Paranoia Inducta - From the Depths

Paranoia Inducta might just be Poland's best kept secret when it comes to dark ambient and death industrial. Though his debut album Sanctified Destruction released via Beast of Prey in 2014, solo curator Anthony Armageddon Destroyer's project caught my attention when I listened to his 2014 album Maze of Death. I had no idea what I was getting into but when I walked away from my first session with Maze of Death I was completely in awe and my mind was shattered. It has been about three years since then and while I cannot say I have been craving new music from Paranoia Inducta as his previous album is universal and will last a lifetime, it was nice to hear that a new album from the project was available. 

From The Depths starts off with 'Desolation Zone' which easily conveyed a vast landscape of nothingness as I shut my eyes. The wind blew softly, old curtains and torn flags whispered in the winds, and the leftover chimes and hums from a world past shuttered beneath the soft organs and far off but echoing motions. From there the album moved to 'Today We Will All Die' whereupon soft cavernous ruffled pushed me through the opening, and soon I found myself accompanied by simple yet organic keys from a classical piano. Though beautiful in this nature, the ominous sounds lurking beneath the instrument left a sinister scent in the air.

If 'Today We Will All Die' was reminiscent of some horrible beast lurking in the background, 'Whispers And Cogs' delivered the message in a more thorough manner. As suggested by the title of the track soft, frantic whispers accompany a very faint martial beat and spaced out piano notes. The final moments of the song fade out with wind, the whispers now gone, with just me, myself, and I there to endure the emptiness. 

'And Soon The Darkness' brought about a drone like playing field, with deep hums creating a spacial feeling cliche to dark ambient music. Aside from a deep grumble and in and out stretches of horn, the song left a very ethereal mood. The next song on the list was also the title track of the album 'From the Depths'. In it martial drums, angelic humming, and choral vocals all gave way to an epic and sweeping sound. With a final stretch of voice, the epic sound escaped and I was once again left with ambiance and strange oddities. 

'The Noonday Demon' shows off Paranoia Inducta's death industrial influences. Sounding much darker than anything previous to the album, blasts of noise and static infiltrated my headphones as further whispered vocals came about. 'Sanctuary of Madness' brought about martial drumming, choral vocals, and even bells. Whether this album is attempting to incite a war between the forces of light and dark is unknown to me, but it certainly sounds like that is what From the Depths is meant to do. 

One of the shorter songs on the album 'Witchtrap' hit in next. The introduction was minimal using mainly a deep, beckoning voice. After the voice dies down, another sweeping orchestral piece came forth with clangs of metallic drums keeping in with the industrial and chaotic theme. 'I'm Just Pain' utilized static sounds and what sounded like the rotation of some big, monstrous ancient mechanism. The song was made complete with the horrid hums of someone near but so far off at the same time. 

'Children of Saturn' was a well intended song with gorgeous vocals, synths, and more odd noises. However, I feel as if the underlying drone note that served as the structure for the song was too loud, and too long to be upheld for the majority of the five minute song. 

'My Own Purgatory' came up next and the initial ritualistic vocals resonated a church like vibe. The glitches present in the music suggested otherwise, however, as the synths swept in and further uncanny noises flooded my ears I was left back in an arguably distant state. 

After a nightmarish intro where the narrator speaks of the 'Shadow People' on the twelfth track - who are dead but don't know it, yet whom the narrator can see - the sounds of the dead playing with one another and an oddly optimistic but curiosity inviting song played out. That is until the final moments of the song where the narrator comes back with his haunting dialogue.

The second to last song 'Near-Death Existence' brought the force of nature into play as water rushed and rain fell against the gorgeous piano notes. While somber in some senses, the song is also strikingly beautiful and I adore it. The final song on the album 'Locked-in Syndrome' may be one of the simplest songs on the album, but that is also swell. It left me not craving more, but content with what I had hear as well as eager to return to the album on another day. 

Anthony Armageddon Destroyer has created another vast and powerful album that pitted me in the heart of darkness itself, flew me across rivers of blight, and cast rain and shadows across my mind. Though dark and ominous throughout most of its run, From the Depths is also a fascinating execution of death industrial, dark ambient, and drone music. Sometimes epic, sometimes alluring, and sometimes sinister From the Depths is an album that marks another milestone in Paranoia Inducta's lifetime. 
Apr 21 2017