Year: 2025
Label: Zoharum
From Polish Zoharum’s latest batch of releases, this is simultaneously the easiest and the hardest to review. I’ve actually been sitting on this for a couple of days, mulling things over and trying to find an angle.
You see, on one hand, Norwegian Kristoffer Oustad’s Magnor is rather typical dark ambient in a very classic vein. That makes the album easy to tackle. However, penetrating beneath its surface proves a tough task.
I find myself returning to some of the sentiments I expressed in my essay Metaphysics matter when analyzing this album. In particular what I wrote about the Neoplatonically informed conception of art as communicating a deeper truth directly to the soul of the experiencer.
Genuine art should, I hold, always communicate something directly to the listener, bypassing conscious, rational thought. It might not have to be a sacral, spiritual concept, but art should always communicate something pure, undiluted and true to the listener. If it fails to do that, the piece of art is flawed despite perhaps otherwise being accomplished. It lacks a dimension of depth, at least in a sense that can connect with the experiencer.
This is exactly the problem I have with Magnor. On the surface, it is indeed an accomplished if not overly original piece of dark ambient. Long, haunting layers of cold, distant synths dominate the soundscape. These are very intangible, drawn out drones without shape or definite form. More dominant and active layers of sound appear in the form of pulsating, throbbing bass synthesizers, high pitched whines and what have you, which at times take Magnor in a more industrial direction. Spoken word is used sparsely, as are pseudo-melodies which on rare occasions and a bit of tangibility to the compositions.
All’s well and good so far. But I’ve been trying to feel the album, desperately so. Unlike most of Zoharum’s recent ambient releases, Magnor just doesn’t speak to me. It doesn’t communicate anything. I claw at the surface, but come away with nothing. Thus, Magnor feels like a shape without substance.
And this, I’m sorry to say, truly lessens Magnor for me. And it’s a shame, because purely musically, as a dark ambient album in a classic style, there’s a lot of good in Magnor. It’s haunting, it’s mysterious, it’s eerie. But it also feels shallow.
This is of course a very subjective assessment. Experiences like this are, by their quintessential nature, entirely subjective. Someone else may find Magnor to be a profound experience. And some others don’t care if the album doesn’t speak to something within them, and are content with surface alone. I’m not deriding that, either.
So let’s put it this way: if classic dark ambient – think Cold Meat Industry glory days etc. – is your thing, then Magnor is worth checking out, despite everything I said above. Give my musings however much gravity you want: dismiss them as the ramblings of a pretentious oaf, or take them to heart.
Only Death Is Real 