Permafrost

Ben Frost has composed the score for a new 12-part TV series called "Fortitude", a crime drama that takes place on the Arctic Circle and features Christopher Eccleston, Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, and Sofie Gråbøl. The series was created by Simon Donald and premiered last week on Pivot/Sky Atlantic.

In the sound of the Roman artists, fragments of classical music blend with field recordings of every kind, voices and found sounds are manipulated, sampled and remixed, converting them in new frames and timbres likely to evoke rest and silence typical of the extensive glacial vastnesses. 3 years after his first full length CD, Netherworld comes back with this new work titled "Over the Summit," in which enclosed memories, feelings, and past experiences, deeply lived during the years and surrounded by an almost deafening silence, can be heard and felt circling vast mountains’ snowy peaks.
The underlined aspect is the sensation of peacefulness or contemplation of an uncontaminated and silent nature, wrapped in the winter’s white blanket…

From the perennial layers of the permafrost, Glacial Movements brings out the music of the talented Dutch artist Amandus Schaap aka Equal Stones. From the first experimental outing - exploring the possibilities of production work in 2012's "Temporal Displacement", the project Equal Stones has always been about getting to know the hidden places within the subconscious. Progressing over the years and finding a consistent stylistic sound on the two LP's "Transgression" and "Hans of a Murderer" the project turned towards very textural induced drone ambient, in which it's still firmly rooted.

"Overall, the composer here who shall remain anonymous raises the roof here with “Empathica” to impossible heights. He is very structured in the way he composes the music but that is nearly preposterous when you consider the amount of layers he uses along with the sheer number of different instruments. Gorgeous melodies abound…to the point that is nearly overwhelms you. I haven’t been moved by an album like this so far in 2020, and at nearly half way through the year it has to be mentioned as a contender for album of the year."