Album Review: Secret Pyramid - Movements of Night

How is it that a good experimental/ambient/drone artist can say so much without saying anything at all? How is it that they are able to pack so many emotions into layers of sound with only a few shifting chord changes?

When you have that kind of response to an ambient record, you know you have found an artist to watch—or at least an artist that is, at that point, in their moment. Right now, Amir Abbey is that artist. Recording under the moniker Secret Pyramid, he’s released his gorgeous and incredibly somber new full length, Movements of Night.

I do have to give a big shout out to Justin at Anti-Gravity Bunny for the heads up on this. Had henot repped it a few weeks ago, and mentioned it had Basinski-esq leanings, I would have probably slept on this, but I am incredibly thankful that I did not.

The opening track, the most Basinski-esq of the lot, “A Descent,” is built around a very serious pattern of drones that rather than decay away to nothing, continue to grow more distorted and larger as they progress. However, Abbey uses restraint as an instrument on Movements of Night—he never lets any of his drones and tones get out of hand.

While each of the eight pieces on the album shares in some similarities, and there is a little overlap of one track into the next, they are all distinct enough to be original in their own way. Some maintain a steady mood throughout, and others continue to grow and build towards something—the second half begins with “Move Through Night,” and on it, Abbey weaves intricate layers upon layers, crafting a haunting, overcast web. The final track, the melancholy “Escape (Fade Out)” balances incredibly sad keyboards with a guitar shimmer that eventually engulfs the entire track.

Similar to the emotional rollercoaster of Earn’s Hell on Earth, Secret Pyramid’s Movements of Night is a brilliant experimental effort—certainly not music for a beautiful day, or a day when you are feeling carefree, it’s a great example of how drone artists can write real feeling into well defined and structured pieces.

Movements of Night is out now on LP via Students of Decay/Midheaven Distro.