MOAN/DEAD FACTORY: Onset Of Oblivion/Abandoned Heritage

Release year: 2023
Label: Zoharum

What do you get when you lump together two dark ambient artists and make them collaborate? I’m sure nobody answered the question with “dark ambient”, am I right?

Yeah, dead stupid joke aside, when you combine two dark ambient acts, you of course get dark ambient. Polish Zoharum’s tape-only release Onset Of Oblivion/Abandoned Heritage combines together two previously released EP’s, one of which sees the artists collaborate. The other EP is a split with tracks by the artists separately.

Truth be told, it’s nigh on impossible to say when the collaborative tracks of Onset Of Oblivion end and the separate tracks of Abandoned Heritage begin. There’s no marked stylistic shift or change of pace. The music still remains dark ambient, and the atmospheres similar.

I guess this speaks for an even pairing: Moan and Dead Factory approach dark ambient with the same kind of audial and stylistic sensibility. Their take on the genre is decidedly industrial; whilst minimalistic layers of sweeping synths do play a role here, for the most part both build their music from layers of abstract, industrial noise.

This puts the release somewhere in the slightly more abrasive and confrontational end of the dark ambient spectrum. But that doesn’t mean we’re talking about any kind of industrial noise: it’s still all about haunting, eerie and dark ambience; of mysterious, desolate soundscapes and slowly evolving tracks of morphing, shifting and decaying layers.

The atmospheres and moods I get from this are those of downfall, desolation and decay. Industrial installations slowly crumbling under years of abandonment and neglect; factories (dead factories, as it were) where the machinery is grinding to a tortured halt before collapsing; forsaken, haunted districts of warehouses and industrial facilities where the moan of tiring metal gives voice to the ghosts that haunt it.

But of course, what with dark ambient being dark ambient, an essentially abstract form of music, I’m sure others will interpret different moods from this release. And that is how it should be.

The two EP’s on this release mesh well together, and there’s no distinct feeling of this being a mutant of two forcibly joined releases. In fact, if one didn’t know better, one could well think these tracks were all meant to be released together. Now, perhaps a jaded mind would say that says something about the lack of variety and narrowness of expression of the projects involved… and maybe so. But in terms of this release, it is above all a positive remark. There’s coherence and unity.

As far as dark ambient goes, this is pleasantly middle ground. It’s not the most minimalist and understated stuff out there, but neither are the tracks clogged with elements that demand your attention. This can be relegated to background ambience, but also works well as listening you concentrate on. It’s a bit on the noisy side at times, but not so much as to stray away from the confines of dark ambient.

In other words, a very competent and enjoyable piece of music – or two pieces – for fans of haunted, dark atmospherics.

Moan doesn’t seem to have an online presence
Visit Dead Factory on Bandcamp or Facebook