E-Mantra? Shouldn’t this be filed in the long-neglected Goa Chill Out Corner?

Actually no, this one is indirectly freeform-related – you might remember me talking about my search for alternatives to drum and bass sections or (heaven forbid) dubstep-style breakdowns when adding variety to a mix. While we’ve seen recently that the former certainly works well in the right set, what I’ve been looking for is something that’ll complement (or even deepen) the atmosphere of other tracks while providing a change of pace.

I’d suggest E-Mantra’s wonderful take on dark ambient as one option, as it’s not hard to find elements that atmospherically match with the darker/more melancholy strands of freeform. We’re clearly heading into dangerous territory here though, as it’d be all too easy to misjudge how much dismal, drumless atmosphere will actually add something to the set – the drums in BTW:TB make things a bit easier, but at last month’s CODEX I gambled on also using a large-ish section of the preceding darkness. I followed it up with a classic (and very hard) freeform tune, but maybe I’ll talk more about that in the eventual look back at CODEX itself. It was a farly successful little experiment, but I’ll be continuing to think about other ways to switch things up and (hopefully) make my sets a bit more interesting and coherent.

The track itself appears on The Hermit’s Sanctuary, E-Mantra’s excellent album that was released last year by Altar Records. There are plenty of darker tracks to experiment with, but it’s also highly recommended if you’re simply after some extremely deep, downtempo listening.