Wounded by my own blade
The sower & the sown
Birchwood
Knowledge to know is eye
Of wolf & flame
Torn of this
The sky is denied
A colony of bees, asunder
Black loon, white mountains

Runes and looms, the desolate energy spun by Ruhr Hunter, solo project of Chet W. Scott, is at once compelling as it is disturbing, interlacing brooding ambience, environmental recordings, and neofolk sinews into wefts that bring freshness to the fabric of dark ambient music. For the most part every instrument, every audio nuance, every echo is a natural distillation and the liner notes in the booklet disgorge the array of recorded sound; antique autoharp, ocean hiss sample, bowed psaltery, voice, boomerang, hammered dulcimer, just to mention a few.

The composite parts of Ruhr Hunter remain a haunting joy, from the - dare I say (and in a good way for those who remember the mournful echoic guitar) - Diablo-esque ambience of ‘Wounded by my own blade’ one is soon supplanted into the lull of mesmeric soundscapes where mutability glimmers a world while ever-changing palpable. The aural landscape is vibrant, metallic squeals keep pace to while tides of noise undertone the angular instrumentation that craves constant examination, striking oriental modes of disparate, free form melody unearth convergence where taken at individual assessment are seemingly from different ground. Never once is the listener droned into hypnosis, rather the undulation of elemental panoply musters a dream that the listener soon finds themselves irrevocably enraptured. While most dark ambient and experimental work shies from organic instruments, especially when multi-layered, Ruhr Hunter evokes innovative moods from non-electronica with surpassing results that will make you wonder why it is not more commonly employed in the genre. Clocking in at well over an hour "Torn of This" is well worth the space on any CD shelf.

The presentation of the album is sumptuous. Thick, gloss booklet and tray are replete with the oil paintings of Stephen Kasner, aged and sepia-toned exquisiteness. The four-paged booklet features all instruments used on each track.

NYR