As All Die - Germanic Tales (2003)

Originally wrote & published on August 19th, 2004

As All Die is one of many projects spearheaded by Clint Listing. Alongside As All Die, Clint also played in ‘When Joy Becomes Sadness,’ ‘Radio Friendly Unit Shifter,’ ‘Long Winters Stare,’ ‘A Darkened Sea,’ and his most recent project ‘Broken Hands for Brilliant Minds.’ As All Die began in 1999 as more of a neo folk/industrial/ambient project, but after their 2001 release ‘Time of War and Conflict’ the project has been taken into a slightly new direction. Here on ‘Germanic Tales’ the first release since the debut album, As All Die is creating music more in the ambient/noise/militaristic vein.

The first song ‘Children of the Northern Lands’ is a fairly straightforward ambient composition -- dark, foreboding, and ominous, are but a few words that come to mind as I listen to this ambient piece. However it should be noted that this first song really isn’t all that melodic, but then again most real dark ambient music isn’t. Track two ‘Radios are down in London Tonight’ shows the first signs of noise & power electronics in an As All Die song. For this song the listener is treated to harsh noise mixed with alarming ambient music with a very apocalyptic feeling to it whilst a bell occasionally tolls in the distance. The percussion present also gives the feeling of bombs hitting the ground and machine guns being fired in the distance. Finally the last track ‘Funeral March’ reminds me of some of the songs found on ‘Times of War and Conflict.’ This one returns to more of an ambient sound with whispered vocals from Clint. Again the song features eerie synth work that really helps in transporting your mind to a war like setting or perhaps maybe the aftermath of a war.

I should probably also mention that this is a 3” CDR release. However unlike most 3” CDR’s this one features a nice little booklet, and even CD artwork, which I’ve never seen on any other 3” CDR’s before. All things considered, ‘Germanic Tales’ is a very pleasing release that successfully gives the listener the feelings of what it must be like to be present during a war. Unfortunately though there’s just a little bit over fifteen minutes of music present on this release. Still with any luck future recordings from As All Die will sound similar to this, and I’m quite certain I’ll be looking forward to hearing them if that is so.