Dark Muse – Sounds From Beyond The Silver Wheel

Issue 03 [Page 07]

The Fossil Dungeon

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This seven track digipak brings back the days when I was
really into Silent Watcher of Dark Matter and Not Applicable, two fantastic but under appreciated bands.
Dark Muse, a solo project by Phyll Smith, has subtle and
macabre vocals. The synth work is lovely. Long, drawn
out, progressive dark ambient, utilizing panning and echo
effects that blend wonderfully with her soft cries. The
haunting ambience is gradual and minimalistic, but
extremely creative. Smith uses a guitar, a line 6-modeler, a Russian string piano, bells, nails, coils, screws, water and bowed cymbals, among other things to produce her sound. Before SFBTSW, Smith released a series of mp3.com CD’s.
SFBTSW isn’t purely a dark-ambient project, other genre
appearances in this seven track experience are ethereal,
experimental and darkwave, sometimes as a singular, but
mostly in combination.
Track one, Queen of the World of Spirits is haunting, dark
and therapeutic in some respects. Certain Angst, our next track has a tribal feel, but not up and close, more like, just beyond your sight in the distance at sunset, again, very subtle. Calm is where I hear the reminiscence of mp3.com artist Not Applicable. Calm has a tunnel effect so to speak. You’ll have to listen to understand what I am trying to get at. LunaFlow (The Deep) is track four. If Silent Watcher of Dark Matter wasn’t such an unknown artist I would swear this was a blatant rip off, but instead it’s more like re-created originality I swooned at Phyll Smith’s ethereal vocals, a lot of hums and hoos, and they don’t overpower the synth work – it mixes very well. Smith takes advantage of the concept of her voice being an instrument and not a centerpiece to take away from the surrounding objects. This is a must-buy for people who seek out candle and incense music. – Azriel J. Knight