Zguba - Znój (2022)

After releasing his second album Potwarz two years ago (and winning my personal title of the best ambient release of the year), the artist known as Zguba ("Loss") comes back with another dark masterpiece. And Znój ("Drudgery") should be praised even more as it is supposed to be the final good bye with the moniker of Zguba.

It should be obvious by now that this project means darkness, depression and utter melancholy - emotions that are only empowered by the extremely gloomy track titles (here we can find "The Abyss", "The Swelling" and "The Ordeal" among others). But Zguba's characteristic trait is that he is able to convey it while creating very airy and ethereal music. Be it the use of backing choir vocals (as in Łaska ("Grace")) or synthesizers, this is fantastic means that adds tons of the sacral vibes and makes the listener relish the gloomy and the dark ambiance. I am very sorry that the project is not going further from here but I'll look out for anything that comes from the artist's side anyway.

Znój costs 6.5 EUR (30 PLN).

Zguba - Potwarz (2019)

Check: Łaska 

Country: Poland

Genre: dark dream ambient

Label: LOŻA Oficyna

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ANDER - .​.​. Potrwa Wiecznie (2021)

Ander (or ArosAnder in some places) is an ambient producer based in the northern Poland. He released a handful of albums already, although the label states that this is his second one after a well-received Smu†ek ("Sadness") from 2016. In any case, the new, massive album ...Potrwa wiecznie ("...It Will Last Forever") strikes with the dark atmosphere and the ability to create engaging ambient compositions.

The albums is said to consist of "short, slightly song-like forms with a slightly melancholic and oneiric overtone". It is opened with very airy choir in Błogosławienstwo ("Blessing") and follows with dark ambient with, indeed, some dreamy parts. But in fact, almost every track here has a different flavour to it, like the cosmic disco vibes in Zgłuchłe echa ("Deafened Echoes"), neoclassical elements in Tunel samotności ("The Tunnel of Loneliness") or the spoken-word-heavy Śmierć Samuela ("The Death of Samuel"). Apart from this eclectic approach to dark ambient, the thing that immediately caught my attention is the list of guests who appear on the album, including first and foremost one of my favourite Polish ambient artists Zguba (in the pretty industrial Każdy dzień w noc przechodzi ("Every Day Turns Into Night"), but also the German artists Martin Neuhold and EISENLAGER. The album is long and diverse but it works as a whole and I can appreciate that.

.​.​. Potrwa Wiecznie costs 7 EUR.

Check: Każdy dzień w noc przechodzi

Country: Poland

Genre: eclectic dark ambient

Label: Zoharum

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Zguba - Potwarz (2019) EN

Zguba is a Polish artist residing in Bulgaria. This fact alone makes it already interesting. But there's more, he creates a great quality neoclassical ambient. You have to listen to it on his second album called Potwarz.

The album was released by the Polish Opus Elefantum Collective and you have to admit that the label is present all over it with guest appearing Foghornu, or Tomasz Turski (who also released an album not long ago) and Maciej Jurga (known from Vysoké Čelo) who created the cover art. The artist's music offers a lot of good stuff: beautiful instruments, slow and climatic pace, experiment and mystery in Raróg and finally also aggressive and industrial vibes of the title track Potwarz. And although the music here is mostly reflexive, there's no way to get bored listening to the album. Especially during the closing track Szlam.

Potwarz costs 3 EUR.

Check: Szlam

Country: Poland/Bulgaria

Genre: ambient neoclassical

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Zguba - Potwarz (2019) PL

Zguba to polski artysta rezydujący w Bułgarii. Już samo to jest interesujące. A dodajmy, ze tworzy znakomitej jakości neoklasyczny ambient i więcej nie trzeba. Trzeba za to posłuchać jego drugiej płyty zatytułowanej Potwarz.

Płytę wydało Opus Elefantum Collective i trzeba przyznać, że wytwórnia obecna jest na płycie bardzo mocno w postaci Foghornu, czyli Tomasza Turskiego (też niedawno wydał nową płytę) i Macieja Jurgi (znanego z Vysoké Čelo), który stworzył okładkę. W muzyce artysty jest wiele dobrego: piękne instrumentarium, powolne, klimatyczne tempo, eksperyment i zagadkowość w Rarogu, a w końcu też agresywną, industrialną oprawę w tytułowej Potwarzy. Mimo, że jest to muzyka raczej skłaniająca do refleksji, nie sposób się przy niej nudzić. Zwłaszcza przy zamykajacym całość Szlamie.

Potwarz kosztuje 13 złotych (3 EUR).

Sprawdź: Szlam

Kraj: Polska/Bułgaria

Szufladka: ambient neoclassical

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