Frozen in Amber - NR 016 (2003)
Conjuring images of stricken women posing in ornate high-ceilinged rooms, the music of Amber Asylum could at first glance be written off as elevated gothic pretension. Certainly, there's preciousness to this neo-classical ambient (post) rock, but a refreshing emphasis on sonic discovery and unpredictability militates against temptingly shallow dismissals. Before the music, however, the facts: Amber Asylum are a San Francisco-based collective revolving around Kris Force and Jackie Perez Gratz, and Frozen in Amber is a re-issue of a 1996 record, with the addition of three bonus tracks. Dark and compelling, the music flirts with so many styles (impressionistic, romantic, cinematic, electronic, post-rock) that it manages to (safely) avoid swooning pre-Raphaelite clichés while (dangerously) skirting the other extreme of avant-garde self-indulgence. [more]
-David Antrobus (Pop Matters)
- Frozen in Amber Review by Nick Terry of Terrorizer [Read Review]
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