LLYN Y CWN - 'Twll Du'



CSR254CD (10 June 2019)
CD in 6-panel digipak
Barcode: 0641871745371



Twll Du ('Black Hole') is an ominous dark ambient journey through vast atmospheric landscapes. Each beautifully crafted opus is based on a bespoke field recording and is named after an area of Cwm Idwal, home of the Twll Du. Swelling, monolithic drones reveal the majestic power of the mountains. The music conveys an immersive atmosphere and is intended to be played as the listener falls into a deep sleep.

Llyn Y Cwn ('Lake Of The Dogs) is a small lake at 715m in the Glyder mountain range of Snowdonia, North Wales. The Devil's Kitchen is the name given to the dark, black crack which splits the rock of Clogwyn y Geifr ('Cliff Of The Goat') between Y Garn and Glyder Fawr. The Welsh name for Devil's Kitchen is Twll Du, meaning 'black hole', because of the plume of steam that is often seen rising from the crack resembling a chimney. It's said when steam can be seen rising from the chimney, the Devil is cooking.

File next to fellow Welshman Lustmord.

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

Track listing:

1. Gribin (7:25)
2. Twll Du (11:05) 3
. Cwm Cneifion (6:15)
4. Y Garn (7:10)
5. Glyder Fawr (8:20)
6. Cwm Bochlwyd (5:12)
7. Castell y Gwynt (10:01)



Reviews:

**Pick Of The Week (Avant Music News)**

"Twll Du takes its name from the Welsh for "black hole" and features seven ambient soundscapes that thrill and terrify in equal measure. So while the groan of 'Cwm Cneifion' sounds like the Earth splitting open, 'Glyder Fawr' is like a tsunami tearing up all it washes over' Not for the faint-hearted" (Electronic Sound)

"...fifty-five minutes are filled with some damn fine dark ambient music... Llyn Y Cwn follows the path that Lustmord once set out in the world of massive dark ambient in a very similar way... It is altogether pretty effective immersive music; play this loud and you will have difficulty not drowning in the music... it sounds well produced (meaning there is also attention for detail; it is not just a massive sound) and is a fine work" (Vital Weekly)

"...the seven snapshots in sound of lonely and isolated places invested with powers and atmospheres beyond words on Twll Du (Black Hole) ring absolutely true... [a] stark beauty of an album – best heard on headphones in a dark room whilst lying down on something extremely comfortable and with closed eyes. Magnificent." (1208 North Fuller Ave Apt 1)

"Invoking either primeval landscapes or outer space, these deep drones somehow manage to be both utterly overwhelming and suitable for background listening depending on your volume level... ponderous drones and washes over rumbling that resembles a distant thunderstorm or the destruction of a star... Twll Du is a compelling slab of dark ambiance recommended for fans of Lustmord in particular". (Avant Music News)

"...an inhibited noisy soundscape where overwhelming sound waves are supporting the space... It has been transposed into an overwhelming production. The sound waves are heavy featuring an interesting and accessible controlled noise element. The sound has something nihilistic, like bringing the image of nature alive, but it also has something desolate. As a human being you just feel like a little particle absorbed by the greatness and silence of nature... a fascinating experience, which according to me belongs to the best work of soundscape experiences"

"Throughout, the Devil’s Kitchen itself casts a dark shadow... Several tracks here are genuinely hellish... a bone-rattling gale that only grows in intensity... a quivering organ drone finds a gap through the clouds like a beam of light from a guardian angel, but its glow is soon snuffed out by the darker forces at work... a rush of skin-peeling steam so forceful it could well be blasting up from Satan’s cauldron... disembodied growls out of damp descending cloud. It represents the glory of the landscape well and is dangerously hypnotic" (Underscore)

"... this is a 100% pure drone record worthy of your suspended attention. Benjamin Ian Powell’s (Llyn Y Cwn) sound and imagery are impeccably desolate, with this sensibility that a raging core is central and pulsating. This black hole may lead some to bliss and others to cower to higher ground, though what is captured here is widely geological and encrusted with an ambient organic facade... By layering thick and thin layers of interminable drone the mystery is considerable, camouflaged in every shade of grey... If you simply want to kick back to a tweaking of your nerve endings this is most definitely one of the more somniferous records this season" (Toneshift)

"...it's very dark and very, very mysterious. Harsh and desolate but at the same time beautiful... It is intended to 'be played as the listener is going to sleep', but I’m not sure what kind of dreams this may yield... 'File next to fellow Welshman Lustmord'. It must be something in the water" (Ambientblog)

"This isn’t just a nature walk or cavernous excursion, but the suggestion of something much more sinister and profound is lurking just out of sensory reach through the minimal melodies that act like a guide throughout this journey... the ghostly atmosphere here is oppressive, like a thick tension in the air as one enters a haunted area... a very moody walk through the bowels of night, through foreboding landscapes.. Probably the best listening experience reading your favorite dark fantasy work by candlelight while this album throbs its magic through your headphones, or out for a walk through a mountainous landscape at night" (The Covenant)

""Twll Du" (Schwarzes Loch) ist ein gelungenes Stück finsterer Tonkunst, in welchem der Hörer weitläufige Landschaften durchschreitet und scheinbar endlos ansteigende Berge erklimmt... empfehle ich den Gebrauch von Ohrmuscheln, oder einen Ort der Stille, da sich die Feinheiten so am besten entfalten... Diese zu erkunden ist eine wahre Freude, und einmal tief in den innersten Kern von " Twll Du" gedrungen, so wird man dieses kleine Kunstwerk stolz in seiner Sammlung zu schätzen wissen." (9/10, Raben Report)

Selten seit der legendären LUSTMORD-Trias "Heresy", "The Monstrous Soul" und "The Place Where The Black Stars Hang" hat man es mit dermaßen dichten, monolithisch massiven, finster grollenden Klanglandschaften zu tun bekommen wie auf "Twll Du"; formvollendet und packend beschwört POWELL die karge, zerklüftete Urtümlichkeit und atmosphärische Weite der archaischen Gebirgslandschaft seiner Heimat, indem er endlose, extrem tiefgelegte Drones übereinanderschiebt, bis buchstäblich die Luft vibriert, um diese mit unregelmäßig an- und abschwellenden, geisterhaften Klängen und subtil eingearbeiteten Field Recordings zu kombinieren... eine uneingeschränkt enthusiasmierende Neuerscheinung, die jedem Dark-Ambient-Liebhaber... als lausche man tektonischen Plattenverschiebungen im endlosen Dunkel einer Polarnacht. (NONPOP)

"“Twll Du” logra recrear fielmente esa belleza sublime del entorno donde se funde lo arcano, lo intemporal, lo universal, y lo ancestral... Con un uso virtuoso del drone en estas composiciones, el gran talento artístico de Benjamin Ian Powell le ha servido para traducir este espectacular entorno natural al lenguaje musical y sonoro del estilo dark-ambient. Un carácter musical obscuro y magnético que logra transmitir su esencia ctónica con suma brillantez artística..." (Lux Atenea)

Benjamin Ian Powell passa tutto il tempo possibile fra le montagne... nei posti più freddi, isolati e remoti cattura quelle field recordings che vanno poi a costituire l'ossatura delle sue realizzazioni discografiche... Forte di una produzione di alto livello e di suoni abilmente rifiniti (complice il mastering curato dal veterano Martin Bowes), l'album riesce nel suo compito di evocare scenari ben precisi, delineando quell'avvolgente sensazione che solo chi ama i paesaggi montani e la loro infinita quiete ha imparato a conoscere ed amare, in quanto luoghi dove trovare la propria pace interiore" (Darkroom)