reviews
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
With their third album Songs of Sex and Death Amber Asylum have firmly established themselves as part of... um, good question. For a band, or project, that has delivered three albumfuls of some of the most soothing sonic experiences yet immortalized on disc, there is not much familiar ring about the name to most. [Amber Asylum] consistently explores and explodes the confines of texture and sensuality in new music. Unique in approach to combining the acoustic and the electronic, the old and the new, romantic and post-modern. The music conveys a rare, fragile beauty that I behold in subtlety, anxious to experience more but at the same time afraid I might scare it off.
Einar Sjurso, Terrorizer Magazine
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
Amber Asylum makes sad and beautiful music. An ever-shifting collective with Kris Force and Jackie Gratz at its nucleus, the band combines classical string instruments and rich otherwordly vocals with a subtle but distinctly modern use of studio manipulations and sampling. It would be tempting to call Amber Asylum's music gothic, but that word conjures too many adolescent banalities. One could label it ambient, but that implies something anodyne and unobtrusive, and the songs on Songs of Sex and Death are passionate, melo-dramatic and immediate. Songs of Sex and Death is an ambitious title, but given this intense, nakedly emotional, often ravishing album, it's not much of an overstatement.
Michelle Godberg, San Francisco Metropolitan
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
Listening to Amber Asylum's "Songs of Sex and Death" (CD on Release Records) is like taking a visionary trip on a luxury liner of the mind, the orchestral Mss. Kris Force and Jackie Gratz performing timeless melodies ofalchemical gothic angst timed perfectly to trigger images of profound love, loss and loneliness on cello, guitar, violin and siren-like vocals. The Asylum's muse acts like a kind of cinematic seismograph, picking up vibrations from some unseen, powerful sources on the Other Side, the endless streams of sculpted sound evoking a taste of eternity flavoured with elements of madrigal, folk-song and bittersweet melancholy.'Devotion'is so perfect in its poetical execution it makes a haiku look positively cluttered - this is a marvellous record, recommended to romantics everywhere.
Phil McMullen, Ptolemic Terrascope
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
Amber Asylum reaches into the soul to create dark and atmospheric music that blends elements of gothic, ethereal and classical into a beautiful and unique sound. The vocals beckon you from a time long ago, while the music and instumentation, in all its layers, wrap themselves around your ears and mind. This disc didn't move me at first, but upon second listen, I found myself swept away by the wonderful melodies contained within. Instrumentals like the lovely "Luxuria" employ time itself, stopping amongst the ebb and flow of strings. The vocals on "Devotion" and "Vampire" put listeners in a dreamy, almost hypnotic state... floating... away. There is almost no percussion on Songs of Sex and Death, and when it finally rears its head (on the eerie instrumental "Secret Ions"), it seems to be coming from somewhere off in the distance, layered behind some minimal piano notes. Now, that isn't a bad thing, becasue it actually breaks the spell the earlier tracks had cast, but as it fades out, you become trapped again. "Dreams of Thee," and then "Devotion Reprise," grab your mind again, taking you through to the end, where Amber Asylum finally releases you back into reality. In the end, very few CDs can create the feeling - that the world and time have paused to create what is flowing from your speakers. Amber Asylum have done just that.
The Glass Eye Magazine
Amber Asylum Shows Sadness Of Life With Sex, Death
Amber Asylum has returned with its latest offering, Songs of Sex and Death. The group offers a collection of songs built around voice, cello, violin, organ, and e-bow, with samples and textures from other musical instruments accompanying the compositions. Think of them as sort of The Rachels with a female singer.
The group seems to have mastered the art of song writing for the people with only black in their wardrobe and the prozac deprived as Songs of Sex and Death carries the listener through a journey full of dark and haunting melodies. This release follows the group's sophmore release The Natural Philosophy of Love and seems to have taken the lyrical themes of the last record to an even darker domain.
This time around, even the cover follows this downward spiral, as it is graced with an eerie image of a girl's face in mid drown.
Songs like "Devotion" and "Secret Ions" are prime cuts from the release as they showcase the adeptness of Amber Asylum at their ability to evoke the mysterious and the melancholy. Other songs on the record, like "Luxuria," "Vampire," and "Dreams of Thee" also provide ample proof of the group's talent for constructing musically rich compositions. Steve Von Till of the seminal ambient metal group Neurosis joins the line-up again, this time to bring about some e-bow expertise to the proceedings.
Amber Asylum's Songs of Sex and Death is the perfect antidote for the current wave of saccharine sweet happy boy bands. Another winner from a group that has the gift of turning sad feelings into gorgeous music.
Adlin Rosli, The Michigan Daily
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
Amber Asylum. Few appellations invoke a more faithful impression of the offering to be heard. The euphonious issue of soprano vocalist/violinist Kris Force is a Baroque sanctuary of richly layered hues where a soul might find repose, or a lustrous jewel of age-old resin that confines the madness of delicate-winged beetles. It swells and rolls through Gregorian monasteries and spills out into pools of salty contrition. There is solace in violin, cello, and contrabass; rejuvenation in organ, phantom accordion, and synthesizer. Force samples herself, and rightly so. On Songs of Sex and Death, she repeats, "Your genius frightens me" -- I share the sentiment. Amber Asylum makes its home in the Bay Area, but too rarely performs live (you may be more familiar with the group from its contributions to Swans, Neurosis, and Tribes of Neurot outings). In conjunction with Glenn McKay's exhibition "Lighting the Millennium," Amber Asylum performs at the Catharine Clark Gallery accompanied by McKay's plasma light show on Tuesday, May 18, at 7:30pm. Admission is free.
Silke Tudor, San Francisco Weekly
Amber Asylum - Songs of Sex and Death
I am really drawn towards the dark light that shines bright on this album. It is so genuine, massively relaxing, but at the same time it is hypnotic and really focused. The strings create that perfect eeriness while all the other instruments are mixed into the music in a mysterious and interesting way. If you have heard this band before and you enjoyed that, this one will also be enjoyed. If you have not heard this band before and you enjoy the dark side of music, go check this out.
Nordic Vision, No. 13