Wicked Messenger - Officium Nocturnum

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

4...according to our Brett on Fri 19 Mar, 2010.

Double droney dark ambient in one nice, black package. That's what Wicked Messenger are givin' ya. Two CDs of ominousity that sounds like it could be the soundtrack which begins playing the moment you discover some long-lost mountaintop shrine, windswept and epic, that nature has successfully reclaimed via ghostly trees with scary faces who talk in distorted whispers like Mr. Pipes from Ghostwatch. Oh and now there's some scary druids and shit but it's still really windy. I might put my coat back on now that I think about it.

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Each disc has its own catalog number, Plague 017 & Plague 018, and is housed separately in cardboard jacket.
Limited to an undisclosed number of copies.

5...according to plague recordings.

this one comes from B.L.Underwood (UK)

It is a new direction for Mr Messenger evocative of medieval europe, the inquisition, dark monasteries, fire, torture and death. Followed by cataclysm, disaster and doom. It is intriguing, unsettling and hypnotic all at the same time and I really enjoy it.
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New sound elements are very welcome such as church bells, monk chantingÂ etc as well as the general mass destruction we have come to enjoy from WM. I was surprised by the spoken wordÂ section on the second movement but fascinated by the dark tones from a sacred text.
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I'm glad that WM has continued to produce excellent work and it is a departure from the last album Vision Rites, showing that there is continued innovation in the areas of deep dark horror soundscapes and Grand Ambient.
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Congratulations!

5...according to plague recordings.

another review received:

Some important dates and facts ...

539 bc: Cyrus II The Great concurs Babylon.
June 11th 323 bc: Alexander The Great dies.
64: Saint Peter dies in Rome.
June 8th, 632: Mohammed dies in Medina.
April 2, 747: Charles The Great is born in Herstal
November 10th, 1483: Luther is born in Eisleben.
June 22nd, 1812: Napoleon declares war to Russia.
1913: Luigi Russollo introduces his "Intonorumori" to the world.
1959: Ornette Coleman releases The Shape Of Jazz To Come on Atlantic.
1986: Hellbastard releases their Ripper Crust demo.
March 2010: Wicked Messengers double CD Officium Nocturnum is released on Plague Recordings.
2013: The BBC broadcasts a documentary about undercoverÂ reporters that have filmed in dark rooms, watching 70 year oldÂ CatholicÂ priests doing a bizarre occult ritual. Is it drugs? Is it a spiritual experience? Is it a religious experience? Questions that are not asked by the reporter but are asked by the music that accompanies this documentary. Music that makes you start to think about what is and what is not. The kindergarten-version of this documentary uses Sunn O)))'s Monoliths & Dimensions as soundtrack. The adult version of the documentary usesÂ Officium Nocturnum as soundtrack.
2023: Vinyl-on-demand releases a Wicked Messenger 6XLP box.
3078: The human race is exterminated.

5...according to plague recordings.

below a comment received from a plague fanatic who ordered the new WM 2xCD:
'music simply can't get more intense, charged, loaded than this. these tracks have nothing to do with dark ambient any more (as far as WM's music ever did). a post-apocalyptic soundtrack, unheard before.'

Rating: 5 out of 5

So, what do you think? Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!