Based in Russia, one-woman ambient project Lamia Vox has been recording for some years now, with first album Sigillum Diaboli emerging in 2013. Magical belief and practice have always underpinned Alina Antonova’s work; with the new release Alles ist Ufer, however, the literary and occult influences are broader in nature, tending towards the idea of Hermeticism and one ageless kind of spiritual journey. Music seems to be offering itself more and more as an overt spiritual entity and as a counterbalance to the rational and materialistic – a sign of the times, perhaps. But music has to engage on its own terms too, else its other ambitions can’t get anywhere: happily, Alles ist Ufer is a dreamlike, atmospheric piece of work which comes together very well.
From the opening bars of Three Dreams, Lamia Vox establishes the style and sound for the rest of the album: a blend of softly-spoken English words and some sung elements, with strings and even a sometimes martial style of rhythm overlaying the use of keyboard. It’s difficult to comfortably place this release or this sound into one genre and ‘ambient’ covers a great deal of ground, but there’s some overlap here with darkwave and some more symphonic sounds too. Classical music clearly has an influence here, even if it’s not invoked in a straightforward way. Actually, if the album reminds me of anything at all then it’s Dead Can Dance, ‘Anastasis’: the overall atmosphere and some of the musicianship is reminiscent of it. Alles ist Ufer has a good balance of instrumentation and vocals overall, though from a personal point of view, I found the vocals quite low in the mix at times, meaning it wasn’t easy to hear what was being spoken.
In terms of individual tracks, Song of Destiny is a particularly strong moment on this album, with the use of strings adding depth to this mid-point of the album – and The Return is a strong point on which to end things, deviating from the rest of the album via its use of male vocals as well as female. Overall, though, I don’t feel like this is something really intended to be appreciated for individual songs, but more as a whole: as one piece of music with one overriding set of influences, it makes perfect sense. The overall experience of Alles ist Ufer is a reflective one. This album maintains a rich, if doleful atmosphere and contemplative tone throughout. It’s good to allow it to wash over you and it succeeds in its aim of offering escapism from the world outside.
Alles ist Ufer. Ewig ruft das Meer releases on 1st August, 2020. For more details and to pre-order, click here.