A Beginner's Guide to Dark Ambient V1: Quick-Start Guide

What is dark ambient music and what is it all about?

What is dark ambient music and what is it all about?

A visitor to the Endarkenment YouTube channel, completely new to dark ambient and wondering where to begin, posed this question to me recently. To respond in a way that can help other newcomers, I copied his question and other related Q-and-A here in slightly edited form. I answered with a short excerpt from an early draft of my in-progress book manuscript Endarkenment: The Esoteric in Dark Ambient Music and Culture.

Included in this quick-start guide is a short list of a few respected labels and albums to help neophytes acquaint themselves with the genre. Keep in mind that these selections prioritize accessibility for newcomers over genre-defining status per se.

I also encourage newcomers to ask other dark ambient aficionados for starter recommendations. While there may be some overlap with mine, tastes vary widely. Compare notes! The genre is larger than many people think, with more permeable boundaries than the purists will admit. The waters are muddied even further by the fact that there’s a sizable chunk of dark ambient music that’s tagged as ambient, drone, dark downtempo, minimal, abstract, modern classical, film or game soundtracks, or experimental.

Q: I'm new to this kind of music so forgive me for my ignorance but what is dark ambient music and what is it all about?

A: Dark ambient is slow-paced, drone-based, textural instrumental music that emphasizes atmospheres, soundscapes, and moods more than beats, chorus, and vocals. Typically, dark ambient is composed in a minor key and is associated with darker themes such as isolation, the primal or shadow self, underworld deities, subterranean worlds, abandoned places, etc.

Historically speaking, the dark ambient genre has usually been considered a subgenre of industrial or post-industrial music, as it was called “ambient industrial” in the early 1990s. But some consider it a subgenre or offshoot of “light” or mainstream ambient.

Generally, though, light and dark ambient are considered two distinct genres of electronic music. Though the boundaries are sometimes blurred, most listeners would probably agree that the key element that differentiates these two genres is atmosphere.

Atmosphere refers to “set and setting,” as entheogen users say - a mood, feeling tone, or vibe. Dark ambient music centers on melancholy, somber, ominous, mysterious, and dissonant atmospheres, while ambient tends to focus more on calm, harmonic, mellow, and expansive atmospheres. Of course this is a stylistic generalization; it doesn’t apply to all cases, but it’s still a useful distinction.

Dark ambient is often stereotyped (usually by outsiders) as evil, bleak, or excessively solemn. Some people find it impenetrable or boring, and dismiss it as “not really music.” But there’s so much more to this misunderstood genre. It lends itself beautifully to inner journeys, mood-alteration, and meditation. It’s sometimes used therapeutically as a sleep aid, and it can serve as a great catalyst for creativity.

Q: I just discovered Sephiroth/Ulf Söderberg and I love his work. Do you have more suggestions for this style of music?

A: Great place to start! For people completely unfamiliar with the genre, I consider Söderberg’s work the best for “crossover” purposes. If you haven't yet heard all his dark ambient releases, including the Sephiroth albums (listed below), listen to those first. His music holds a lengthy and impressive track record for converting skeptics into dark ambient fans.

Söderberg also occupies an influential and genre-defining place in the history of dark ambient. I’ve been following the genre for 25+ years and I’ve never met anyone who’s into dark ambient but dislikes Söderberg’s work. I’d even go so far as to say that if you don’t like any of Ulf Söderberg’s work, the genre might not be for you.

Sephiroth - Cathedron (1999)

Sephiroth - Draconian Poetry (2005)

Ulf Söderberg - Nattljus (1995)
Ulf Söderberg - Tidvatten (1998)
Ulf Söderberg - Vindarnas Hus (2003)
Ulf Söderberg - Inland (2016)

13 top-notch dark ambient albums that beginners frequently enjoy:

1. Desiderii Marginis - Deadbeat
   A classic album from the glory days of Cold Meat Industry, featuring the work of Johan Levin, an enduring talent whose brilliance never fails to impress me. Deserves a place in every dark ambient fan's collection.

2. Kammarheit - Asleep and Well Hidden
   Languid, drifting dronescapes composed with impressive patience and masterful precision. This album is the quintessential example of "pure" dark ambient; it's a classic for excellent reason. I'm also partial to the literary vibe - only a fellow word nerd would use words like "epitome" and "poignant" in track titles.

3. Skadi - Eliwagar
   When I bought the original version of this incredible album on CD in 2006 (in which the tracks all blend together, with no pauses between them), it completely blew me away. Evocative, reverent, rapturous.

4. Konau - Speech From the Shadows
   This finely honed blend of melancholy and disquiet stirs sorrowful reflections and solemn, sepia-tinted memories. Mournful, contemplative, and slightly chilling.

5. Herbst9 - :Eta Carinae:
   A shining example of the trademark mystical, meditative luminosity that has made me such a die-hard fan of Herbst9 for so many years. Dark ritual ambient at its finest.

6. Cities Last Broadcast - The Cancelled Earth
   Forlorn, desolate, and infused with dark grandeur, these eerie drones build into a hypnotic crescendo that peaks in the last and most grandiose track, "Architectôn." Even after thousands (yes, thousands!) of listens, this exquisite album still gives me chills. Like many dark ambient fans, I consider it among the best-of-the-best in the genre. I often point neophytes to it, with the caveat that it may spoil you: not many albums ever reach this kind of pinnacle!

7. Hymnambulae - Orgelhuset
   Lush, contemplative atmospheres, seasoned with just the right touch of melancholy. Do I detect a note of innocence - even playful, childlike whimsy - amidst these plaintive vocals, lingering organ notes, and wistful, hypnotic drones? Rarely do rigor of form and boundless creativity intersect so exquisitely. Let Pär and Åsa's mystical musical sanctuary enfold you, and transport you into liminal spaces on gossamer wings of mythic imagination.

8. Antikatechon - Privilegium Martyrii
   Dark in mood and style, but a far cry from the desolation, bleakness, and doom that dark ambient fans have come to expect from a certain segment of releases in the genre. Wisps of ethereal melody fill the air, bringing to mind one reviewer’s alluring description of the album as “cathedrals of sacred drones.” If you’re among those who might appreciate the sort of dark ambient music that evokes imagery of dark processionals or a cloister walk in a monastery, look no further.

9. Gydja - Umbilicus Maris
   Abby Helasdottir delivers dreamlike, mesmerising dark atmospheres of sonic ebb and flow where acquatic themes abound. Dense soundscapes billow forth, offering a paean to the elemental spirits and mysterious creatures of the deep earth and waters. My favourite Gydja album! Listen, and immerse yourself.

10. Keosz - Be Left to Oneself
    Gorgeous deep drones and bone-thrumming low bass from Slovakia that fuels my creative process beautifully - I've filed this one under "deep writing music."

11. Hyios - Consuetudines
    Intense and otherworldly, yet every bit as earthy and terrestrial as if it had been forged in a series of field recordings in labyrinthine underground passageways. This vivid collection of cold ritual drones dredges up visions of stalactite-draped sanctuaries and dark hidden caverns. Bonus points for originality: I’ve heard nothing else in the genre that I’d say is truly comparable to this.

12. Mulm - The End of Greatness
    Much more down-to-earth and accessible than standard genre conventions of dark ambient might suggest. There’s a timeless quality here, too: I predict that the album will still sound just as fresh in 15 or 20 years, and I’ll still be enjoying its company as if it were a beloved old friend – the same way I do with such dark ambient classics as Ulf Söderberg’s Nattljus or Apoptose’s glacial ambient masterpiece Nordland. Recommended even for those with only a passing interest in the genre.

13. Sinke Dûs - Akrasia
    Delivers a richness and vulnerability that eludes lesser artists in the genre. Lönebrink is a master at using complex soundscapes to reveal the stark but undeniable beauty and pathos that lurks within the folds of the cold, bleak, and solemn.

(Capsule reviews lifted from my Bandcamp fan page.)

Q: What are some of the established labels that release mostly or entirely dark ambient music?

A: Here are five to get you started: Winter-Light (Netherlands), Cyclic Law (Germany), Cryo Chamber (US), Loki-Foundation (Germany), and Shortwave Transmission (Germany). Click on the logo to visit the Bandcamp pages of each one.

By no means is this an exhaustive list; there are plenty of other good labels. But these should keep a newcomer busy for awhile.

This guide is intended to serve as a conversation-starter rather than a definitive outline. What else would you like to know about this music? What are your impressions of the labels and albums I recommended above?

I may expand this format into a series of beginners’ quick-start guides or outlines addressing history, subgenres, themes, top-ten polls from other listeners, discographies of selected artists (e.g., “A Beginner’s Guide to Herbst9”) and more.

Nit-picking from fellow dark ambient nerds is also encouraged. How would you introduce newcomers to the genre? What do you recommend as a starter list of albums? Do tell!

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