Beyond Sensory Experience - Number Theory

Darja Kazimira Unveils “Minotaur - Ananke”: A Sonic Journey Into Myth and Fate

Acclaimed artist Darja Kazimira in collaboration with Zura Makharadze presents her latest work, Minotaur - Ananke, a mesmerizing cycle of vocal-instrumental improvisations dedicated to the final days of the Minotaur’s life. This evocative release seeks to unearth the deeper essence of his existence and ultimate purpose, offering a bold reinterpretation of an ancient myth.

Far beyond the conventional retelling of the Minotaur as a mere monster slain by Theseus, Minotaur - Ananke reconstructs his narrative as one of profound ritualistic significance. Grandson of Helios, stepson of Minos—who judges the dead in the underworld—and brother to Ariadne, priestess of Dionysus, the Minotaur emerges as a Chthonic deity intertwined with the cosmic cycles of death and rebirth. His origins lie in the sacred yet grotesque union of Queen Pasiphae of Colchian descent and a sacrificial bull, a union steeped in mythic destiny.

Drawing from the philosophical insights of Aleksei Losev, Kazimira explores how the Minotaur’s legend, stripped of its original meaning, became a mere grotesque fable in popular consciousness. Yet, archaeological discoveries and ancient texts reveal a more profound image: one of a primordial being rooted in Zagreus, the elder Dionysus, and an intricate system of ritual theater, dance, and human sacrifice.

Like the classical cult of Dionysus, the Minotaur’s essence is his own death—a necessary passage toward transformation and divine rebirth. In Minotaur - Ananke, Kazimira reimagines this eternal cycle through a dynamic interplay of sound and voice, evoking the tension between chaos and fate. The pseudo-heroic act of Theseus becomes merely the final push toward an inevitable destiny. While the Minotaur transcends into a new divine form and Ariadne fulfills her priestly role, Theseus, having fled from the mystery, carries the weight of an unfulfilled fate. The Labyrinth becomes a living embodiment of fear and chaos—an unrelenting force shadowing all who turn away from the gaze of Dionysus.

With Minotaur - Ananke, Darja Kazimira crafts a visceral soundscape that echoes the depths of myth, history, and existential inevitability. This is not just an album; it is a ritual, an invocation, a reckoning with Ananke itself—the unbreakable thread of fate.

CD Edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve. 11 Tracks. Running Time 79:25

Darja Kazimira & Zura Makharadze - Another man with a sword, don_t try to be stronger than my Death - Excerpt

ANSIKTSLØS UNVEILS SIDEWORLDS – A HAUNTING DESCENT INTO LOSS, GRIEF, AND THE BEYOND

From the depths of solitude and the fringes of civilization emerges the latest release from Ansiktsløs, the project of R. Ikstelzok, also known for his work in Apocryphos and Psychomanteum. Forged in the shadows of the Pennsylvania wilderness, this album is a meditation on the final cycle of humanity, capturing the weight of solitude, erosion, and detachment from the modern world.

We are proud to bring forth Ansiktsløs, an enigmatic new entity from one of the dark ambient scene’s most respected artists. With a career spanning over a decade and releases on Malignant Records, Cryo Chamber, and Cyclic Law, this project carves a new sonic identity, one that merges the bleak atmospheres of black ambient with the raw abrasions of industrial noise, evoking the unfiltered spirit of classic 90s CMI-era darkness.

Ansiktsløs (Norwegian for “faceless”) is where this artist removes all trace of his regular persona and embraces an alter-ego named Ikstelzokr, a Nordic hermit who lives in dereliction. Channeled at Fear’s Altar during the cold embrace of Autumn and Winter 2022/2023, the album pulses with the breath of the void, featuring contributions from Matej Gyarfas (Phragments). Ikstelzok conjures soundscapes from circuit-bent machines, analog and semi-modular synthesis, bone horns, tape loops, and primitive percussion—yielding a raw, archaic sonic texture.

Sideworlds is a conceptual release where we are guided through the trials of Ikstelzokr as he copes with the suffering and inevitable death of his only companion. As the spirit passes through the ether, it enters what is believed to be a sideworld. Ikstelzokr desperately tries to communicate through a series of mirrors, believing them to be gateways. But as he steps beyond the reflection, he finds himself trapped, discovering that the last saeculum of humanity lingers in this mirrored existence after death. Once inside, the path back is forever sealed.

Spanning 82 minutes across two discs, Sideworlds is divided into two harrowing chapters:

	•	Disc 1: The suffering, loss, and grief of the mortal world.
	•	Disc 2: The infinitesimal, disorienting reality of the Sideworld.

Rejecting the polish and sterility often found in cinematic dark ambient, Sideworlds is drenched in grit, filtered through analog degradation and tape saturation. It is the journal of a reclusive hermit standing at the precipice of a dying world, observing the collapse of human cycles with weary detachment. A deeply immersive experience in the purest form of dark ambient and industrial dread, Sideworlds is an unrelenting meditation on mortality, solitude, and the echoes of those who have passed beyond.

Ansiktsløs sigil was created by Simon Heath.
Visual stimulus & design created by Alejandro Tegin (Heresie Studio)
Mastering by Frederic Arbour

Release Date March 28 2025

Ansiktsløs - Nightwatcher - Excerpt

SHIBALBA ANNOUNCES NEW RITUAL OPUS: “Nekrologie Sinistrae”

Greek Ritual Ambient emissaries Shibalba return with their most transcendent offering to date: “Nekrologie Sinistrae”, a ceremonial invocation birthed through the union of Cyclic Law Records and Zazen Sounds.

As the eternal Suns of Ma’at blaze through the inner sanctums of the self, “Nekrologie Sinistrae” leads the listener through the initiatic spiral—where torment, silence, and divine ecstasy converge. This is not merely an album, but a sacred odyssey—one that confronts the shadow of Thanatos and pierces it with the rose spear of Life Eternal.

In a vortex of esoteric vibrations and ceremonial soundscapes, Shibalba performs a magickal alchemy: dissolving the veil between life and death, and merging the metaphysical opposites of the Therion and the Knight. Here, Death and Life become lovers in a cosmic dance, spiraling toward the One King who reigns over both Moon and Sun.

This is music for the sacred rites of Becoming and Over-Becoming. A breath and a cry. A mirror of the agonizing beauty found in transcendent transformation.

CD Edition o 300 copies in 6 panel digisleeve, matte lamination. 9 Tracks. Running Time 49:46

Shibalba - Sinistra Praxis II - Excerpt

Vestigial Returns from the Abyss with New Album "Descending Vastness".

Italy’s Vestigial Breaks Years of Silence with a Hauntingly Cathartic Journey Into the Inner Void.

After years of dormancy, the enigmatic Italian project re-emerges with the long-awaited new album, a profound and immersive exploration of the human condition through sound. This album marks a visceral return to form, channeling the raw essence of inner torment and transcendence.

Though the project has remained largely silent, Vestigial has never truly ceased to exist. In moments when the spirit was haunted by helplessness, a spark of catharsis inevitably ignited. That spark has now coalesced into Descending Vastness—an atavistic, liberating chant echoing through the oppressive ruins of contemporary society. It is both a confrontation and a requiem, composed at the intersection of horror and serenity, destruction and renewal.

The album is a descent, a journey inward, into the deepest shadows of self and structure, where the grotesque and the sublime coexist. Yet within this vast inner descent lies a paradoxical glimpse of peace. That elusive serenity, always on the horizon, hints at an inevitable ascent: a transcendence beyond the constraints of human nature.

"Descending Vastness" is forged from fragments of time. Some tracks were written years ago; others have been reimagined, while many were reconstructed from remnants of vanished sessions. Despite, or because of, this fractured process, each composition stands as a vital part of the descent and a precursor to the ascent that follows.

Sonically, the album oscillates between moments of seraphic contemplation and devastating force. It is an immersive experience of contrasting extremes: ambient stillness disrupted by cataclysmic power, subtle textures giving way to monolithic intensity.

"Descending Vastness" is not merely an album, it is an invocation, a mirror, a ritual.

CD edition of 300 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve. 7 Tracks. Running Time 41:11

Vestigial - Set Sun To Flames - Excerpt

Vestigial Announces Long-Awaited CD Reissue of Cult Dark Ambient Debut "Translucent Communion".

An Ominous Classic from the Depths of Italy’s Underground Returns.

Italy’s shadowy sound architect Vestigial, the artistic alias of Peppe Ferrillo, announces the long-awaited CD reissue of his 2008 dark ambient debut, "Translucent Communion". A cult favorite in Italy’s experimental music scene and long out of print, this reissue brings back the bleak meditations and apocalyptic soundscapes that first established Ferrillo as a visionary voice in ambient music.

Translucent Communion carved its place in the genre with an approach that was subtle, textural, and deeply atmospheric. Unlike many of its peers, Vestigial’s debut refrained from relying on standard droning techniques or gothic theatrics. Instead, the album evoked vast, desolate landscapes, tectonic movements, boiling magma, and icy voids with restrained precision and haunting elegance.

Critics praised the album’s minimalist ethos and meditative power. Now, nearly two decades later, Translucent Communion returns to physical form, presented in a new CD edition with Ferrillo’s own updated design work, bleak, elegant, and deeply interconnected with the sonic content, reinforcing his identity not only as a musician but as a complete aesthetic auteur.

With a growing international appreciation for dark ambient and minimalist electronic music, this reissue offers both longtime fans and new listeners a chance to revisit (or discover) a defining work in Vestigial’s haunting catalogue, a debut that whispered of extinction, cosmic indifference, and what lingers in the silence beyond civilization.

CD edition of 200 copies in 6 panel Digisleeve. 6 Tracks. Running Time 47:20 EAN: 3770033798362


Vestigial - The Void - Excerpt

Beyond Sensory Experience (BSE) is a dark ambient music project created by Drakh and K. Meizter in Uppsala, Sweden 2001. After several releases on the cult labels Old Europa Cafe (Italy) and Cold Meat Industry (Sweden), BSE are now signed by the Canadian dark ambient specialists at Cyclic Law. Their latest release, Faint, was released in November 2013 and is the second outcome on Cyclic Law and BSE's 8th full-length album. 