Castleview is an ambient/drone musician from Louisiana that has been self-releasing albums through Bandcamp for a few years now. Elemental Wave is his second release on Duff Egan’s Black Dingo Records imprint.
The album opens with a peaceful gliding synth and the first track lulls the listener into the notion that this will be a floaty, ethereal take on ambient going forward. That would be wrong though, because as the second track comes in, the album shifts to a more drone-based sound. This track and the next one layer semi-metallic sounding drones with the lighter synth elements using various techniques. There are some pads, some feedback pulses, low drones, and what sounds like synth strings at one point.
By the fourth track, the peaceful, floaty sound is back but eventually the drones come in and things are more uneasy again. The juxtaposition of these light and dark elements might be off-putting to some listeners but I find the approach intriguing. The higher tones in this track give it some good texture.
The final track is more intense and seems to have a few more elements than the rest of the album. There are some backwards looped sounds, melodic, gliding synths, some deep bass, more feedback pulses, and volume increases are used to build tension. Synths move toward the foreground with shifting drones underneath and there is some controlled feedback that sounds guitar-generated.
Overall this is an interesting album I enjoy listening to. I found it effective for daytime background listening, falling asleep, and more attentive listening. At thirty-three minutes, the album is short but potent.
Elemental Wave is available from Bandcamp.
Everyday Ambient 