Quercu by nox intempesta

Review by Allister Thompson (http://thegatelessgate.bandcamp.com/)

"The north holds a fascination for us all, and those of us who make ambient music are constantly entranced by it. The barrenness, the starkly drawn horizon, the piercing cold — it makes for excellent subject matter. And who better to be considered the composer of the north than Jean Sibelius, composer of “Finlandia” and the “Karelia Suite”? When we think of Sibelius, we think of dramatic, vivid symphonies that recall the lakeland grandeur of the Finnish landscape. But Nox Intempesta has put an entirely new spin on the music of this master with these three deconstructions that ironically may do more to invoke the desolate atmosphere of a northern landscape than Sibelius or Grieg ever did.

“Tempestate (Quercu)” reduces the composition to an ominous, slightly shifting drone, like trudging across a never-ending snowfield. Slight shifts in the tones may signify a rocky outcropping or a lone bird in the sky.

“Finlandia” boldly reduces the famous piece to a half hour of stormy white noise with faint choral overtones; if this is Finland, you’re on the northern tip in the middle of a squall. Finally, “Tempestate Part 2 (Chorus ex Ventus)” again contains hints of ghostly voices, finally allowing elongated string tones to intrude into a disquieting tranquillity akin to Bass Communion’s finest.

This is not comforting music; this is an immersive experience that doesn’t promise joy, though it does offer some enlightenment. And it’s a nice complement to other albums of deconstructions like Biosphere/Deathprod’s Nordheim Transformed."

Nox Intempesta is the project of me and Scott Lawlor begun in 2015 on the ambient online forum at http://ambientonline.org.

scottlawlor.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/sklawlor

Tracklist

1.	tempestate part 1 (Quercu)	27:48

2.	Finlandia	30:44

3.	tempestate part 2 (Chorus ex Ventus)	36:40

Credits

released March 7, 2016

License

CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. See the Creative Commons website for details.