The fourth instalment of Angry Ambient Artists sees the series widen its scope with some raw rhythmic jams and horror score worthy instrumentals.

Conflux Coldwell and Tomonari Nozaki step up to cast the series wide net into a pool of tense ambience, dark drones and belting percussive numbers.

Conflux Coldwell was responsible for one of our favourite releases from the last few years, the exceptional hauntology register ‘AM’. While some of the methods and approaches that garnered ‘AM’ so much praise are evident here, the two new pieces see Michael draw from other wells as he not only ups the track durations but also the intensity of his productions.

‘Backwater’ opens things up with an industrial droner that spins around its own axis with warring percussive elements all underpinned with what could be read as a mantra like call to focus in the midst of the commotion.

‘Acathexis’ is exactly the sort of adventurous epic we were hoping to see line up in the AAA series. There are a whole host of moods and stages to the piece as it moves from icy atmospherics to shredding rhythmic sections, dark industrial movements and back out again to let the radio ghosts and dismembered voices have the final say as they mix it up with less of a percussive barrage trying to muscle its way onto their airwaves.

Tomonari Nozaki has produced and indeed made his name with some sublime pieces of tape hiss drenched ambience. While he is no stranger to dissonance and the warmer end of the noise spectrum these are probably his darkest pieces so far.

‘Blackout’ opens up the AA side with a booming drone that initially blankets the sharper frequencies before they are allowed to emerge along with the whirring tape rattles. It’s hard to get away from that word atmospheric as he conjures a dark landscape that could be applied to many scenes and situations in both the physical and digital realms.

Our first thought after learning the title ‘Deception Repeater’ was that it could be a Napalm Death track title! And while it doesn’t enter the same sonic terrain as the grindcore legends it’s scabrous in its own way as it fires its way through a convulsive three and a half minutes.

‘Sound Locator’ completes Tomonari’s latest three panel offering on Forwind with a more subtle offering. While it still wades in darker waters, it’s a more restrained piece that brings to mind the type of portent and foreboding notes we all love in a good horror flick. Tomonari’s dark side of a dark release still retains that level of melody and accessibility that has seen him win many admirers.