LLYN Y CWN - 'Du Y Moroedd'

CD in 6-panel digipak
Barcode: 0641871745845





"Du Y Moroedd" (Welsh - the black of the sea) is an album of abyssal dark ambient - environmental soundscapes and atmospheres from above, below and beside the ocean; field recordings made onboard vessels at sea; sounds from submerged recording devices deep underwater; recordings from the coasts of North Wales to Greenland and the Arctic Ocean.

"The tracks were created onboard the RV Prince Madog whilst conducting research using multibeam sonar to locate, survey and identify shipwrecks from WW1. The multibeam sonar creates images of the seabed using acoustic reflections. It is quite an experience to watch the sonar reveal an unsurveyed wreck and be the first person to "see" the ship for over 100 years; the vessel sitting at the bottom of the ocean waiting in the dark to be discovered.

Research into the history of each wreck uncovers stories of boats torn in half by torpedoes and mines, U- boats hunted by destroyers and pummelled with depth charges. Many of these sites aren't just wrecks; they are mass war graves. The vital shipping channel to Liverpool passes the North Wales coast, the U boats would sit and wait; listening. When heard from under the water, each ship has its own unique acoustic signature based on the size of the engine, shape of the propeller, curve of the hull, these acoustic tell-tales were used by the U-boats to identify targets. The shipping lane became a shooting gallery of easy pickings and the submarines were able to slip away undetected into the black of the sea.

The album features recordings from the hull of RRS James Clark Ross whilst ploughing through ice fields off Greenland, from a "sound trap" attached to an anchor as it descended through 80m of water to the seabed, and sounds from onboard the RV Prince Madog with its pitched engine drone. There is also a recording of the bell at Trwyn Du lighthouse, Anglesey, that was made in August 2020, days before the bell was removed to be replaced with a modern fog horn - prior to this, the bell had rung every 30 seconds since 1922" (Benjamin Ian Powell).

File next to fellow Welshman Lustmord and Sleep Research Facility.

Presented in a 6-panel digipak with breathtaking photography by the artist.

Track listing:

1. Trwyn Du (4:49)
2. SS Apapa (6:34)
3. Adrift (4:46)
4. Submergence (5:09)
5. Du Y Moroedd (4:11)
6. The Hunt (5:02)
7. Descent (5:51)
8. The Skerries (3:52)
9. Erebus And Terror (5:12)
10. Stratigraphy (31:36)





Reviews:

"Ambient soundscapes that thrill and terrify in equal measure" (Electronic Sound Magazine).

"Benjamin Ian Powell’s solo project manages to take the layering of drones and waves one step further than simply browsing a library of sound; most of the original samples, from simple bells to the more obscure cracks and whirrs, were recorded at sea on ships around the world and then pieced together aboard the Research Vessel Prince Madog... The album is saturated with the sea, and with dreams of the sea... It’s hard not to think of immense black voids interspersed with flickering, acidic bioluminescence, and the occasional sense of something vast, silent, and ancient drifting by invisibly... Du Y Moroedd is certainly an excellent example of ambient done well; sound that can wash over you as much as it can immerse you in thought about its structure and intent" (The Sleeping Shaman)

"The music is a massive piece of dark ambient music and quite rightfully refers to fellow Welshman Lustmord. There is some massive dark space below the waves... There are cracks, ticks, hisses and more obscure sounds... Like a massive weight presses on your shoulders... you are afraid that it will all collapse... let it immerse you... I love the care of detail and the consistency put into this music" (Vital Weekly).

"Elements of their slow mutating atmospheres and textures share an affinity with dark ambient but it is the emphasis on field recordings and the environment which sets them apart and also distinguishes this as an impressive release of drone, drift and atmosphere... Hailing as they do from the same area as Lustmord, that dark ambient originator, I'd say that Llyn Y Cwn tend towards a more environment based sound. It is a sound much more site specific. The sense of location which in this case is the sea hangs heavy... an impressive album" (Compulsion Online)

"Was zunächst als weißes Rauschen erscheint, entpuppt sich bei genauerer Betrachtung als durchdachtes Konzeptalbum, das alles andere als oberflächlich ist.... Die daraus entstandene Melange aus Umgebungsgeräuschen, Sonaraufnahmen und Sensorsignalen fangen auf unglaubliche Weise das Zusammenspiel der Naturgewalten mit dem Mysterium der Tiefsee ein... Ein Erlebnis, das unter die Haut geht." (Orkus)

"Solemn ambient electronic music... Du Y Moroedd fills nearly an entire CD’s capacity with fearfully stark beatless isolationism, created from recordings made by Powell on the Prince Madog – a research ship that works in the Irish Sea – as well as samples of Greenland ice being sailed through and a vintage Anglesey lighthouse bell... a disc of deep listening with an involving concept." (Buzz Magazine)