Lustmord: Metavoid Lustmord: Metavoid (Nextera - 2001) After a prolonged silence, that master of definitive dark ambiance (and I don't mean that in a pigeonholing sort of way...!) arises again... while many of Lustmord's trademark tendencies remain, various spacey mutations have occured... evolving from horror of the grave to the terror of the unknown which fills Metavoid... Brian Williams is the soul (or lack thereof) of Lustmord; thanks to him for giving us an interview this month. Within The Ambivalent Abyss (12:14), dark symphonics converge with the sounds of mechorganic entities; sometimes submerged in a murky vacuum, othertimes free-falling upward into spacious darkness, slow string movements and alien chatter seem to swirl above a chasm of infinite depth. Toward the opener's conclusion, mutant speech fragments are sporadically transmitted into a semirhythmic stream. Beneath the soft tribalish beats and choral wafts of Blood Deep in Dread, a droning bullroarer (courtesy of Steve Roach) whirrs. Occasional rough spurts of electricity crackle through the mournfully majestic space-orchestral floes of The Eliminating Angel. Paul Haslinger contributes additional synthsounds to The Outer Shadow which casts its gleaming darkness upon a sweltering stew of ominous drums, choruses and chittering electronics. Stirring strings are stirred even more by thumping beats in the edgy thriller, A Light That is Darkness (4:54) It may not matter, but Insignificance closes the disc with a wavering strand echoing into an atmospheric expanse underscored by rumbly aftershocks. Less demonic and more symphonic than some of Lustmord's previous outings, Metavoid floats in an deceptively gentle darkness. Given that Williams works in filmsound, it's not surprising that these pieces sprawl like soundtracks to some Gothic-tinged science fiction epic, or perhaps the movie diary of some unsettled mind... or provide your own imagery when you surround yourself with these 8.4 expanses. Released on Nextera and distributed by/available from Dutch-East India. This review posted July 31, 2001 AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).