What are some great Dark Ambient albums?

Question

I like ambient music, but would now like to explore the darker side of it. (One of my favorite ambient albums is Substrata from Biosphere.)

I'm looking for albums that mostly fit squarely within the dark ambient genre. Classics and "origin" albums are also welcome. I've read from several sources that Lustmord's "Heresy" is considered one of the earliest, and best, examples of dark ambient. Is this true?

I would prefer to avoid the more hardcore variety, leaning toward minimalism, not so much "noise music."

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I always find the term 'dark ambient' to be quite confusing. Maybe too much ambient in general blurs the lines between what is dark and everything else. Anyway....



William Basinski. Some of his music definitely has very sinster overtones. Try an album of his called "Shortwavemusic".



"Vintage Well" by Deaf Center is nice and ominous.



"Act Of Shimmering" by Jannick Schou is pretty heavy.



Xela has been doing some good, dark music lately. "The Divine" and "In Bocca Al Lupo" are worth a listen.



Definitely check out "Ritual" by Solo Andata. If you enjoy that, have a listen to their self-titled album.



Machinefabriek has his moments. "Dauw" is an excellent album by him. Single tracks worth finding include "Onkruid", "Somerset" and "Ringoya, Tokyo".



Red Horse, Grouper, Vladislav Delay, Cindytalk, The Haxan Cloak, Thomas Ankersmit, Rene Hell, Anworth Kirk, Daniel Menche and Seasons (Pre Din) also deal with the darker side of things, from time to time.



If you like any of those in particular, let me know and I can suggest some more.

Answer 2

Grouper She is surprising. pay attention to the album "Dragging A lifeless Deer Up A Hill" there is likewise Fever Ray, yet that is not any longer instrumental. that is somewhat stable dark/ ambient song nevertheless

Answer 3

1. KLAUS SCHULZE- PICTURE MUSIC

2. KLAUS SCHULZE- IRRLICHT

3. KLAUS SCHULZE- LA VIE ELECTRONIQUE 2,3,4,5 AND 6

4. TANGERINE DREAM- PHAEDRA

5. TANGERINE DREAM- ZEIT

6. TANGERINE DREAM- RUBYCON

7. CONRAD SCHNITZLER- BALLETT STATIQUE/ CON

8. CONRAD SCHNITZLER- MINCED VALVES

Answer 4

You may very well like this stuff....



http://www.youtube.com/user/InnerPeaceRecordings



Hope this helps you :)