Video Premiere: Gangrened ‘Imbernon VS Qstaw’– New Album ‘Ambient Doom Dream’ Drops Today
Ambient Doom Dream, an apt title for the new Gangrened long player, which sees the band reimagine themselves for a stop-gap release. The Neanderthal sludge and doom of Deadly Algorithm has been stripped back, not only in sonics, but also members, as this new six-track album sees Messer’s Jon Imbernon and Olli Wikström deliver an improvised aural assault.
Droning guitars, synths, and effects succumb you into a haze like state, or in other words, an Ambient Doom Dream, and to celebrate it being unleashed to the world today, 5th May, through Clouded Mind Records, The Shaman is able to bring you the captivating video for the track Imbernon VS Qstaw, which is also a reference to the two men involved with Wikström being a member of doomgaze duo Qstaw.
Now click play below, set your mind free and get lost in an Ambient Doom Dream…
More On Gangrened & ‘Ambient Doom Dream’
Ambient Doom Dream is the first long-length music release of the current Gangrened line-up leaving aside drums and vocals. It captures an improvised piece of music from their second rehearsal together as Gangrened. This is the story behind this recording…
On Friday, May 5th 2022, Jon Imbernon, guitars, and Olli Wikström, synth and sampler, met in Seinajöki with Lassi Männikkö, previous Gangrened drummer, to pick up Imbernon‘s guitar gear after the last gigs of the previous lineup to bring it to the new rehearsal room in Kokkola. While the trip back to Kokkola and with the first hits of the Finnish summer felt like the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.
This same day, when arriving in Kokkola, the new lineup set up their gear in the new place and started jamming. Imbernon with his stereo guitar rig placed around the room. Wikström with his set up for this occasion consisting of synth and sampler. Amps were properly loud, and Imbernon brought in a guitar lick which he was noodling with for a while.
The inspiration and excitement was flowing resulting they realised they could create solid music in real time while improvising. Then it was decided to come back the day after and record the improvisation and develop the raw idea of jamming around that guitar lick. Then this happened and it was captured, 50 mins of the actual rehearsal/improvisation. The two of them improvising around that guitar lick and way beyond…
The recording sounded especially good considering a minimal recording set-up was used, even Imbernon considers that the guitar tone is more natural and loyal to his guitar sound than the guitar sound on Deadly Algorithm. So it was decided to release what was considered the highlight of the improvisation as a digital single, Turbulent Times. After that came the possibility of releasing the whole thing physically through Clouded Mind Records from Sweden, so the original mix was remixed and mastered by Miguel Souto in Spain putting the whole recording into the next level thanks to Souto’s work.
So here it is, the whole improvisation has been divided into 6 tracks, including Turbulent Times, remixed and remastered from the version released as single last summer. At the end, there is a revision of the intro of the song Kuningatar from Deadly Algorithm recorded the way Imbernon was playing it live, more spatial, but with synth and sampler and without drums and bass.
Ambient Doom Dream represents an exercise of immersion by Gangrened’s new lineup in the more dreamy and drone-ish ‘90s, think about Kranky Records catalogue, Earth’s second album 2 or Slowdive’s Pigmalyon album blended with blurry heavy fuzzed guitars and droned synths all with a lot of feedback in the key of trance in between. A heavy dreamy experience from beginning to end.
The recording begins with Intro as Imbernon and Wikström weave an amalgam of encrypted melodies like if Thurston Moore and Kevin Shields would jam together with their Jazzmasters in baritone tuning, all across ten minutes and adding heavily distorted guitar loops, synth and sampler. Another highlight of Ambient Doom Dream is Imbernon VS. Qstaw second track and another descension into despair like Harrbåda from Deadly Algorithm was but deeper, heavier sounding and created 100% on the fly while improvising.
It also needs to be mentioned that this is not the second album of Gangrened, this is an evolutionary transitional release between the first and second albums.
Ambient Doom Dream Tracklisting:
01. Intro
02. Imbernon VS Qstaw
03. Transitional Trance 1
04. Turbulent Times
05. Transitional Trance 2
06. Kuningatar Intro (Live Revision)
Gangrened on Ambient Doom Dream is:
Jon Imbernon – Guitars, Feedback in Trance Key
Olli Wikström – Synth, Sampler, Effects
Ambient Doom Dream, the new release from the reimagined Gangrened releases today, 5th May, through Clouded Mind Records on limited compact disc as well as digital download and is available to purchase now over on Bandcamp.
Label: Clouded Mind Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
