VESTIGIAL

"Aeon"

New Sun Recordings - 2007

CD 3" - 99 copies

Are you tired of dark ambient? The only idea of listening to another Raison d'être-wannabe or Lustmord clone makes you puke? Then do yourself a favour and try Vestigial's debut. This CD 3" comes as a much welcome surprise in a scene where ideas seems to have abandoned the new generations, leaving behind only a bunch of the old prime-movers to keep trying something original. The interesting part is that this rather mysterious project comes from southern Italy, a land stereotypically associated with sun, hot weather and good mood. One of Cold Meat Industry's early slogans was "the perfect cure for a silly smile". Vestigial could perfectly work in that sense.

The first thing that strikes the attention is the highly personal and accurate package of this release: the CD, a black 3", is hold inside a dark glossy gatefold sleeve, with an evocative graphic elaboration on the front and unidentified, disturbing shapes on the inside, which are also reproduces on a small handmade insert to be found inside the inner sleeve. It wouldn't come as a surprise if each of the 99 copies had a different insert. Such interesting presentation introduces the listener to a not less exciting musical content: the four tracks included in this debut release clearly show the artist's influences and his ability to elaborate and combine them, forging a personal style.

Opening "Last Extinction Prayer" is a powerful galactic symphony, with sampled and filtered voice samples shifting upon a powerful mass of sound, solemn industrial thuds and a funereal keyboard melody. Bad Sector's "Ampos" and Les Joyaux De La Princesse come to mind, yet you would never confuse this track for either of the two, since there are just small elements that could have been inspired by their music. Same thing for "The Grey Constellation", with its Tibetan mantras and noise crackling, which could remember of certain parts in Raison d'être's "Enthraled By The Wind Of Loneliness", and "Dagda Rising", where Lustmord's "The Place Where The Black Stars Hang" remains distant, somewhere in the background. Again, these excellent compositions feed on their influences, assimilating them and giving birth to unexpected sceneries. Final "Celebrating The New Sun" is the most industrial of the four tracks, with its machineries rolling and roaring alongside ghostly voices.

A special mention goes to Andreas Wahmann's production, incredibly clear and powerful, able to make you feel the immensity of space with its echoes and vibrations. This extremely-limited release is a very promising debut for Vestigial, who has all the potentials to become a reference in the dark ambient galaxy. A new sun is born!

- Simon V.

Website: http://www.vestigialaeon.org

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sunthatneversets