Mildred In Oblivion – Sisyphus’ Journey (Album – Ant-Zen)
Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: Mildred In Oblivion is a new project driven by Jan Dewulf. This Belgian musician/producer gained recognition with his different projects; from Diskonnekted (Electro/Future-Pop) to Mildreda (Dark-Electro) to Your Life On Hold (Cold-Wave, Post-Punk). This debut work by Mildred In Oblivion is a conceptual work inspired by the concept that ‘Camus’ philosophy is linked to the Buddhist idea of the ‘bardo’.
Content: Jan Dewulf composed 10 songs. The opening part of the work is pure Dark-Ambient music revealing monstrous and overwhelming sound treatments. It’s an icy Ambient trip, which has been joined by Gregorian chants. The global atmosphere is clearly reminding me of early Raison D’Être although this work is more elaborated. Quite progressively we’re entering a still dark, but dreamier part with omnipresent strings. Tracks at the end are becoming heavier and have been accomplished with orchestra sound arrangements. There also is a track with fragmented vocal parts adding a Ritual touch to the work.
+ + + : The older he gets, the more Jan Dewulf take me by surprise. All his projects are quite different from each other revealing an artist who clearly feels fine dealing with different music genres. There for sure is a touch of Mildreda running through Mildred In Oblivion. The epic arrangements and tormented atmospheres from the new Mildreda-album “I Was Never Really There” have been extracted and transposed into a pure Dark-Ambient journey. The debut cuts are impressive; not that original as you easily recognize the influence of Raison D’Être and a bit of In Slaughter Natives, but the format sounds fully accomplished. The tracks are extremely elaborated for Dark-Ambient music, which in a way makes the originality of the work and the main difference with the aforementioned projects. This is a tenebrous experience reaching a new climax at “Death”. It also is an album with a strong visual appeal, creating visions of desolation and despair so this is not exactly the kind of work I would recommend listening to when having depressed feelings.
– – – : There’re a few cuts right in the midst of the album, which are more into dark, evasive fields that couldn’t convince me. There’s a kind of Cinematographic appeal emerging here, which might be an idea for another project…
Conclusion: “Sisyphus’ Journey” clearly reveals an artist who is familiar with Dark-Ambient music, and who has distilled an album with a few brilliant passages.
Best songs: “Death”, “Waves Of Bitterness”, “Conception”, “Transmutation”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.wolf-productions.be / www.facebook.com/mildredinoblivion
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