Nathan Moody :: A Shadow No Light Could Make (Obsidian Sound)

A Shadow No Light Could Make combines Moody’s skills as a composer, sound designer and artist into a collection of powerful precise tracks that evoke an uneasy, dreamless somnambulistic soundscape of dusk shrouded shapes in a landscape perpetually masked by the amorphous shapes of unseen cities and lands.

An uneasy, dreamless somnambulistic soundscape of dusk shrouded shapes

A Shadow No Light Could Make is the exquisite soundtrack to an as of yet unnamed on this plane horror/mystery/dark thriller/psycho drama film from the mind of dark horse Nathan Moody. It combines Moody’s skills as a composer, sound designer and artist into a collection of powerful precise tracks that evoke an uneasy, dreamless somnambulistic soundscape of dusk shrouded shapes in a landscape perpetually masked by the amorphous shapes of unseen cities and lands.

There are many themes throughout the album both sonic and cinematic. Moody’s skills as a composer show a careful construction of each track where traditional elements—orchestral strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion and even chorus—merge with modern sound design, modular synthesis and found sound recordings conjure the mood of each piece with a crystal clarity belying the ambient dream therein.

With an array of guest musicians from across the globe Moody has compiled a virtual ensemble with which to give the world a glimpse into the strange and dark gift of these album. Strings cackle and buzz like sea birds perched on the pilings of dead wharves in abandoned harbors. Metallic sound boom and bow from their own reverberation draped caves to shudder and tap at the bones of one’s ears while raising the hairs at the back of your neck.

Listening to A Shadow No Light Could Make, one is invited to draw comparisons to existing works of music and art yet despite this the album carves out its own unique space. Black and white, light and dark, loud and quiet, harmony, melody and threnody are woven together as one into a startling tapestry of sound.

Each track is so integral to the whole it’s difficult to single out particulars of note. “The Strange Window” bears similarities to the soundtrack work of Stewart Copeland’s “Rumblefish” and certain Swans or Insect Ark recordings. “Watched” is like the heartbeat of an ancient robot measuring out the last few moments of its lifecycle. “Tenterhooks” sounds as if a xylophone made from the bones of small animals being played by supplicants of an elder god on the windswept cliffs of an island in the midst of a dark, stormy sea. “A New Shape” closes the album with the most synthesized of all the tracks, providing a denouement while leaving questions of whether the dark story of the album is over or just beginning.

A Shadow No Light Could Make is hopefully the first of many albums like this from Nathan Moody and a glimpse into the strange and wonderful world of his sound and vision.

A Shadow No Light Could Make is available on Obsidian Sound. [Bandcamp]