Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra - These Engulfing Winds Never Die (2010)

‘These Engulfing Winds Never Die’ is a split CD-r album connecting Symbiosis and Ancient Tundra on Hypnotic Dirge Records, which is also a record label that’s completely new to me. The album comes packaged in a fancy jewel case with a 12-page booklet and a region free DVD-r, which features promo videos of the two bands as well as trailers for other releases on the label.

Symbiosis is an Italian ambient band lead by Valerio Orlandini, which I’ve known about since mid-2006 when Valerio sent me his first demo for review on Lunar Hypnosis. So, Symbiosis kicks off this split and although I had expected it to be new songs it seems that’s quite the opposite here (somewhat). The first song, ‘Intro – Slavine di Luce’ is the same intro piece found on the project’s 2008 debut, ‘Slavine,’ and it sets the stage perfectly for some calm wintry ambient music. However the second song, ‘Il Trionfo della Caducità’ was originally featured on a promo CD for labels/radios only in late 2007, and this particular song shows a much different side to Symbiosis that’s a bit more akin to martial symphonic music or something along the lines of heroic medieval soundtrack music.. The third song, ‘Sol Indiges’ is also another old demo song, I think, but from which release I don’t recall. Anyway, it’s a decent melodic ambient piece, but it sounds a little too upbeat for my tastes. ‘As I Remember’ is the first new song from Symbiosis and its pure dark wintry ambient music with even the sound of harsh wind roaring in the background, while the last song, ‘Luce Invernale’ is apparently a re-recording of another song from Slavine, though it doesn’t sound too different to me.

Ancient Tundra is the other band on this split and this is my first time hearing this project of N. Skog from Canada. Ancient Tundra’s music is once again within the ambient genre and is quite engaging music as well. We’re dealing with pure wintry ambient music here that’s truly able to transport my thoughts to a realm of frozen beauty and if I allow my eyes to close I can feel my body leaving as well. Ancient Tundra’s music is fairly melodic in its delivery, but remains calm enough where you can relax to it or read a book while listening. There are also some indistinguishable voices present, but they don’t distract the mood at all and in fact just make the music all the more interesting on this arctic voyage. In particular I enjoy, ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ the best, though the other two songs are fantastic as well. I would have actually preferred at least one more AT song on this split since it’s just a little under fifty minutes and I see no reason to not make an ambient release at least an hour in length. I’ve read that some of the other releases from this band have some black and doom metal characteristics; nevertheless impressive stuff here and I look forward to hearing more from Ancient Tundra regardless of style.

As for the DVD, well, once I figured out the menus I was good to go, and as previously mentioned we’ve got promo videos for Symbiosis and Ancient Tundra here. Some of the Symbiosis videos are a little more abstract, weird and even feature songs that are not on this split. ‘E Ultima Venne la Neve’ is the most interesting video that features both various landscape shots, but also some drawings, though I’m not sure where they originate from. On the other hand, Ancient Tundra’s songs primarily feature frozen nature landscapes set to his music, which seems to work perfectly, although in some cases the visuals that are shown throughout the video appear over and over again. So, not quite as cool as some of Vinterriket promo videos out there, but still interesting enough to hold my attention. Additionally there are trailer slide show type of videos promoting other Hypnotic Dirge Records releases, which after watching I can honestly say there are some really interesting bands on this label that I might have to investigate eventually. The one thing that really bothered me (and it could just be my TV or DVD) was that when text would appear on the screen it was often partly cut off on the sides, but it could just be my set up and not the DVD itself.

As a whole this is some really interesting ambient music and if you’ve enjoyed Symbiosis as I have the past couple of years then I’m sure you’ll want to check it out. Of course it will also serve to introduce you to the very interesting Ancient Tundra, which as I spoke earlier, I really need to hear more from soon.