Lustmord, the reluctant pioneer of the dark ambient scene has returned with another expansive work of existential dread in Much Unseen Is Also Here. His arsenal of industrial components, field recordings, and sampling are engineered to evoke a true sense of cosmic horror. While many extreme music acts embrace the terrifying aspects of the Lovecraftian literary corpus, few can transmit the sheer sense of insignificance amidst the vast cosmos that these can bring. The opening motifs of "Behold A Voice As Thunder" expose Lustmord's affinity for the disturbing, as the slow-moving melodies cause perturbation. Something unspeakable is taking place, but it cannot be defined.
Lustmord's latest work immediately latches onto this fear and trembling feeling, as the opening track begins the proceedings. The field recordings, mutated and disfigured, capture a vastness, an endless expanse of space. In "Entrails of the God Machine" the darkness further encircles you, leaving no space for hope. And from space, Lustmord plunges into the dark ocean with "A Shadow Cast Upon The Deep." While there does not appear to be any immediate danger, you still feel a deep sense of vulnerability, as if left exposed to the mercy of the elements. The cold winds arrive in "Their Souls Asunder" as you drift helplessly through the glacial setting, with the build-up reaching for a moment of true grandeur as giant horns join in to signal a celestial battle beyond our comprehension.
There are still more familiar elements. "An Angel Dissected" inverts the ceremonial procession, as if a reversed ecclesiastical procedure is taking place. Fleeting background melodies add to a pensive tone. This is the first sight of a distinctly human emotion that Lustmord allows in, granting a solid body to the track, and dragging it away from its abstract beginning. There are more instances when this side comes into view. "Invocation of the Nameless One" sees the striking melodies conjure a sorrowful presence, as the keyboards join in. The faraway bells in "Hence Shall They Be Devoured All of Them" again provide a humane rendition, a sound that carries a distinctly sentimental tone. But, it is all but a weak echo in the endless darkness of it all.
There is no light to be found here, despite the applications of more comprehensible elements. Lustmord continues to open pathways to the outer realms, dimensions that are indecipherable. For which a vocabulary has not been invented, and probably never will. And while the cycle is ending through the serene closer "Other Woes Are Yet To Come" you cannot wait to return to the start, and experience that voice as thunder.
