NETHERWORLD – VANISHING LANDS 
Vanishing Lands is released in May 2022, and while I am writing this it is extremely warm for the time of year. So it may be a challenge to ‘immerse yourself in the great north, lost in the darkness of winter nights’.
But it proves not to be that hard when listening to Vanishing Lands, which is released on Glacial Movement Records from Italy – of which Alexander (Netherworld) Tedeschi is also the label curator.
Tedeschi clearly has a fascination for the cold arctic north. But he is also worried about what is to happen to this landscape: ‘Around you, ice-covered volcanoes and endless white and silent expanses. Slowly all of this is fading, day after day, and unfortunately it is irreversible’.
The music on Vanishing Lands reflects these worries. By definition, it is dark atmospheric music picturing vast and cold expanses. But the dark and ominous music also has a melancholic beauty in it. It reflects the kind of isolation and coldness that you sometimes long for. Especially on days when the global warming can be literally felt.
KLOOB & ONASANDER – TEMPESTARII
More darkness from Daniel Fereira (Kloob) and Maurizio Landini (Onasander). Including another link to an icy cold winter: Tempestarii is released on the Winter-Light label.
Tempestarii were medieval weather magicians, ‘who claimed the power of controlling the winds by means of incantations. Dwelling amongst the common people these sorcerers possessed the power to raise or prevent storms and were capable of summoning up a storm to blight crops. […] Anyone reputed to be a weather-maker was the subject of respect, fear and hatred, dependent on the storms outcome.’
It’s easy to imagine the sorcery of these weather-makers with the sonic storms generated on this album: many of the track titles directly refer to storms. Storm Raising, Furious Dawn, Immissores Tempestatum (Injectors Of Storms) … The opening track title De Grandine Et Tonitruis (‘On Hail And Thunder) refers to the title of the treatise arguing against weather magic written by Agobard de Lyon ca. 816 (!).
It is a stormy trip back to medieval times. But with the climate getting more and more extreme, it could also be a trip to the future: to a time when we may desperately need a new generation of Tempestarii.