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Source: Evening of Light Reviewer: O.S. Date: 01/07/2007 Review: “Life Toward Twilight is an American project by a man called Daniel Tuttle, aided by the synth works of Brent Nicholas and the (very sporadic) vocals of Elyse Reardon. This long album contains a mixture of dark ambient soundscapes, heavier neo-classical electronics, samples, and much more. This mixture is quite evenly distributed over the album, each song having a theme and intensity of its own. So, a few minutes might be filled with dark drones and effects, while the next few might blow you away with some heavy martial percussion or synth melodies. This might make the album less attractive to ambient purists, but all the more appealing to those who like an eclectic approach to dark electronics. I must say that I like this eclectic, varied approach, because it sets We waited for a subtle dawn apart from many other albums. It also heightens the estranging atmosphere that hangs around most of this material. You never know what strange sounds or melodies await you 'round the corner. It might be a sweet, slightly cinematic piano melody as at the end of "Years", or a cold industrial percussion session, such as "Might and Wrath". Some other personal favourites are the heavy "this peculiar phenomenon" and the deep drones of "Horbehutet" As others have remarked, this album partly came into being in a period where Daniel was under great personal stress, because is fiancée was mortally ill. But emotions seem wholly absent on this release, which is unforgivingly cold and harsh, rather than sad or mournful. In a way, this contributes to a solid dark atmosphere. On the other hand, I feel this material might have benefited from a bit more feeling, because it is very bleak, and in a distanciated way. But, I confess, this is a very personal feeling, and it should not deter you from trying out this very good release. This is a highly interesting free release for any lover of dark electronics. “ “I’ve been getting a lot of dark ambient stuff for review recently. Not that I’m complaining really, as it’s mostly all been pretty good stuff. It’s just an observation more than anything. This release by Life toward twilight fits into the dark ambient hole, but it is a much looser fit, which I have to say I appreciate, no matter how much I may dig the genre. “We waited for a subtle dawn” opens up with some dubious female operatic vocals, but after or a minute or two things begin to kick into full gear via groovy Venetian Snares style rapid fire symphonic melodies. While Life toward twilight don’t choose to combine their violas with breakbeats the way the snares do, they use a more traditional percussion base that is just as cool and dramatic. This style of dramatic neo-classical is only heavily represented on the first few tracks of the disc, which is a shame since it really rocks. The rest of the tracks are fucking rad too though, so it’s not too much of a let down, but I have to admit that the first 10 minutes of the cd are the highlight of it for me. There is a lot of sound covered here, from thickly textured digital dark ambient to more dense sounding early industrial noises, to somewhat tribal pounds here and there. The sense of drama is always retained in every piece, which is what makes
Life toward twilight pretty cool. I just hope in the future that the project embraces their neo-classical element more, because as awesome as this cd is already, I would be cumming all over the keys if they used their cellos more. As it is though, this is a pretty fucking cool cd full of nice and cold ominous vibes. Definitely recommended.” Life Toward Twilight is a post-industrial project from Detroit, started in 1999. They’ve appeared at Detroit’s Movement Festival (2004) and Slave Indvstries’ BodyHammer Festival (2000) as well as a few other one shot shows. Five CDs already, We Waited For a Subtle Dawn their latest. The existence of Daniel Tuttle’s previous project, Ogun’s Will, with seven years following in the current incarnation of LTT shows a definite capability with LTTs sound. Daniel’s music is matured, well crafted and certainly not amateurish by any stretch. Music on We Waited For a Subtle Dawn consists of well played neo-classical movements with touches of dark ambient and interesting arrangements. The subtle hidden voices in “Time”, she says mixed with the watery background makes for a ghostly effect that, while disturbing, I enjoy. Slight additions of ticking, breaking objects and such add a storyline to “Time,” she says that moves the track along an imaginary line of thought before it moves into a more computeresque frame of thought. Nicely done. The loping low tone sounds of “Time”, she points again is minimal but brilliant, growing slowly as we progress. Tracks like With Pins and Needles are pleasant, but breathe a darker pact towards you. This oozing darkness permeates most of the latter half of We Waited, sometimes with a natural bent and sometimes with a more industrial soundscape. Reluctant Memories of Conquest is one of the latter, a buzzing electronic signature that is only slightly modified by Daniel’s skilled hands. I love the use of tribal and classical drumming through In a Chalice Shape and the way it will grow into climaxes at various points through the piece, with the orchestration marching across the plains like an approaching army. Years is a disturbing piece, strange calls in the dark from fairies, goblins and wraiths. The overall result of We Waited For a Subtle Dawn is its skilled subtlety that tends to build and grow around you. Very well done, minimal with talent – Daniel’s quiet manipulations of the otherwise simple pieces show his prowess at letting his music retain a natural feel most of the time with a languid background style. Even the industrial pieces have an “as-is” natural status to them that he only touches with slight movements of sound. Much of the material on this album was originally recorded two years ago, but Life Toward Twilight composer Daniel Tuttle has re-released it with additional material after a long hiatus, during which he cared for his fiancée, who was dying of cancer. Given the circumstances behind this release, it's immediately striking how unsentimental even the new material is. Rather than focusing on emotional reactions, Tuttle's work seems to be a meditation on mortality itself, replete with clashing cymbals, martial drumbeats, and orchestral strings that call to mind the Darwinian hymns of Boyd Rice and Albin Julius. Though there are quieter moments, like the operatic vocal interludes of "Eclipse II" or the lovely nocturnal soundscape of "'Time,' She Says," these softer elements are ultimately overwhelmed by the clashing steel and industrial clatter of "This Peculiar Phenomenon," the thunderous timpani of "Might And Wrath," and the and the dark bombast of "'Time,' She Points Again." Even "Nightmares Away From The Moon," which begins so subtly with distant conversations and eerie, languid pianos, eventually builds into a cacophonous crescendo, this time conjuring a grim Oriental exoticism with wailing Tibetan horns. Perhaps the future will see Tuttle exploring grief and melancholy, but the militaristic ambiance of this release seems starkly unforgiving of such sentiments. In any case, this work is grandiose in its coldness, and fans of such acts as Desiderii Marginis have no excuse not to check it out now that Tuttle has made the entire album available as a free download from the Life Toward Twilight website. Usually, I’m not really a fan of ambient releases, but once in a while there is this release that suits me just fine. In the past it has been In The Nursery’s Asphalt and the stuff Desiderii Marginis released. Now, there’s Life Toward Twilight with We Waited For A Subtle Dawn. Life Toward Twilight is the project of Daniel Tuttle, who founded it in 1999. Even though he released five CD’s already, Life Toward Twilight is still without a label. Because of this, four of the five releases are fully available for download. The music of Life Toward Twilight is very different per release. D+B features some of the hardest power electronics while We Waited For A Subtle Dawn is very calm. It starts off with female vocals, not singing anything really. Very clear and enjoyable. Then the first song gets even more neoclassical elements, with long synth sounds and a drum. Near the middle of the track we shift into something different again, as now we’re listening to a restless synth solo with some weird human sounds in the background. As the end is coming, a climax pounds in your ears, leaving you as quickly as it came. Not really what I would call A Subtle Dawn, but it’s very enjoyable to listen. As the clock ticks on, the songs drift by. Flowing from one musical style into the other, the songs alternate each other without really clear separation. The end of one tune is preceded by the beginning of the next. The whole release doesn’t really consist of tracks. Instead, it’s a 65-minute journey through your own mind, where your thoughts will be influenced by the music you’ll listen to. Don’t be surprised when you think something twice in those 65 minutes, as some songs feature some of the same sounds. This is not at all disturbing, as the sounds are always just a tad different, and always accompanied by other soundscapes. The only really strange thing on this release is the final 2-minute song; War. It does not really fit the rest of the release, as we’re listening to a speech of someone that is accompanied with some soundscapes. It might just be my single point of criticism, that War is just a wrong track on this high standard release. The strange mixture of ambient soundscapes with martial and neoclassical elements turns out to be really enjoyable. Further more, I’d like to thank Daniel for his very nice promotional material and of course the nice words he wrote on the back of it. I enjoyed your music Daniel, hope you’ve enjoyed this review. This is Martial neoclassical industrial music on the level of projects like Sophia, Pussiance, Von Thronsdal and Lucisferrato. Lush string arrangements, Very snare and floor tom driven percussion and dark and eerie sound scapes with elements of nature thrown in. I'm not sure if "life towards twilight" is looking to stay unsigned and release there music themselves as this material could easily find a label and do very well in the scene they seem to have studied very well. The production is top notch and I can see myself listening to this release often. If you have not heard "life toward twilight" what are you waiting for. This is for the desolate soul in each and every one of us. It's time again to support the indie artist that is looking for exposure on there own terms. The Detroit, Michigan based band, Life Toward Twilight has been going at it since 1999 when Daniel Tuttle (the driving force behind LTT) established the project and began to fully focus on it in 2000, after leaving Ogun’s Will. LTT music drifts between neo classical, martial symphonic, ambient, noise, and experimental like music all flowing together as one long song, but kindly broken up into fifteen shorter pieces. Joining Daniel is Elyse who adds her angelic female voice to the recording and also Brent who worked on a lot of synth and noise textures found throughout the recording. Before even getting to the review of this album I have to first say that Daniel is one courageous man. Last year his fiancée’ lost her battle to cancer, and obviously this has had an enormous effect on Daniel’s life. I must admit I’m proud of the fact that he was able to continue on with the project after such a tragic loss. Hang in there Daniel, were rooting for ya! He also mentions on the LTT website that this event will have a big effect on future material. So it should be interesting to see where this project goes. Anyway as previously mentioned LTT is a variety of genres sometimes co-existing and sometimes riding it out on there own. The whole album generally takes on a very dark intimidating sensation, but also sometimes sounding more bombastic like with subtle keys and military percussion. The ambient pieces generally show a dark empty heartbroken side and when things become a bit noisier we get to her the frustration and confusion within. There are also a few moments where delicate piano sounds enter into the chaos of the nosier songs. Elyse’s female vocals are scattered about the album, and are well placed, but I wouldn’t have minded hearing them a bit more. There are also some voice samples that add further depth to the recording, and the interplay between the different genres on tracks like ‘Eclipse II’ is rather remarkable. I’m probably missing something, but case in point though, this album is great! There’s droning ambiance, melodic ambiance, neo classical elements, military percussion, harsh noisy industrial sounds, and all other kinds of experimental tendencies fusing together to form one fine album called ‘We Waited for a Subtle Dawn.’ To make the album even better you can download it completely free from the bands website, which I would highly recommend to fans of music from the Cold Meat, Eibon, Steinklang, and Cyclic Law labels. Stirring and daring dark ambient pieces that stare into your body and reach for your soul, Detroit’s Life Toward Twilight hopes to show you that noise and abstract collage can be collated in such a way that it becomes a new brand of future music never before dreamed. Soundscape aficionados will salivate over this tantalizing and marvelous piece of audible art. Neo-classical formations that are carved neatly alongside ambient pieces and post-industrial clang make “We Waited For a Subtle Dawn” one of the more intriguing albums I’ve heard in a while. “Detroit USA. A place that musically will forever be in my heart. The motor city that gave birth to the original Gods of War: The Stooges, The MC5, Alice Cooper and Ted (if it breaths I’ll kill it) Nugent. Which shows my age somewhat but what the hell. Those acts defined the whole motor city ethos. Play it loud and mean and don’t give a fuck whilst you’re doing it. From 1969 to the early 70’s those acts were my heroes one and all. Then it turned to shit. The Stooges and The MC5 crashed and burned in spectacular fashion. Alice and Ted lost their way and have never recovered. But hark. There’s a new sound emerging from Detroit. A sound that is just as evocative as those past wizened old warriors. A sound built on the landscape of a city forever divided by Industrial wealth and poverty. A sound as barren and desolate as the crumbling vacant buildings and parking lots. A sound created for the now and for the future. A post Industrial act rising from the flames of normal ‘rock’ to spread the message that not all music needs to be clothed in guitar laden feedback and fancy costumes to be representative of the culture of the area. For I give you… Life Toward Twilight… the new (ish) kids (kind of) on the block. Detroit city rocks once more… only to a different type of tune this time around. Life Toward Twilight was formed way back in 1999. The work, mainly, of Daniel Tuttle "We waited for a subtle dawn" is the fifth release under this name. Also contributing on this release are the vocal talents of Elyse and Brent Nicholas who contributed the noise textures. The 15 tracks on this release moves within the musical spheres of neo-classical, martial, power electronics and dark ambience music with (and this is only my view) a little electronic experimental attitude thrown in for good measure. Which I have no grounds to complain about when its this good. So here’s what I like about this release. The positives if you will: Elyse sounds just like Lisa Gerrard from cult act Dead Can Dance. Daniel’s impeccable knack of creating diverse and highly satisfying sound sculptures that go from the light and euphoric to the dense and highly impenetrable but without being too intrusive or unapproachable. The strident (a good word sometimes overused but applicable here) orchestrations. The sparingly used samples that add depth to the pieces. The way it all hangs together as a recording moving stylishly between genres throughout. The dynamics that are thrust into play occasionally are quite sublimely glorious at times. The ingenious little touches that Brent introduces giving the music a greater focused resonance. That its not afraid to take chances and can be challenging in places only heightening the whole aural experience. Take risks I say. Play with fire occasionally. All pyromaniacs can’t be wrong surely? Out of the 15 tracks I was never bored once or felt inclined to hit the FFW button. In fact I found every track sustained my interest throughout. It’s FREE. Well free to download anyway. Which I guess is the way to go nowadays but isn’t for everyone. I’m not keen on the whole download ‘thang’ but if it gets more people involved in this skilfully crafted music then who am I to bitch. Try before you buy. Works for car sales so why not here? There you have it. ‘"We waited for a subtle dawn" is a highly creative and imaginative release that puts Detroit firmly back on the musical map. Taking post Industrial music onto another higher level was never going to be an easy task but Daniel, with this ongoing project, is going about in the right way. And in case you’re wondering… sorry but there are no negatives. "We waited for a subtle dawn" is beyond reproach in that respect. A stylised musical vision that took me unawares in the best way possible. The artwork on the album gives you a good idea of what the music will be like. The artwork would be at home on a Cold Meat Industry release. The photography for the release was done by Laura Frances Purdy, the recently deceased fiancée of the main person behind the project, Daniel Tuttle. Tracks flow into one another, providing a sense of coherence throughout. This is like a soundtrack for your mind. Elements of dark ambient, neoclassical, and noise flow together. Sometimes the shifts are a bit jarring though, for example, when flowing ambience abruptly shifts to staccato strings in “‘Time,’ she points again.” Some high points on this album include: “‘Time,’ she says,” which has nice elements of ambience and noise with a ticking clock in the middle of it all. “This Peculiar Phenomenon,” which combines crushing metallic beats with strings, synth pads, and spoken word samples. “Eclipse II” combines operatic female voice with noise to create a nice sense of discordance. “A Tide, Confusion” layers drones over audible, but barely decipherable voices. “Reluctant Memories of Conquest” is good dark ambient that reminded me of Lustmord’s album “The Monstrous Soul.” The best part about this album is that you can have it for free by downloading it from their website, complete with cover art. And it is well worth downloading. This is a good mixture of sound, not quite noise, but not quite ambient. Highly recommended. |
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