The debut album from Bestia Astrum (aka Abby Helasdottir / GYDJA) is a grim exploration of Fury 161, the prison planet from the movie Alien³. An industrial ambient travelogue of the spaces in the planet's dark and rusty facility, beginning on a wind-swept shore and ending in the eternal repose of stony sleep.

More than just an alternate soundtrack to a film, "Fury 161" takes cues from the long and troubled production of Alien³, incorporating themes from earlier concepts proposed during its development hell, including the treatment created by Vincent Ward, who imagined the movie's location as a wooden planet that was home to an order of space monks.

Motifs of eremitic religiosity permeate the album, as well as themes of Yeatsian apocalypticism, abject anatomy, and the intersection between the sacred and the profane, betwixt the beautiful and the grotesque.

Full colour matt-laminate digipak with gold spot colour, accompanied by a 16-page booklet with an essay by Abby Helasdottir.

Track listing:

1. The Blood-Dimmed Tide Is Loosed (9:27)
2. And What Rough Beast, Its Hour Come Round At Last (7:59)
3. Surely Some Revelation Is At Hand (8:02)
4. A Gaze Blank And Pitiless As The Sun (8:47)
5. The Ceremony Of Innocence Is Drowned (6:44)
6. The Darkness Drops Again (10:35)
7. Twenty Centuries Of Stony Sleep (5:03)









REVIEWS:

"A deep and meticulously crafted composition that drifts between Dark-Ambient and Cinematic soundscapes. Helasdottir employs an impressive array of field recordings, blending them seamlessly with layered effects and brooding low-end textures. The tracks unfold gradually, creating a rich sonic tapestry...the eerie atmosphere produces a strikingly visual effect. A compelling debut, and hopefully just the beginning of more to come" (8/10, Side-Line).

"This grim, industrial-ambient work captures the darkness and isolation at the heart of [Alien³] and allows its expanse to envelop the listener and further foster their terror. Cold and impersonal, Fury 161 is a gem that easily transports you away in time and space, so listen loudly and enjoy the trip... reverb laden swells speak to the vastness of space, and because of this, one's isolation if pointed inward. There is an industrial feel to many of the sounds, the sharp, metallic edge that glints slightly, sounds gilded in steel. Restrained and not an assault, Fury 161 leaves it to the listener to explore beyond what is presented and find whatever terrors await inside... Spacey, dark, and wonderfully enigmatic, Bestia Astrum's Fury 161 is an excellent work that only gets better with each successive listen" (4/5, Musique Machine)

"Field recordings, strips of metal percussion and electronics, all abundantly used along with the extensive use of reverb. Every piece is drenched in it, which helps the music's unsettling and apocalyptic character... church bells, vessels at the bottom of the ocean, all rusty and slowly scraped... Sometimes there is some creepy voice stuff, which scared the hell out of me the first time I played this. It's stuff I love very much. And, because this is not an original soundtrack, the pieces have a proper length and don't sound like promising excerpts, as many soundtrack albums do. Great stuff" (Vital Weekly).

"A multi-talented artist when it comes to visuals and the aural side... industrial elements which keep a rather machine-like approach to the music, it reminds me of Inade... When you're thinking Industrial, this is in the context of ambience / instrumental music. If you're looking for a haunting atmosphere, much like 'Nostromo' [Sleep Research Facility], this is about 'where is that clang coming from... what's beyond that abandoned place'. Fury 161 is expanded take on the whole atmosphere of the film... a solid album" (Rauta)

"When dark ambient meets Alien/s, I'm in heaven. This sounds right up my xenomorphic alley" (Horrorwords)

"Bestia Astrum debutan con una impactante demostración de dark ambient maravillosamente ejecutada. Siete cortes que logran subsumirnos en contextos fríos y futuristas enclaustrados entre la tensión y el peligro extraterrestre... Fury 161 destella por su impactante producción y planteamiento; una colección de paisajes sonoros de factura lúgubre confeccionados a través de grabaciones de campo y recursos electrónicos proferidos por distintos tipos de sintetizador... El disco encandila por su plasticidad sonora, la inagotable cartera de registros acústicos y las angulosidades y yuxtaposiciones de efectos que en él se trabajan... dotándolo de un magnetismo inigualable que lo hace estar a la altura de proyectos como Sabled Sun, John Watermann o Lustmord.... a increíble album" (NOmelody)

"Una potente atmósfera sonora... dark ambient, y con planos sonoros industriales dar solidez y dimensión a su siniestro escenario... Profundamente inmersivo, [se] hunde más profundamente en el infierno mientras fuerzas colosales se despliegan sin límites, provocando tensiones poderosas en este escenario cada vez más oscuro y demoníaco. Hasta la presencia del sonido del metal siendo afilado no hará más que incrementar la inquietud... una dimensión musical grandiosa, mostrando una escala de planos sonoros que les provocará un profundo impacto sensorial. Colosal!!! Pura magia sonora de corte siniestro en su belleza, y que les llevará al espacio musical más hipnótico y cautivador de esta magna obra... un apasionante álbum de debut" (Lux Atenea)

"Lavoro di eccellente compattezza d'insie-me, prodigo di suggestioni, field recordings, striature metalliche, riverberi e stratificazioni, con dialoghi dal film che spesso compaiono come guado tra i singoli brani in una magmatica dark ambient dalla potente descrittività sci-fi che ha tonalità chiaramente lu-stmordiane nei due frangenti più estesi…" (Blow-Up)

"De muziek sist als een overdrukventiel dat lugubere en claustrofobische klankcondensatiedampen uitspuwt. Helasdottir haakt heel wat industriële echo’s van roestige machinale bewegingen, sijpelend water, schurende wind en obscure gespreksopnames in haar dreigende achtergronddrones. De sfeer op Fury 161 is mysterieus, verstikkend en licht etherisch gekruid. Fury 161 is een waardige alternatieve soundtrack met een sterk hypnotisch vergeetputgevoel waar de deemstering meester is. De realiteitsgewaarwording om verzwolgen te worden in de spookachtige occulte dimensie bij het beluisteren van Fury 161 is zeer accuraat" (Luminous Dash)

"Bestia Astrum musika lisch nicht gerade auf der Sonnenseite Justwandelt... Grundsätzlich setzt Helasdottir diese auditive Planetenbe gehung mit sphärischen Dark Ambient Flächen um. Es tauscht und zischt, fer-nes Dunnen dröhnt aus den Boxen. Die Drones überlagen sich und lassen ein Gefühl der Beklemmung in einem auf steigen. Man muss den Film nicht gese hen haben, um Fury 361 zu verstehen, aber man kann anhand der Klänge er ahnen, weiche Ideen Abby am dritten Teil der Alien-Saga faszinieren" (Orkus)

"Karg, trostlos, windgepeitscht. So wird der Planetoid Fiorina Fury 161 beschrieben, der als Mineralienraffinerie und Strafplanet genutzt wird. Mit seiner lebensfeindlichen Atmosphäre wurde er als Endzeitkulisse Endzeitkl für den Film Alien... Diese faszinierende Stimmung fangen Bestia Astrum nun in ihrem Debütalbum ein. Brechande Wellen und tropfendes Wasser untermalen düstere, verstörende Klangflächen Dazu ein immerwährender, sandiger Wind der an den alten Industrieanlagen nogt. Eine wahrhaft einzigartige Expedition in die dunklen Welten des Alls" (Sonic Seducer)

"Musik dieser Art lässt sich allgemein gut mit Horror- oder Science-Fiction-Filmen verbinden... äußerst stimmungsvoll ist die Scheibe definitiv, wer mit Dark Ambient was anfangen kann, liegt goldrichtig" (Die Zukunft)