“Head towards the fog.“
I first experienced A-Sun Amissa’s music when they opened for Aidan Baker at the Salford Islington Mill in 2011. The music (well represented by the band’s 2012 debut Desperate in Her Heavy Sleep) was gentle yet focused, closer to the carefully crafted sounds of latter-day Stars of the Lid than the free-form improvisations of that evening’s headline act. It was the kind of thing one could peacefully fall asleep to – and in the world of ambient drone, that’s usually a compliment.
Fast forward a decade and A-Sun Amissa has undergone considerable evolution. Led by Richard Knox (Gizeh Records overlord, who has released music under various guises), the band continue to release gentler music: 2020’s Black Rain (I) is an album of tastefully understated moody, cinematic ambience. Alongside this a more ominous sound emerged, starting in earnest on 2017’s The Gatherer. This music is tenser, doomier and huge. Yet here, the distorted slabs of guitar noise that define most drone doom are just one part of a wider tapestry, tending to simmer in the background while other instruments take centre stage.
Ruins Era is a bold album that sees the different strands of A-Sun Amissa’s work entwined into a whole. The result is an album that is majestic, attention-seeking and epic in a way that most ambient drone music isn’t. There is clear intent to take you somewhere: “A Sad, Pathetic End to a Long Downhill Slide” starts with squealing guitar and clarinet, but ends with calming piano; “The Diamond Lodge” starts with a frenzy of distorted noise that gradually melts away to leave some vocal drones that reminded me of the Gravity soundtrack.
The music is clearly inspired by the more apocalyptic end of the post-rock scene. The presence of “A New Precipice” – a bona fide 22-minute epic – will do nothing to deter comparisons to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but for me this album is most easily compared with Oiseaux-Tempête’s earlier work. The guitar on “Abattoir Quarter” fuzzily stumbles around in a manner reminiscent of Efrim Menuck, but on the whole, Ruins Era successfully avoids tired post-rock clichés.
Knox’s solo album Landmarks was one of my favourite ambient albums of 2023 and the ambience on this album is as sophisticated as you would expect from someone who has collaborated with Aidan Baker and Adam Wiltzie. I’m hesitant to associate this album with the darkjazz label, but piano and clarinet are at times used in a way that shows an appreciation for Jason Köhnen’s projects. Other influences (Godflesh in the middle of “A New Precipice”?) are weaved together as a cohesive whole.
The most memorable moments of Ruins Era are the big, menacing moments: the squealing clarinet, which feels like a monster fighting to be let loose, is something to behold. However, this album is far from monotonous, with the darkness occasionally giving way to glorious light. “You Never Knew It but I Really Was Your Friend” is a shimmering, joyful guitar drone that could stand alongside the works of any of the big names in the genre. “Head Towards the Fog” calls to mind Light Out Asia – or, at least, if Light Out Asia got lost in a thick fog and started jamming.
In case you couldn’t tell by this point, I really quite like Ruins Era. A-Sun Amissa have taken many elements that will be familiar to fans of ambient, drone and post-rock music, but combined them to create something unique. Two things set this album apart: its sweeping scope and its wonderful sense of restraint. Ruins Era is a triumph.
8/10
Ruins Era releases on the 9th of Febuary and can be pre-ordered here.