New track from Deaf Center: “New Beginning (Tidal Darkness)”

The duo of Erik Skodvin and Otto Totland, better known as Deaf Center, have become known as masters of dark-ambient music, thanks to such releases as 2005’s Pale Ravine. It’s been six years since their last album, but the fellows from Norway are set to release Owl Splinters, their latest slab of sonic ominous-ness, in February on Type Records.

The first track from the album — the aptly titled “New Beginning (Tidal Darkness)” — surfaced on Soundcloud about a month ago, and it’s much as you might expect from the duo: gloomy post-industrial sounds, creepy background noises, and subterranean piano notes. The track’s second half proves particularly arresting, as notes from the piano’s higher registers barely shine through the thick cloud of drones and noises, like Charlemagne Palestine slowly drowning in an underground pool of Lustmord’s primordial ooze.

In a word, excellent — not to mention perfect for these long winter nights.