The Green Kingdom - Empyrean

Dronarivm: 2021

I want to start this review with a total cliche like “Empyrean is the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Green Kingdom's breakout album Harbor”, but there's little truth to that. If anything, the hottest track in his discography is that Untitled 2 from Expanses, released two years before Harbor. Not to mention he's released some half-dozen additional albums since then, so whatever hot anticipation there may have been in the wake of the Hotline Miami 2 exposure has surely subsided some. I certainly don't see any additional LPs keeping pace in his Last.fm scrobbling stats, though Egress seems to have done respectable numbers.

But nay, there's a singular, silly reason why I've sub-consciously built internal hype around Empyrean. After spending half a decade wandering about labels like Lost Tribe Sound, Sound Of Silence, Hidden Vibes, and Past Inside The Present, Mr. Cottone finally returned to the label that nurtured his initial claim-to-fame, Dronarivm. Okay, maybe not 'claim-to-fame', but it's where both Expanses and Harbor were released, so greatest exposure. Maybe. It could have just been incidental coincidence it worked out like that, and something off of Incidental Music instead could have been the Hotline Miami 2 breakout.

(Fun Fact: I actually dozed off while listening to Green Kingdom's Springhill on Deezer, after which the streaming service spent the next seven hours playing music from other artists like Com Truise, Pilotpriest, Zombie Hyperdrive, Magic Sword... and Untitled 2 *ten* times! No wonder that track's got a tonne of streaming plays)

Anyhow, Empyrean is a little different compared to previous Green Kingdom Dronarivm outings, in that there's greater emphasis on piano rather than the usual assortment of acoustic guitar and sound-sample manipulations. I'm not sure whether Michael's gone this route in the past – he's got a lot of albums to sift through, after all. It wouldn't surprise me though, if more inclusion of the ol' ivories has been a recent development in his repertoire. Just like every dance music producer eventually turns to house or techno, every ambient producer eventually turns to modern classical, or minimalist piano at least.

And we're right off into the gentle piano with slide guitar ambience and crackly effects with opening Opalescent, a track that's all but guaranteed to get your Budd & Eno triggers flaring. Sun Tail gets back to the acoustic strumming, while Shinrin-yoku mixes the two up as a something of a duet. And speaking of Harold, Michael dedicates the mid-track Pavilion to him, a tune that I cannot deny, has me getting the weepy feels. It honestly takes me a bit to emotionally recover from that as the album plays out, but fortunately closer Another Sky does the trick with its angelic pads and ethereal guitar strums.

Yeah, Empyrean totally has a 'drifting among the clouds, basking in the filaments of heaven' vibe going for it. Which has been a comfortable lane for The Green Kingdom for a while now. Just this time, more piano, less tape fuzz and digital garbling.

Aythar - ElectrOcean / Winter Walk

Fantasy Enhancing: 2018/2021

Yay, a new Aythar album! This was self-released as a digital item a few years ago, but we all knew a physical option would emerge at some point. I mean, if even Cosmic Resonance made its way to CD, this had to be a shoo-in. So who's it gonna' be, then? Carpe Sonum again? A return to ...txt? Maybe one of those new-fangled labels Lee Norris set up like Neotantra?

Ah, it's the 'prestige' print, Fantasy Enhancing, with the DVD package and the like. Wait, you're not doing that, instead including a second album? So, a double-LP then? Not a double-LP, then, Winter Walk an entirely different collection of music. It's not unprecedented a double-album will contain two conceptually different CDs, but usually still under the same title. Odd choice, but hey, two new Aythar albums!

So ElectOcean. After spending so much time among the stars, Tamás Károly Tamás set his sonic sights a little closer to Earth. Or maybe its a space sea, one made of highly-charged electric particles! It certainly sounds little like the bounding main on terra firma, unusually crisp and clean, as though the water is made out of '90s CGI technology (so shimmery and plastic). Fortunately, we get a twenty-four minute meditative opener to properly submerge into this oceanic realm, Underwater Relax all flowing synth tones and grand pianos echoing from the distant depths as you slowly descend in some sort of submersible (it's all those bubbling effects). I cannot deny starting the album with such a lengthy piece does cause one's attention to drift, but isn't that the point of music designed for relaxing anyway?

With a proper Dive Into The ElectOcean, we're treated to some dubbed-out ambient techno with whale song in support. A little cliche perhaps, but Aythar's skill at songcraft keeps it a captivating excursion regardless. Protoplasm utilizes more echo and reverb over dub, in such a manner that it feels like you're listening to this from within an open sea cavern, while Electrolyte and the titular cut brings the actual electro to these oceans. In an ambient techno sort of way. The only track that seems a bit out of place is Welcome To Our Fairy World, an overtly twee piece that has me imagining swimming around chibi mermaids and dolphins. Child-like wonder at coral reef palaces, and such as.

Winter Walk, meanwhile, is mostly a pure ambient drone album, lengthy pieces taking you on calming journeys. Light And Snow has you out in the wilderness, huddled close to a simmering fire, the sounds of nearby fauna echoing off dense trees as everything is covered in white. Melting Glaciers offers a soft, liquid rhythm, but is no less tranquil. Elegy For The Arctic goes even more classic ambient than Light And Snow, the Eno vibes strong, while the titular tune offers something a little more chipper over the general melancholy that permeates the album. Only Dark Snow brings something rhythm heavy, almost shocking in its use of crisp, echoing beats.

AstroPilot - Earthwalk

AstroPilot Music: 2021

I feel I need to get this out of the way before going any further. Yes, AstroPilot is Russian. Yes, his music career has been affected by Putin's invasion of Ukraine, his country's financial system cut off from the rest of the world. Like many artists these days, much of Dmitriy's income comes from places like Bandcamp and other online streaming services, reliant on global commerce to sustain itself. Dmitriy has set up an alternate method for his fans to continue supporting his music, but I'm sure we're all hoping for an end to the insanity. I don't want this to get twisted as “yeah yeah, murdered Ukrainians, but what about the suffering RUSSIANS?” - shits fucked up enough without piling on the misery. I'm just reminded that the actions of petulant, powerful people trickles down to so many folks who just want to live their lives undisturbed by crisis.

Those cheery thoughts out of the way, let's dive into Earthwalk, the last AstroPilot album released before... all that.

For much of AstroPilot's career, he's had some sort of ambient-exploring 'walk' series running concurrent with his usual prog-psy outings. You know these as Solar Walk, because I've already reviewed three out of four of them (well, five, if you include Solar Walk III. Unseen Chapters). However, I skipped on Solar Walk IV for no better reason than holding out thinking there would be a CD version of it eventually dropping on Altar Records. Little did I know Dmitriy had moved on from Altar Records at that point - kinda' makes physical medium production difficult when one goes the digital route.

Anyhow, having spent so much time among the stars, AstroPilot decided it was time for a little stroll on good ol' terra firma, specifically inspired by the natural surroundings of Sochi. Sunrise At The Summit is about as apt a title for Earthwalk's opener as any, all grandiose synths and angelic pads beaming into your ears like the first rays of dawn. Follow-up Rhododendron goes more subtle in its synth drone, allowing the backing field recordings breathing room, drawing you into its naturalistic vibe. Oh, and the title is also apt, surprisingly capturing the essence of gazing upon bountiful clumps of colourful, blossoming shrubbery.

Most of Earthwalk plays out in similar fashion, some pieces grand and opulent (Rain Forest Dreams, A Quant Of Peace, Rain Forest, The Phantom, Pt. 2), others gentle and reflective (Floral Incantation, A Fleeting Glimpse Of Beauty, Morning Dew, Foretime). Occasionally some unique instrument like piano or acoustic guitar or crystaline bell tones will feature, but for the most part pad drones dominate, with field recordings sparsely spread throughout the layers of timbre. Very few tracks dawdle, only a couple breaching five minutes, the titular piece over seven, with the whole album cruising along at a breezy fifty minutes. Overall, a very relaxing album of music, a perfect respite for those days when the stresses of the world overwhelm. A bit too common as of late.

ASC & Inhmost - Dimensional Space

Auxiliary: 2021

Keeping pace with Mr. Clements' ambient output on Silent Season is all well and good, but I know he's released other forms of music elsewhere. If not his older d'n'b works, then maybe some of that techno shi' I've heard him rinse out live. Dude's been hawking his wares across many labels though, making it a bit of a challenge in figuring out where one should follow. I suppose his own Auxiliary is as good a place as any. Can't deny all the space themed releases are tantalizing offerings.

And... it's more ambient. Huh. Guess Silent Season isn't his sole outlet for his excursions into the beatless genre after all. Given the number of these he has released through Auxiliary, I wonder if Silent Season got all “whoa, James, we can't support that many releases from you! We barely put out a couple albums a year as it is. Maybe start your own label for that stuff?” And so he did.

Dimensional Space is one of two such albums ASC released last year, both collaborations with Inhmost. I don't know anything about this alias, though I feel like I should know the name behind the moniker, Simon Huxtable, even if few of his other projects ring a bell (Kloor, Idforma, TQ One). Aural Imbalance and Deep Space Organisms triggers something in the recesses of my memory membranes, but Lord Discogs says I've never encountered him in my own music collection. In any event, Simon seems to have followed a similar path as James, a one-time d'n'b producer who eventually started an ambient side-project. Because if they don't all end up making house or techno, there's always the ambient side-project.

For an album supposedly set among the stars, Dimensional Space is a surprisingly grounded collection of ambient drone. Or maybe that's the twist? That no matter how far into the cosmos we venture, we'll always find our way home via quantum-dimensional transwarp tube-conduits. Or in the bookshelf of your youngling daughter. God, was the ending of Interstellar ever silly. Much prefer Contact's sappy, sentimental ending, I tell ya'.

What I'm trying to say here, is there are a fair amount of field recordings utilized in these works, such that you seldom feel like you're actually out in the great beyond. For sure their use is subtle, subdued, and often so drenched in dub and reverb that they sound distant and ghostly, like faint tethers holding you to terra firma even as you venture into realms where time has no meaning.

Still, the tones are rich, the mood is grand, and the gentle melodies ebb and flow through layers of timbre and drone. Some pieces are rather mellow compared to others, but all are relatively consistent in their approach. All said, if you're familiar with his Silent Season offerings, Dimensional Space is well tread ambient songcraft from ASC, save a little more sonic room to breathe. Must be that Inhmost touch.

Autumn Of Communion - Data Space Bass

Fantasy Enhancing: 2021

I kept thinking to myself, “That's it. I won't be getting anymore Autumn Of Communion albums, because how many more can there be after a 20-CD box-set?” Then they release more, and I think to myself, “Okay, maybe one more, but surely they've released all I've cared to hear at this point. What else could they they release that entices me back?” Then they release something that entices me back – it's a vicious cycle.

Like, how could I possibly resist this? Space! Bass! Orbital mechanics for cover art! A shade of blue! Seriously, showing off inner planet orbits is interesting, but I find it intriguing this diagram includes the orbit of Eros. While by no means a completely unknown hunk of rock, it doesn't get as much attention as other nearby dwarfs like Ceres or Vesta. Still, it was the first Amor asteroid discovered, first orbited and landed upon, and its orbit is tighter to the sun compared to larger Amor asteroid Ganymed, making it an easy fit on this particular diagram. I suppose getting a spotlight in The Expanse helped it gain popular culture cache too.

You'd think after taking in nine albums of AoC music (not to mention Lee and Mick's other musical ventures), I'd have a solid idea of what to expect going into another outing from the duo. Yet I can honestly say I had no idea what I might encounter here. A title like Data Space Bass has me thinking of some galactic funk, or cargo-bay rattling technobass, or deep, black hole dives into the lowest sonic registries imaginable. Not that Lee hasn't shown shown some adeptness at going a little Detroit in the past, but yeah, this isn't a lane typically travelled by Autumn Of Communion.

And nor is it on this album either. In fact, there's surprisingly little deep bass at all, used sparingly and generally in service of whatever ambient techno groove gets going. Why would I expect 'deep bass' at all? Oh, right, because my brain keeps thinking the title is 'Deep Space Bass', or 'Deep Space Network', or 'Deep Space Nine'. Constantly replacing 'Data' with 'Deep', is what I'm sayin'. Brains is so stupid sometimes.

To be honest, I kinda' dreaded I was in for a very experimental album, as opening track Space Ain't The Place opens with bloopy-hissy noises that had me recalling some of the more tedious excursions from IDM wonks. It isn't long before things settle into more traditional space sound effects and cosmic ambience though. And hey, this beat is kinda' funky too, in a dorky sort of way. Follow-up Fukes is more typical of AoC ambient techno, though sounding more spacious than other works. Most of the tracks maintain that mood, with a single thirteen-minute excursion of pure ambient (The Flow Of Telepathy) lodged in the middle.

Even if my weirdly off expectations weren't met, Data Space Bass is still a fun little outing from AoC. Until next time, lads, when the cycle begins anew.

Motionfield - Cryonics

Neotantra: 2021

Now concluding, Motionfield. Well, no, probably not. Dude's still got a number of albums out there that I'll likely spring for at some point or other. Of that initial splurge of four, however, we've finally come to an end.

I cannot deny there's a little struggle in coming up with fresh things to say about Petter Friberg's style of ambient music. For sure it's quite lovely, soothing, haunting, and all those pretty words, and each LP has maintained their own distinct themes, but much of what I've heard has remained rather similar in execution too. It's the 36 or Alphaxone problem all over again, wherein I buy too much of an artist all at once, and exhaust all the talking points I blather on about before diving into music. Guess I outta get to that instead of wasting your time with this blathering about blather.

So Cryonics. This was the most recent record from Motionfield when I went and got a bunch of 'em, though he's since released another one called Injection. That one looks like... synthwave? Well, something future-retro, if the cover-art is to go by. Oops, don't go getting distracted by gaudy, eye-catching artwork, not when I have the pure grey Neotantra's offered in their 'let the music speak for itself' style.

Actually, with a title like Cryonics, I do expect some theme, and the opener instills a proper chilly mood to everything. Mysterious ambient drone shimmers and shatters as sparse, delicate melodies echo into the distant frozen wastes of whatever vista you find yourself upon. Part 2 shifts focus, a burbling acid bassline guiding us out among the stars, all the while the hissing of oxygen tanks remain ever present. A lonesome synth lead imparts a sense of wonder, and gosh, I'm getting serious Starstation Earth vibes on this. Well, the first half of Banco de Gaia's sci-fi epic – doubt Motionfield would unleash some world beat jams anytime soon. Either way, there's some good ol' cryo feels out of these tracks.

But I can't really say the same for much of the rest of the album. I dunno, maybe after Part 2, I thought we might be in for a deep space adventure on a sleeper ship, but the next clutch of tracks feels more grounded, open, spacious, and even, dare I say, warm. A couple pieces, like Part 4 and Part 7, make nice use of field recordings such that your part of a spring melt by way of Biosphere minimalism. Others, like Part 6, Part 8, and Part 9, feature grander synth drones, sometimes layering into an almost aggressive wall of sound. Dennis Huddleston would approve. It's not until final track Part 10 that the ambience turns crisp and cold again.

Not that I want to say Cryonics is Motionfield, erm, going through the motions. Aside from a few tracks though, this is well traversed territory for Petter. One notices such things after taking in four albums of an artist.

Various - Coercion Of Deities

Neotantra: 2021

After twenty-five releases in a mere two years, Neotantra felt it wouldn't hurt to put out a little celebratory compilation summing up their (then) current catalogue. One track per release, ranging from four minute long sonic doodles, to twenty minute long dronescapes. As you can imagine, there was no physical production of Coercion Of Deities, just a Bandcamp exclusive at whatever price you wish to donate. A label sampler then, which I don't normally bother with. If I'm browsing your print, I'm already convinced of the musical product to check out all the proper releases on offer. That's just me though, so if you've just started wondering what the deal is with Neotantra, this is a handy introduction. That said, I ultimately got this for two reasons.

One, I was curious about some of the 'missing' albums from my collection. For sure I've bought quite a few of them, eleven CDs out of the twenty-five (well, technically fourteen, but one order of three was lost – does that make Blue Mountain, Organic Adventures, and Soul Offerings even rarer now?). Generally I'll take in a few audio clips before I decide if yet another Neotantra release is worth dumping my cash into, and if I like what I hear, I buy in. I know, what a shocking habit.

Some stuff I wasn't so immediately convinced on though, so let them pass. Not that they were poor releases or anything, but my music budget stretches only so far, and would rather spend on items I'm immediately sure of rather than might have to 'work to get', if you get my drift. With Coercion Of Deities, I can at least sample what I missed, maybe reconsider down the line. And yeah, stuff like Mind Over MIDI's blissy, calm ambient of Subdivision, or the reflective lowercase field recordings of Bålsam's Sunshower, or even the New Age leaning Pleochroism 2 from Juta Takahashi, even if is a bit over long... all stuff worth scoping further. The more musique concrete experimental stuff though, like Interconnected's Sockelgeschoss or Myoptik's Borgon Plinth, not so much. Personal preference and all. Still, if I want to complete the Neotantra set, I'll have to get them, won't I?

Yeah, that's the other reason I wanted to show off Coercion Of Deities. The cover art is a collage of all the album covers, nicely displaying the gradient colour scheme each batch of releases used. I may only like a select few, but gosh, won't my CDs look weird on the shelf with a broken scheme? I can't have Mick Chillage's Epinaz pink go into Motionfield's Signals purple without Bålsam's Soul Offerings magenta bridging the gap!

Not that this was some insidious manipulation of marketing on Neotantra's part, oh no. I'm positive they simply came up with a nifty thematic idea that helps their releases stand out in a rather niche yet overcrowded scene like ambient techno. I'm just astounded how effectively it triggers collector's FOMO in doing so.

Derek Carr - Arrival

FireScope: 2021

Man, it feels good seeing Derek Carr getting his due. Not that I can claim to be some long-standing fan of the man's work, as if I've been listening to his music since the Copper Beech E.P. I only stumbled upon him by happenstance with The Digital Space Race, and while enjoyed that album, didn't reconnect until he connected with FireScope for Distant Systems.

He's released a fair amount of material between those moments, but it seems his profile's quite taken off since releasing Contact on Subwax Excursion (Model 500 artwork nod likely helped). Many EPs on many labels have since come out, plus a four-record retrospective on For Those That Knoe, and man, have the plaudits ever blown up on Discogs. Seems Mr. Carr felt it was a good time for a revisit to FireScope, a full LP outing in Arrival. Which means two vinyl records. Or two CDs etched with vinyl grooves. FireScope sure loves its FOMO-triggering mediums.

Let me get this out of the way: if you're familiar with FireScope's brand of techno tunes, there isn't much different going on here. This is a lane Steve Rutter's print has firmly made for themselves, and are resolute in adhering to their musical manifesto. Intelligent techno for our doe-eyed gazes into the future, rhythms for cruising interstellar highways, melodies for sci-fi city-scapes. I cannot deny hoping Derek would branch a little more from this, maybe provide a banger, or even an ambient interlude for a more complete album experience, but 'tis not to be. This is a label that still has traditional vinyl as its primary listening format (however many records that may take per release), which will forever lead to LPs being rather tracky as a playback.

Ehgh... I felt icky typing that, but it needed to be said, the little naggy knit in my head demanding it. For as much as I enjoy Derek's Detroit vibes throughout Arrival, I cannot deny it being a bit samey throughout too. For sure there is some difference between the two halves (or both records; or both CDs). If anything, the second part has more rhythmic heft, Haemoglobin providing a nice little trunk-rumbler of a bassline with its spritely melodies and floaty synth sweeps. Droidworld features a funky little bassline of its own in support of an almost melancholic musical lead, while Apollo does a laid-back low-slung shuffle while synth pads and future strings cruise about. Inside Out and MCR get more on vintage Detroit vibes, about what we can expect out of most Derek Carr tunes these days.

If it seems like I'm writing off the first half (sides A & B; disc one), don't get it twisted. I like it just fine, in that I like mostly everything out of FireScope. There's even some fun playfulness in tracks like Alaska Blue and Anoat System. I just felt things picked up when the beats picked up, which gets back to my annoyingly incessant desire for diverse long-players.

Various - Adykt

Dyadik: 2021

So I get an email from Touched Music via their Bandcamp page, as you do when you subscribe to artist and label pages. I normally don't pay them much attention, inundated with updates from multiple subscriptions as I am. This one though, caught my attention with big proclamations of this being an immediate second-run of CD copies, the first selling out so quickly. Well gosh, if that don't trigger my FOMO like few other items. Who cares if I know nothing of this Dyadik label, or that out of twenty-two tracks on this double-LP, I only recognize John Tejada? LIMITED QUANTITIES! FAST SELL-OUT! Man, is Adykt ever an appropriate name for this compilation.

Still, there was a nice bit of nostalgic thrill, diving into a compilation with practically no info or background of what I was getting into. Heck, I only assumed this would be on the ambient techno spectrum because of the Touched Music association. It could have been grime for all I knew. In fact, the track Oliver Sutton, We On from Min-Y-Llan has some of the rappity-raps going on, which is weird considering the backing track sounds like some electro-ambient thing. Oh, and it's produced by the guy behind the Touched compilations, that's weird too. Or unexpected, at least.

But nay, CD1 opens with exm's Kolder, a gentle bit of loopy, shoegazey, piano ambience as I'd expect. HRYM's Heimferd follows and, good gosh, is this Balearic trance? It sure gives me those classic Solarstone feels, though just a little more subtle with its rhythms. Weld's Premises goes glitch-hop, while dialed's The Cat's Whiskers actually does go acid-grime. Okay, Adykt, you've sold me. You're one of those 'anything goes' compilations, aren't you? Even if I don't end up liking all the tracks, I appreciate the gumption.

Fortunately, there's plenty to enjoy. The synthwave vibes of Buspin Jieber's Never Say These Words. The old-timey Berlin-School leaning If You Had One from The Gasman. The classic neurofunk of Karsten Plfum's Breaks And Morphoids. The chiptune quirkiness of DTACK's Polyhedra. Plus a whole pile of ambient techno, braindance, acid, and chill electro scattered about the rest. I actually do recognize a couple others artists since picking Adykt up – Urban Meditation, Drøn, Z-Arc... I think. Plenty more are totally new to me though, with oddball aliases that really put your character key skills to the test (Auberg1ne, MⒶ, ΠΕΡΑ ΣΤΑ ΟΡΗ).

On one hand, that's great, in that plenty of folks are getting extra shine, especially those who haven't had much after many years making music. On the other hand, you're gonna' have to do some serious sleuthing in hunting down everyone here. Despite being around a couple years now (so sayeth Lord Discogs), this Dyadik label only has three releases to its name. Is Martin Boulton (the aforementioned Min-Y-Llan) just more focused on Touched than keeping pace with this print? Whatever the case, here's hoping Adykt acts as a springboard of sorts for future releases from these artists. They deserve it.

Sabled Sun - 2149

Cryo Chamber: 2021

After a four year flurry that saw annual releases from Sabled Sun (not to mention six side-releases), it seemed Simon Heath's future apocalypse concept had been put to pasture. From a narrative standpoint, it made some sense, going only so far as the view-point character could manage. Heck, I could argue that Sabled Sun only need the first album, 2145, so brilliantly telling its tale in one take. Carry on it did though, continuing the journey through a world in ruin.

With 2148, I pondered whether the tale's focus was changing, less about exploration and more about moving forward, and where the series' protagonist may go from there. Then the project went dark for half a decade, leaving such questions unanswered. For such a consistent series, that's a heck of a gap. What happened? Did other projects draw Simon's attention? A bout of 'writer's block' in where Sabled Sun could go next? A pang of associative guilt that 2148 came out the same day TFG was elected? Mysteries upon mysteries...

Straight up, I'm a tad disappointed that this new album isn't titled 2153. How cool would it have been of Simon to maintain the yearly passing of time with each Sabled Sun release mirroring our own? I suppose it's a bit of a moot point if you're listening to these for the first time in the here and now, or binge-listening in one sitting (as I did to re-familiarize myself with the setting). Ah well, probably too dorky a consideration for a sci-fi story set in a post-apocalypse brought about by humanity's hubris.

Speaking of humanity's hubris, 2149 takes us into an abandoned underground metropolis, left unscathed by the ravages of the surface world. Here, automation carries on, androids and machinery dutifully maintaining what remains, like lost children keeping the house clean while hoping for their parents to return. Actually, the music within isn't so explicit with these descriptions, but the nifty booklet the CD comes with sure is.

In fact, there isn't much sonic narrative in 2149 at all, the whole album running less than forty minutes total, the shortest Sabled Sun outing yet. Five years in the making? Ah, heh, I doubt it's like that, but it does lend some credence to the 'writer's block' theory. Besides, it's not like Simon's utterly strapped for ideas, as the booklet shows plenty of inspiration in the setting left. Sometimes you just gotta get what you can out though, even if it isn't as much as you'd like.

As for what we do have, there's less of the desolate, wandering field recordings, and more machinery, computers speak, and rhythmic pulses throughout – some of it could almost be techno! We're definitely in the bowels of a derelict civilization but it doesn't seem we're meant to dwell here long. What's this, a sensory port where one may uplink their consciousness to the still-running data-cloud inhabited by all the remaining automatons? Eh, I've had worse company.