Sonologyst – Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs

If you’re going to want to listen to any sort ambient, it’s really best to just stop trying to find a new act and, instead, go to someone who has been doing it for so long and has knowledge of it in spades, for that’s when you get the best material. I’m not sure how long Sonologyst has been around, but with it consisting of the man behind Eighth Tower Records, Unexplained Sounds Group and the newly made labels of Big Cypress Swamp and ZeroK, is there really any doubt that this man knows his shit? With what seems to be one new album every year, this album is the entry for 2020 and it’s far from anything to be considered lightweight.

Just labeling this album as ambient and nothing else would be to disservice everything that’s at play throughout these tracks as Sonologyst can really work his dark magic throughout the piece. That’s already a sign that this material is coming from the mind of someone who understands the style all too well, and the entirety of “Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs” is more than enough proof that the man behind this deserves his status as someone who’s constantly moving things in the entire world of ambient music. Everything we’re given here with this album is the very definition of a slow burn, and Sonologyst pushes that as far as he can with tremendous success as this is the exact kind of material that easily finds its way underneath your skin to enact its poison as quickly as it can, and the entirety of “Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs” is guilty of nothing but pure intoxication. These are some of the strangest and darkest halls that ambient as a whole have ever taken me down, and every few minutes something comes bounding around the corner to catch you off guard as Sonolgyst constantly places those surprises around the perfect corners every time such that it catches us off guard every single time without fail. It makes the whole of “Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs” an exciting slow burn that has much more within its depths than what it gives away, and Sonologyst uses all of that to his highest advantage to make this album a damn good listen for any fan of ambient and beyond.

Admittedly, this is my first time listening to this project but its name has been something that I’ve been aware of for years given my experience with the previously mentioned labels, and now I’m convinced that I have a lot of catching up to do for if this is just an offering of what Sonologyst can bring to the table then I need to hear more! Everything about “Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs” feels catered made to any ambient fan out there, and I can’t see anything going wrong with checking out this very intriguing piece.

LISTEN to “Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sonologyst on Facebook here.