#penumbra ambience

[krissiefox]

I hope Philip's footwear is water proof, because this place sounds pretty wet!

[aperturesoundtracks]

Please listen to BOTH songs before voting!

[fictionkinfessions]

Oh boy things to do where I talk about my current kintype that's taking over my brain!! Peter Nureyev here to talk your ear off.

Noncanon family members?? Boy do I! In canon I am an only child who was orphaned at a young age. I was still orphaned at a young age, but in every single canon I have for this kin I had an identical twin sister. Her name was Steliana and she was amazing. In my canon timeline she died when we were young, but I have a couple timelines she lived to our teens or even adulthood. She is so, so important to me. (This isn't quite the question but I don't have any other blood family, so.)

Mundane thing that reminds me of the kintype is knives. I had a near-obsession with knives.

Fixations? I definitely could've been diagnosed with some form of autism or ADHD as well as OCD. I was very meticulous about maps and planning as well as my appearance. The more positive part of that fixation was my love for fashion, and if I had the chance I really flourished.

Most of what seems made up in my source is time frames. Many of the events took longer than is shown because they were more spread out. Otherwise, it's pretty true to what I remember. Except Juno's internal monologue, which was melodramatic as always.

Ambient sound that reminds me of this kin is spaceship ambience. I spent so many nights on various ships, and some even in the bowels of the ship itself. Hearing the noises brings me back to those times even now. Quiet mechanical churning.

Scents or smells? Well, my partner and I are on the hunt for a perfume or cologne that is the same as the one I wore. I stopped wearing it daily after a while of being in the same place (more or less), but it was still a good scent. Earthy, rich, with a bit of spice. I hope I can wear some of it again.

Something from canon to bring to now would probably be either one of my knives (I had quite a few with sentimental value…none more so than one in particular) or my jacket. That old thing was comfortable and I flooded the pockets with nonsense. I still do, sometimes! I find old wrappers, receipts, random items I left for myself. Convenient when I need a mask and my jacket already has one. Annoying when I can't find my nail clipper.

Ironically, I can't remember any landscapes from places that mattered a lot to me. Brahma was mostly city, and Hyperion City was never a home. I never let myself settle anywhere that could be considered a real home by most people. That said, the Carte Blanche in general is somewhere I miss dearly. The skyline of Hyperion City in one of my alt canons was also comforting in its way — knowing that somewhere out there, the lady I loved was protecting people. But nothing more specific because I didn't let myself have a home.

All my best, Peter Nureyev

(source is The Penumbra Podcast)

(#🌿🏹🐺)

[rritme-on-telegram]

⚶ idyllic poesy o’ @rritme [XCVI]

Droplet pendant descending against the lumpish penumbra embracing light o’ molten twilight glare. Seraphic mystique ambience establish benevolence thump, muffled serene canard mendacity franchise of th’ psyche goddess by @username. Halcyon quixotic flourish relish in @balmylight's affection. Alluring dawn twist plunder chictures balmy dulcet {up for sell/not for sell} by abysmal perception o' adoreness immersion @meidorobot beneath plumber dewdrops aphrodite.

ㅤㅤ— @perangko’s beautiful poesy

[creepypasta-archive]

Jeff goes to Burger King

by me

Ive found the original story! I'm on mobile so i cant post much about it but its truly a weird thingie. Hope you enjoy it

cw// fast food mascots, blood, teeth, darkness, paranoia, retail job

Click on read more for the full unedited story

The calm under the navy blue sky remained undisturbed as Tiffany slumberingly strolled towards the fridge at 3am. Her rest was interrupted by a Big Mac induced nightmare in which she gave birth to one of those terrifying european Happy Meal mascots, their perfectly spherical and unblinking eyes fixated on her as she was being held by the doctor. She was approached by her with the intentions of handing the newborn red cardboard creature to the lucky mother. Their smile widened as Tiffany stared back at the thing, not scared, but unprepared for anything “her baby” was planning to do as soon they were at grabbing or leaping distance. She had no reason to assume the mascot was feral, but her fears turned out to not be unfounded, as shortly after the doctor arrived at the side of her bed, the fast food monstrosity lunged at her face, mouth stretched into a giant toothy grin that revealed perfectly symmetrical pearly teeth, followed by the purest of blacks, a complete void that she had no time to figure out where it led, as as soon as the Happy Meal terror reached her face, she sprung up in her bed, sheets stained with sweat, fast breathing, her mouth and throat dry… She wasn't going to a McDonalds ever again.

The streetlights indirectly gave the small appartment’s kitchen a dim ambience, not bright enough for any figure or item left on the counter to be easily identifiable, but she did not need that, as she had been living on this flat for long enough to guide herself in the penumbra to the door of the fridge, she reached and pulled the handle, the silence and dim illumination gave way to the buzz of the bulb producing the blinding white spotlight, directly aimed at her face. She reached into the fridge to grab the water bottle she left there the day before. Despite her keeping her eyes closed, the translucency of her eyelids was enough to de-adapt her eyes to the darkness. She slowly walked back to her bedroom, in an attempt to resume her slumber and get at least one or two hours of sleep before having to head back to her dead end job at Burger King. Fast food was gonna be the end of her, or so it seemed tonight.

She arrived at her bedroom/dining room/living room combination and went on to close the door. Her cat would jump at her face like an european burger box-beast if she had the change to sneak on her white she slept, so she had to take extra care to keep that little furball at bay. However as soon as she felt the doorknob, her heartbeat skipped a beat and her legs tenses. She was expecting the knob to be smooth and chilly, as aluminum paraphernalia usually is, but instead she encountered a rough and leathery texture. She was unable to identify any figure in the hallway, so she looked for a logical explanation that could ease her nerves. “I must’ve left my pleather jacket hanging from it”. She gave herself a little reprimand for scaring herself like an idiot and slid herself back into her bed. She moved around between the sheets trying to regain that perfect position she had casually gotten herself into in hopes to immediately fall back into the arms of Morpheus, that weirdo that gave her a fast food sponsored nightmare.

During the effort, once again her breath cut and quickly turned to the direction in which she felt a nudge, her eyes fixating on the dark blob standing next to her, clutching her sheets as if the fabric server as some sort of magic impenetrable shield against supernatural foes and common thiefs alike. She stared a whole though the shadowy intruder until her eyes finally adapted to the faint lighting, revealing the identity of the perpetrator to be a chair piled with used clothes. what looked like a head was only a ball of crumpled shirts and what looked like a torso was just her pleather jac--

She finally heard it, the faint thumping of an unknown heart drowned every sound in the room,followed by the trained mouth breathing, quiet and so discrete it would be easily masked by her own respiration. It came from the door, it came from next to the door. Then the soft breathing gave way to the click of a door lock.

The calm under the navy blue sky was disturbed as the intruder sinisterly strolled towards Tiffany at 3am. Her rest was interrupted by the heavy realization that she was stuck in her room with a terrifying stranger, his perfectly circular and unblinking eyes fixated on her as she held onto her sheets. She was approached by him with an intention yet to be discovered, but was probably nothing good. His smile widened as Tiffany stared back at the thing, scared and unprepared for anything “her visitor” was planning to do as soon he was at grabbing or leaping distance. She had no reason to assume the intruder was feral, but her fears turned out to not be unfounded, as shortly after the individual arrived at the side of her bed, the leather skinned monstrosity lunged over her, mouth stretched into a giant toothy grin that revealed asymmetrical yellowed teeth, followed by the insanest of cackles, an ear piercing screech that she had no time to scream over, as as soon as the glasgow smiled terror reached her chest, he dug into it with his blade and did so repeatedly, the blood splating over him, her pulse dropped and her temperature faded… She wasn’t going to wake up ever again.

[mainsram]

In sound mind story

#IN SOUND MIND STORY PROFESSIONAL#

Performance-wise, the game rarely skipped a beat, running smoothly with extremely rare frame drops and one instance of freezing due to the player (me) being an absolute dingus by setting off as many explosions on screen at once just to see what would happen.In Sound Mind is not always visually impressive. The atmospheric music is done fairly well but is so frequently shifting on a dime with the bosses and enemies interrupting that it never lasts long enough to trick your brain into believing there’s something behind you. Having battle music start every time Inkblot enemies roll on up shatters any built-up atmosphere. The music and ambience are a real hit or miss situation though. It all adds to the mind-bending abstraction that is powerfully ramped up in some sections, putting you on an uneasy footing in memories that can only be described as���a bit cooked. There’s some really evocative imagery on display too, like cameras and eyes following you in the supermarket or the ear-crunching distortion of the poisoned lighthouse’s light bathing the dour cliffs in a malevolent red. What’s on the tape here feels, looks and sounds somewhat inspired by Fractional Games’ work on Penumbra: Overture blended lightly with Psychonauts. Being locked into peeping behind you to illuminate hidden objects and wires creates this wonderful sense of uneasiness every time you’re forced to use it. The mirror shard is definitely the stand out mechanic. There’s this giddy thrill of excitement at the prospect of taking tools like the flare gun or the lure pill back to the hub and using them to unlock new areas. Every map, and the hub world, is filled with a fun variety of puzzles that differ and evolve on top of each other with each proceeding tape, tucking rewards into obscure locations for you to find. Like an addict at a nightclub, tracking down pills to boost your stats and new weapons are the carrots on the stick. Metroidvania would be the best way to describe the overall gameplay, and We Create Stuff effectively demonstrates a competent understanding of the relationship between ability unlocks used for puzzles, backtracking and the subsequent rewards that comes from combining the two ideas. Surprisingly, what it isn’t lacking is a great sense of exploration and puzzle integration. The sense of danger however, is elevated by the combat being a little janky, so as not to make you feel like a super-soldier, with dodging enemies and aiming feeling off but not so busted it’s frustrating The emerging patterns in the scares, an inconsistent atmosphere as well as a robust safety net of guns (a pistol, shotgun and flare gun to name some of them) defanged any sense of fear or clear and present danger. Anyway, travelling into the third and fourth stories I felt the horror effect slowly fall off. Let’s just say mannequins in dark rooms should be considered a war crime and I’ll be seeing you in The Hague, We Create Stuff. Were there times where I was unsettled? Certainly, particularly within the first two tapes. In my twelve-hour journey I was never once filled with the absolute dread that typically stun locks me into quitting. It’s easy to assert In Sound Mind as a psychological horror game, though in all honesty, its application of the genre is mild at best. It’s affecting, particularly when all the pieces fall into place, both for the individual stories and the larger one at play. Small notes along with the persistent taunting of Agent Rainbow help you piece together your patients’ complete stories, in a way that has you understand that their anguish (and all mental health issues, for that matter) should be treated with empathy and compassion. Collectively though, these disparate narratives build In Sound Mind as a window into our ever-frail human psyches. It creates this soft bed for the character stories that deal with loneliness, anxiety, anger management, and PTSD. The way these subplots come together is a decent mystery and hook for the overall story.

#IN SOUND MIND STORY PROFESSIONAL#

This somewhat familiar premise for a game is accompanied by a veiled plot regarding your patients’ conditions, their relationship to this mysterious chemical and the identity of the enigmatic (and professional jump-scarer) Agent Rainbow. When a curious chemical makes its way into the small town, four of your patients succumb to their mental health crises and you must delve into their memories channelled through tape recordings to help them move on. As the resident psychologist of Milton Haven, you, Desmond Wales, have dedicated your days tending to the troubles of four individuals.

[s1r-v1ctor]

Wanna see my top podcasts this year?

[seratlantisite]

Penumbra’s Mysteries are great and Here’s Why

Juno Steel is a detective, but his stories aren’t solely mysteries. There is always enough rich interpersonal conflict that you can have a great time just listening to the prose and the angst and be swept up in the story. But! it’s still a damn good mystery. Every cliffhanger that gets set up is always solved with things we have already seen before. it means we always have the chance to figure out for ourselves, and if you’re like me and love playing along you can have a Great Time trying to figure out the pieces before the characters do.

And not just junoverse! in second citadel too, even though it’s largely a political thriller or whatever, how ever the cast escapes a situation is always set up in the episode(s) before.

Midnight fox is the best example of this - Juno tells us within seconds of part 2 starting how he stitched together a plan using everything that had lead him to that point in the first place with some details that seemed like completely innocent ambience at the time and it’s genius! But the episode isn’t boring, not by a long shot, because even more of those details trip them up as they go in ways we STILL didn’t see coming! If you’ve ever watched hbomberguy’s “Sherlock is garbage and here’s why”, remember how he says that compelling mysteries give you the pieces to a solve, but the main character still can put them together in a way you didn’t even think of. It’s why they’re the lead. Juno is legitimately genius (as are takabert) and we get to see why in action.

(side note - this is also what makes Juno Steel such a masterwork of unreliable narration. For season 1 + 2 we are literally in Juno’s own head, hearing him notice all these details real time and it still catches us off guard, but without ever lying to us. none of that avengers or GoT writers complaining the audience figured it out so they throw out all the work they put in and therefore you. The story flows, and if you managed to figure it out too then hell yeah!)

In season three we can’t follow the story from Juno’s own detective brain anymore, but we still get his keen observations that the other crew members haven’t seen. This is literally by having Juno just, shout out things he’s noticed that really bothers him. It’s kind of heavy handed lmao BUT it also makes sense within the story because Juno is trying to be part of a team, trying to communicate and work with the people around him. He’s learned that he doesn’t always have to know the entire puzzle himself, so maybe he should see if what he’s noticed pings anything for anyone else? And since we the audience are hanging out with people who can’t or haven’t observed all he has yet, it still gives us the chance to solve the puzzle before he does.

Heart of it All 2 was really the most satisfying version of this so far because he also solved it in the final treasure room of their grand quest while everyone else tried to ignore him which like, it’s literally what Buddy hired him to do lmao they should have known better.

[krissiefox]

After doing some maintenance and studying the operation manual, Philip manages to get the old generator running again. Preparing himself to deal with more monsters up ahead, he takes a break in the relative safety of the hallway, listening to the buzz of the old fluorescent light-bulbs overhead....

[chaos-burst]

do you have like a recc list of nice things that make you happy? i need some nice things in my life rihgt now 🙈🙈🙈

Sure thing, anon! This is a very random list from the top of my head!

If you like podcasts (D&D or otherwise)

Not Another D&D Podcast (Naddpod)

The Adventure Zone - Balance 

The Two Princes

The Penumbra Podcast

Things to watch that make me happy:

The Good Place

Leverage

She Ra

Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend Of Korra

The Dragon Prince

Steven Universe

Fantasy High

Hamilton

Ghibli Movies, for example: Ponyo

generally speaking, this site has a ton of stuff you can stream

Other, completely random nice things:

Look out of another window somewhere else in the world!

Listen to some rain ambience sounds from Stardew Valley with adorable whale/frog like sounds that pop up from time to time

Watch Night On Earth on Netflix (or stream it)

Make your own OCs in various different Avatar Creators

If you’re in the mood to play something... you guessed it... play some Stardew Valley! Atm it’s 13,99€ on Steam!

Write a list of all your favorite characters or favorite ships or favorite smells or... you get the general idea

Look at some rescued kittens live

Create something/anything. Can be a short poem or a something crafted or something drawn or cook something. Whatever comes to mind.

Create soothing background sounds and mix them however you like

Draw your own nebula. It’s very soothing, I promise

Read some poems

This album by The Amazing Devil

If you have anything else in mind, just let me know! I hope something on this list helps. I’m sending hugs and hot chocolate and fluffy blankets your way!

[aperturesoundtracks]

Please listen to BOTH songs before voting!

[rosewinterborn]

I really think the Penumbra is a boat.

I've just started my (3rd) relisten to Man in Glass, and I paid closer attention to the intro sequence. Some things I heard:

-the concierge/conductor/captain?

-the penumbra music

-rain/running water

-some kind of low grumbling ambience

-creaking/groaning

I really think they made the penumbra a ship this season, and I don't know if we're being mocked or not...

[thebiscuiteternal]

Scary Music Masterpost

Season’s Creepings, all you lovely listeners; this is your DJ of darkness over at the Symphony of Death. Once again, it’s the time of year to update the Masterpost!Now you won’t find the classic Halloween haunts here, since those scares can be had anywhere, but maybe you’ll find a new favorite. Pull out your cauldron, brew up something nice, and kick back with me!

Masters of Horror

John Carpenter

Better Check the Kids - Halloween / Put Them in the Ground (with Jim Lang) - Body Bags / Main Theme - The Fog (1980) / All Out of Bubble Gum (with Alan Howarth) - They Live! / Hell Breaks Loose (with Alan Howarth) - Prince of Darkness / Regeneration - Christine / Just A Bedtime Story (with Jim Lang) - In the Mouth of Madness

Marco Beltrami

River’s Edge - My Soul to Take / Tea for Three Plus One - The Woman in Black / Return to Blackwood - Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark / The Concert - The Eye / Love Theme - Cursed / Priest Dies - Mimic / 1m2 (Production Note) - The Substitute / Return to Blackwood - Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark / Pulled Down Deep - The Shallows / The End of Fur - Cursed (II) / Carillon My Wayward Son - The Snowman

Charlie Clouser

American Horror Story Theme (with Cesar Davila-Irizarry) / Out of the Fire - The Collection /Hello, Zepp - Saw / Theme - Dead Silence

Bernard Herrmann

Teddy Bear Wired - Cape Fear / Theme - Vertigo / Theme - Psycho / The Tomb-Sandra - Obsession / Theme - Twisted Nerve / The Kidnapping - Obsession / Marketplace Murder - The Man Who Knew Too Much

Christopher Young

Twilight Mercy - Urban Legend / The Lament Configuration - Hellraiser / Sinister - Sinister /Concerto to Hell - Drag Me to Hell / The Devourer of Souls - Deliver Us from Evil / Butchers and Bakers - Copycat / Six Demons - The Exorcism of Emily Rose / Cryptomnesia - The Gift / The Sacrifice - The Dorm that Dripped Blood / Death After Life After Death - Untraceable / Reversing Colors - The Hider in the House / Church Isn’t Church - Pet Sematary (2019)

Video Games

Room of Angel - Akira Yamaoka & Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Silent Hill: The Room) Mandus - Jessica Curry (Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs) The Drunken Whaler - Daniel Licht (Dishonored) Chill and Rigor - Shinji Hosoe (9 Persons 9 Hours 9 Doors) I’m Not Edible! - Chris Vrenna (American McGhee’s Alice) Ring Around the Rosie - Jason Graves (Dead Space 2) Soul of Steel - Mao Hamamoto (Corpse Party) P.T. Silent Hills Ambience Weekly Despair Magazine - Masafumi Takada (Dangan Ronpa) Close to Evil - Mikko Tarmia (Penumbra) In this Wretched Place - Eipix Studios (Phantasmat) The Nameless Game (Requiem) - Masayoshi Soken (Nanashi no Game) Last Day - Koji Kondo & Toru Minegishi (Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask) Welcome to Rapture - Garry Schyman (Bioshock) Theme - Yoan Landau (Nightmare House) Plague Blossom - Ndemic Creations (Plague Inc) Gore Nest - Mick Gordon (DOOM) Creepy Forest - Jason Garner & Vince Di Vera (Don’t Starve) A Nightmare Reborn - Ramin Djawadi (Gears of War) Before the Mirror - Maribeth Solomon & Brent Barkman (Fallen London) Broken Vessel - Christopher Larkin (Hollow Knight) Letter From A Friend - Carlos Viola (The Last Door) Rata Novus - Maclaine Diemer (Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns) The Hole at the Center of Everything - Alec Holowka (Night in the Woods) Bury Her - Ivan Zanotti (imscared) Devil’s Crossing - Steve Pardo (Grim Dawn)

Movies

Close to You (Carpenters Cover) - Josefine Cronholm (Mirrormask) The Void - Stephen Price (Gravity) Intro to Horror - Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th) The Supper - Bruno Coulais (Coraline) Tubular Bells (Exorcist Cut) - Mike Oldfield (The Exorcist) Main Theme - Shiro Sato (Ju-On : The Grudge) Main Title - Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind (The Shining) Dark Earth - Jack Trombey (Dawn of the Dead) The Ringtone (Chakushin Ari) A New Swan Queen  - Clint Mansell (Black Swan) Audition - Koji Endoh (Audition) Roar! - Michael Giacchino (Cloverfield) It Was Always You, Helen - Philip Glass (Candyman) Finale / End Titles - Howard Shore (Silence of the Lambs) A Discordant Split - Kenji Kawai (Ringu) Funeral in Carpathia - James Bernard (Dracula: Prince of Darkness) Name Your Poison - Christopher Lee (The Return of Captain Invincible) The Carousel After Dark - James Horner (Something Wicked This Way Comes) The Game Begins - Masamichi Amano (Battle Royale) The Event Horizon - Michael Kamen & Orbital (Event Horizon) Poison - Herman Kopp (Der Todesking) Samara’s Song - Daveigh Chase (The Ring) Brainerd, Minnesota - Carter Burwell (Fargo) Number One Fan - Marc Shaiman (Misery) Graveyard Theme - Vince Guaraldi (It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) We are the 1% - Darren Baker (The Conspiracy) Call to Worship - Sons of Perdition (The Backwater Gospel) Longest Night - Thomas Newman (The Shawshank Redemption) The Auction - Michael Abels (Get Out)

Anime

Youran - Kayo Konishi & Yukio Konda (Elfen Lied) Aya - Mari Fukuhara (Amatsuki) I was waiting for this moment - Yuki Kajiura (Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion) Go DA DA - Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell: SAC) A Last Flower - Asa-Chang & Junray (Aku no Hana) White Hill (Maromi’s Theme) - Susumu Hirasawa (Paranoia Agent) 24 Hours OPEN - Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop) Nui Harime’s Theme - Hiroyuki Sawano (Kill La Kill) Daughter - Ichirou Imai & Kazuhisa Yamaguchi (Petshop of Horrors) Monster - Susumu Hirasawa (Berserk) Ake ni Somaru - Yasuharu Takanachi (Jigoku Shoujo) Sanctus - Hikaru Nanase (Angel Sanctuary) March of the Moving Dolls - Akira Senju (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)

Other

Stay Awake (Mary Poppins cover) - Suzanne Vega Heigh Ho (Snow White cover) - Tom Waits Come Little Children - Kate Covington I, Witchfinder - Electric Wizard Brennistein - Sigur Ros Psychobabble - Frou Frou Sirens - SingerSen Lose Your Soul - Dead Man’s Bones Grisly Reminder  - Midnight Syndicate An Echo, A Stain - Bjork Elaine - ABBA (trust me) Welcome Home (Instrumental) - Coheed and Cambria The Greatest Show Unearthed - Creature Feature Something Wicked (That Way Went) - Vernian Process Black Water - Timber Timbre God’s Away on Business - Tom Waits The Wicked - Blues Saraceno The Gravedigger - The Pine Box Boys Lake Ponchartrain - Ludo The Smiler - IMA Score (Alton Towers Amusement Park) DOA - Bloodrock Breathing Water - Inhale Chupacabra Cha Cha - The Swingtips Confrontation - Anthony Warlow (Broadway’s Jekyll and Hyde) No Death - Mirel Wagner Thick as Thieves - Natalie Merchant Say Goodnight - Skeleton Key The Sad Mafioso - Godspeed You! Black Emperor What’s So Amazing About Grace? - The Paper Chase Blood on the Blue Grass - Legendary Shack Shakers In A Lonely Place - Joy Division Walpurgis - Black Sabbath

Television

Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Jeff Fisher Theme to Unsolved Mysteries - Michael Boyd & Gary Remal Malkin The Red Room - Angelo Badalamenti & David Lynch (Twin Peaks) Suite from “The Mark of the Rani” - Jonathan Gibbs (Doctor Who) Norma Doesn’t Approve - Chris Bacon (Bates Motel) The Cordyceps - George Fenton (Planet Earth) Dark Harvest Chase - Kevin Manthei (Invader Zim) Main Theme - Robert Lydecker & Brian Tyler (Sleepy Hollow) Blood Theme - Daniel Licht (Dexter) Arkham Asylum - Shirley Walker & Todd Hayen (Batman the Animated Series) The Old Mill - The Blasting Company (Over the Garden Wall) Sleep Deprivation - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Bird Box) Turn on the Lights - Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein (Stranger Things)

[doomedandstoned]

Void Realm Surface From The Shadows With Atmospheric ‘Psyche’s Omen’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

We're long overdue for a sequel to our last Doomed & Stoned in Portland compilation. Seems like no sooner do I blink than some intriguing new band has popped up beneath in the penumbra of Mount Hood. It's not like these bands are carbon copies of one another, either. Often they are highly individual, incorporating multifaceted talents and ideas from each member. The four-piece outfit VOID REALM bear all the marks of the Northwest music scene's eccentricty, describing their art as "an amalgam of dark, shattering instrumentation woven with searing, hypnotic vocals."

After capturing our attention with an arresting demo in 2018, the band's been hard at work hammering out more "heretic hymns from a primordial abyss," with seven new enchantments conjured for the forthcoming LP, 'Psyche's Omen' (2020). Void Realm dwell somewhere in the stylistic neighborhood of SubRosa, Sabbath Assembly, Mansion, and Worm Ouroboros, featuring Erin Aquarian (vox), Marios Kerpen (bass), Caitlin Love (drums, synth), and WeskeJohnChap (guitar)

Photographs by Triangles Around Us

Weaving "a powerful spell of primordial, matriarchal rage from beyond linear time," Void Realm emerge from the abyssal depths of doubt, pain, and fear, bringing a powerful -- and empowering -- sound that is dark with atmosphere, yet warmly accessible. Next to the effectiveness of their compositions, this inviting ambience is achieved through spacious production work with a sound engineer known only to locals as Fester, who has recorded a great many records over the years with regional bands and collaborated with Void Realm for this one at Start/Stop Studios.

Mixing followed, helmed by Brandon Eggleston at Pet Cemetery, with mastering by Ed Brooks of Resonant Mastering, both of whom offered painstaking attention to nuance and detail. The result is an album that effectively balances the sheer enormity of Void Realm's heavy instrumentation, gear, and amps with the subtle artistry of each musician, with Erin's majestic vocalizations and harmonies ushered front and center.

The lyrical component really brings each song alive, too, as the words are fastidiously chosen and expressed with great feeling and a tendency toward dramatic arc.

At the end is a start The bound world burns to the ground Undo the curses Our hands turn the time And what was forgotten Comes back to mind Unbind these cursed ropes of death Free the life that is left And lay the past to rest To rest in peace

In these times of "multidimensional warfare," Void Realm's mission is to bring listeners "back from psychic death with cathartic spells of heavy resonance" that will "revive the ravaged soul of humanity and manifest a liberated reality." Don't know about you, but I can definitely get down with that. Look for Void Realm's Psyche's Omen this weekend (available at at this location). In the meanwhile, Doomed & Stoned is delighted to bring the album to you in its entirety.

Give ear...

Psyche's Omen by Void Realm

Follow The Band

Get Their Music