Review: Amber Asylum ‘Ruby Red’

For today’s review I am going to try my best to help you envisage the world of long-time musical project Amber Asylum, give some insights, and share with you my thoughts on this incredible entity. There won’t be any camera trickery, hypnosis, or power of suggestion involved, well beyond helping you form an idea of an album that you should definitely welcome into your lives.

For those of you, most likely in the same dinghy as me, Amber Asylum may well be a brand-new name to behold, after all, this entity is somewhat of an acquired taste. Many well-known musicians have, over the years, collaborated on the project, the one overseer for it all is Kris Force, an auteur instrumentalist. Armed predominantly with a cello and violin, the composer extraordinaire has the unique ability to create beautiful, yet haunting, soundscapes which will leave you intoxicated and awestruck in equal measure.

On this newest release, Ruby Red, we find the ensemble living their most Nordic incantation. Over the course of the seven tracks, what is laid forth feels more like a spiritual awakening than it does a musical experience. Utterly spellbinding, this forty-minute exorcism of the soul will take you on a journey to the darkest recesses of your inner Viking, ferally tear your insides apart, and give you back to the world forever changed.

All in all, this feels like it could be centuries old, such is the power of the spiritual realms it evokes. Long drawn-out sombre violin and cello passages feel like the strands of time being slowed, and all the while you feel like an otherworldly entity is taking control of your very being from within.

Usually, it can be quite hard to stretch a review out based on such a limited palette of instrumentation and sound, because the tendency to repeat oneself is easily done. However, on this occasion there is such a deeper sanctum to the music contained within, that it really needs a deeper exploration of what the music invokes to offer a better understanding of what’s contained within.

If we think of all of the recent years of television and films, there has been a lot of interest in the Norse experience. Both imagery and folk lore wise, Vikings have become quite the source for entertainment. I’m sure every person reading this has an awareness of shows like Vikings, The Last Kingdom, or films such as The Northman, which will, of course, contain a heap of Nordic and Scandinavian music. It is usually very mournful, bleak and imposing, so if I were to say that this album conjures up those connotations, then it’s because this could be such a fitting soundtrack to any of the above-mentioned visual experiences.

Predominantly it is a sorrowful outpouring, each individual track is so eloquently crafted that the resulting work, at times, cries out in pain. It’s a passionate ritualistic cleansing of the soul, and by its climax, it really does feel like those internal demons have been exorcised into obscurity.

its rich dark tones will have you looking deep into your soul…

Opening with Secrets, even from the first few bars it is abundantly clear that this isn’t going to be your average musical experience. The morose drawn out drags of the bows across the strings pull us into the darkness, while the rhythmic pace of the drum builds on the intensity. By the time all the elements are aligned and playing together, it is quite literally heartbreaking in its beauty. The slow intently divisive swoops across the strings feel like slow motion jabs to the heart.

Ruby Red, track two, is a darkly delicious affair, and as the ethereal vocal rolls across the airwaves it takes my breath away. Wistful and sorrowful, this piece truly solidifies the artists abilities to create crushingly mournful music, that will leave you tearful in its wake.

With Demagogue things shift into a higher gear, and this track seems to have more of an urgency about it, the vocal is livelier, and the violins seemingly dance at times. It almost feels as if there’s a more upbeat vibe to proceedings, but this is short lived, and as The Morrigan enters, things drop back to their mournfully delicious familiarity.

Once firmly in control, it sets the scene for an altogether sadder event. The violins and cello lead the way, and as the piece progresses, so too does the intensity, to a point where it inspires feelings of hopelessness and grief. Azure taps into a few undiscovered layers of sorrow, and spews forth with a disparaging tale of woe, on track six, Weaver, a steady wash of violin and cello is disrupted by a gentile siren song as it plays through. The intoxicating harmonising guides us through the remainder as we travel to our destination.

Finishing up with A Call On The Wind, Amber Asylum really have left the most devastating for last, and over the course of the final seven minutes, this primaeval swansong arrives to lay what’s left to rest. The pensive painful ambience is briefly interrupted, but ultimately this track brings on the end of times.

Coming away from this experience, I have to say that this album really is a ‘must experience’ kind of affair, its rich dark tones will have you looking deep into your soul, and its more sombre passages will have you picturing your final moments before your demise. Epically beautiful, a real masterwork.

Label: Prophecy Productions
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Lee Beamish