Duran Vazquez + Kloob - Vinum Sabbati: In The Dawn Of Sciene Fiction [Cronica 243]

Released on November 11th, 2k25 via the ever active Portuguese label that is known under the name of Cronica is "Vinum Sabbati: At The Dawn Of Science Fiction", the first full length collaboration album conceived by Duran Vazquez and Kloob which had known eachother for almost a quarter of a century before actually starting to work on a shared musical project. Over the course of 58 minutes and a total of eight pieces the two artists built a sonic universe strongly influenced by the proto science fiction of Arthur Machen's short story "Novel Of The White Powder", opening with what can be described as a well unsettling maelstrom of unease named "Prelude To Dreadful Confessions By A Doctor", a spiralling stream of Cold Ambient x Death Ambient hostile and cold like the interstellar void subsequently followed by "A Premonition Of Self-Inflicted Harm" which presents a calmer, more droning and certainly more spatial take on slowly morphing Dark Ambient backed by futuristic bleeps hidden deep within the mix. With the "Ambience Of Suspicion" the duo enters a realm of deep melancholia built up over the course of eons before "The Devil's Pharmacy" brings forth eerie deep space claustrophobia and vantablack atmospheres in combination with metallic clangings, ever morphing echoes of alien communication and rumbling low end movements whereas "The Rotten Limb" further explores icy exoterrestrial landscapes and their wafting mists out of which ghostly, fluttering and angelic choirs emerge, covered and interrupted by ever intensifying sirens. Furthermore we see "Ominous Remedy - Transcending Human Condition" presenting an almost classic approach to rather melodic sci-fi Ambient comprised of widescreen atmospheres and a backbone of harmonic, intermodulating pulses before drifting off into score'esque soundspheres and, later on, abrasive all annihilating Noize whilst "Confinement And Mortification" embodies a feel of neverending hollow nothingness, once again sitting on the brink of mind-numbing Death Ambient, and the concluding cut aptly titled "Scientific Horror" rounds things off in a surprisingly calm and shimmering Ambient manner, providing a glimpse of hope at the horizon after a trip through eternal darkness. Highly recommended, yet one album not to play to the mentally or emotionally unstable as its sonic contents might have disturbing or disorienting effects.

Album artwork on Instagram!