quite a few shades of dark ambient on this CD. That's the beauty of this CD, the variety. It's an absolutely perfect starter for those interested in beatless, atmospheric, vast enviroments. Picking this up would be a great stepping stone to the artists' individual releases, and those already familiar with this field of music would certainly have this as a summary or invaluable expansion to their music collection.

First time I heard about this release,a friend of mine more or less HAD to remind me that I was a fan of at LEAST some drone,which is rhBand and Flying Saucer Attack.Until THEN,I assumed those two artists were tagged as 'noisy space rock'.Had no idea as to what 'drone' actually meant.Well,I do now.I was quite impressed with 'Throne Of Drones',where you get an introduction-like cut of such artists as Robert Rich,Steve Roach,Jeff Greinke,Rhythm And Noise,plus nine others.These tracks are able to transport your mind on a galactic trip to unknown hemispheres.A great place where ambient,new age and drone collide on extremely friendly terms.A should-have.

This disc works well as an introduction to all of the artists contained thereon, but it works even better as a cohesive listening experience in itself. This is more "sound architecture" than "music", the sounds are non-linear, three-dimensional, sometimes taking you on a journey to parts unknown, sometimes leaving you stationary but building a complete environment around you. Very highly recommended.

From the very outset, with the almost far-eastern sounding horn tones of Robert Rich's "The Simorgh Sleeps on Velvet Tongues", this opening volume in Asphodel Records' "Drones" trilogy proclaims itself as something out of the ordinary. Dedicated to the colder music of the chill-out rooms, this 1995 release presents a 74-minute wallow in the dark and haunting drones of the world of the ambient noir. While not really the most adventurous of the discs in this collection, "The Throne of Drones" presents a dozen tracks drawn from the nocturnal musical netherworld of the sombre ambient, the hinterland of the so-called sombient, where (to quote the sleevenotes) "classical electronic plunderphonics and the desolate, environmental tundras of isolationism" meet.

As you can probably imagine, there is not a great deal of variety on offer here, and you will either love or hate it all. The disc does progress nicely, though, with a subtle shift in character throughout its course. It has some noticeable highlights, too, such as the miniature but heavyweight sombience of "Smudgeon", from the Iso Ambient Orchestra; the ethereality of Steve Roach's "In the Catacombs (Again)"; the slowly unfolding tones of Vidna Obmana's "Equal Distance", and also the raw-edged but hypnotically potent "Sound Characters" by Maryanne Amacher. My personal favourite on this disc is probably Xopher Davidson's restless "pool of mercury", a slowly evaporating amalgam of shifting textures. David Darling's cello and synthesiser fantasia, "Etude for T.O.D." (so redolent of Tangerine Dream's early 70's masterpiece, "Zeit") is a little beauty, too.

The disc closes with a short (1 minute) additional track, "Le Segue", assembled by Naut Humon (the series' curator) as a taster for the subsequent 2-CD volume, "Swarm of Drones", which lovers of this disc will undoubtedly want, too. But that's getting rather ahead of things: this opening volume should provide lovers of the darker side of electronic music with much to immerse themselves in. Definitely recommended.