AMBER ASYLUM
AmberAsylum is a filmic fusion of modern classical and post-rock, where arias and art songs meet in a pale field of electronic disturbance. Recognized for their contributions on albums from such luminaries as Neurosis, Swans, and Today Is The Day, AmberAsylum plumbs the crevasse between noise and beauty and thrives on the tension and balancing act between classical, post-rock and metal. Equally at home in the opera house or the smoky, raucous din of an underground metal show, AmberAsylum’s romantic, effect driven electric strings and traditional rock rhythm bed craft a sound that is progressive and uniquely their own.
“Amber Asylum: If Cradle of Filth have taught the world anything, it’s to never underestimate the appeal of beautiful women to a crowd of metal geeks. Sure, Japanese-born porn star Saki St. Jermaine was signing DVDs in the back, but here were four lovely ladies engaging in a dark fusion of neoclassical and somber gothic minimalism in the middle of the second day, on the big, brightly-lit Crash stage no less. Looks or no, Amber Asylum sculpted a mood in that sweaty hall more bleak and intense than many of the fest’s purveyors of comic book “evil,” born from a desolate yet firm-handed emotional space that sure felt like funereal doom metal if it didn’t sound like it. Percussive electric cello, tender and fierce electric violin sawing and a syrup-immersed rhythm section draped around sweet vocals for the perfect antidote to the cavalcade of pissed off males. Not that there’s anything objectionable about pissed off males at a metal festival, but Amber Asylum’s brief respite reminded the respectful crowd that there are many paths to one darkness.”
– Jeff Pizek, Milwaukee Metalfest XVI, CRC Pulse Magazine, Issue 12
AMBER ASYLUM
FROZEN IN AMBER
2003, NR016