Entry 792 - Anubis-XIII

Style: Beat driven ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Flying in from a distant land to a city that spans as far as the eye can see, it's an entirely different world and I am keen to explore it.

Thoughts: This one takes me back. This was one of the first albums I got from the evolving dreampunk movement during the pandemic. Before this I was into ambient, and some other forms of electronic music, but I hadn't truly explored the genre in many years. I got into vaporwave for a brief moment and then transitioned into said subgenre as soon as I found out about it.

I've heard plenty of arguments about how dreampunk is a subgenre of vaporwave. I just used that analogy myself... but if I take a step back I think that association is only from the perceived evolution of the genre. I would argue that "dreampunk" is actually a stylized form of ambient music. It's cinematic, it's bombastic, and it often has beats... and rain, lots of rain. All of those things normally would not go with ambient, but here they do.

Anubis' album is a prime example of how the genre works so well. The music feels full and all encompassing, much like good ambient music does. It is slow to progress and explores ideas thoroughly once introduced before moving into the next one. XIII offers up quite an extensive collection of beats as well, almost to the point where one could call this a trap album. Again though these beats never dominate, but rather compliment the larger atmosphere. 

This album often sounds like it's on the verge of creating something massive, but most of the time it holds itself back. It never takes that final step to explode. By reading that I would think that the album lacks dynamics and a true climax. Not so. Rather the music restrains itself and keeps the listener engaged by its evolution of both percussion and atmospheres. 

One moment the song will phase in and out like a ripple in a pool of water, the next it will become crystal clear for the listener. Sometimes the beats are so intricate that 808's are used alongside the snare and bass drum, the interconnectivity of everything is expertly done. Other times the percussion will be abandoned completely in leu of letting the music speak for itself. Really the music does whatever the music needs to to sound good.

Albums like this is why I'm doing this progression through my collection. This thing has been sitting on my shelf for about two years now without a listen. I forgot how cool this thing is and I'm glad I revisited it. Lots of fun memories associated with this and a lot of the earlier Vill4in releases. It's funny how I'm nostalgic for something that occurred less than five years ago. Time does funny things to your mind.

Written May 1st 2024