Atrium Carceri - Kapnobatai

Following the release of Seishinbyouin, Atrium Carceri return with the twisted and dark mass entitled Kapnobatai. This is music to make the hair on your arms raise, and makes a feeling of unease to pass over you. It starts simple enough, and one might expect another well crafted dark ambient album to follow, but slowly the dirty churning begins to take over, and a guttural evil envelopes the listener. This is more than mere dark ambient, and easily surpasses the amazing work I heard on Atrium Carceri's debut release Cellblock (I somehow let Seishinbyouin slips throught the cracks and will now have to seek this album out). Where Cellblock explored the realm of jail cells and insane asylums, Kapnobatai descends through the mind of the tortured and damned, and out into a new world of horror. I have to agree with how the Cold Meat Industry website describes this album: black ambient. I actually know people who get freaked out just listening to it. A extremely powerful and absolutely brilliant release.

Squid @ Feb 2006