Joe Hogan – Google

Council of Nine Davidian is about the infamous Waco Siege and The Branch Davidians Cult of Waco, Texas. This dark ambient album is full of grieving choirs, flowing bass waves and reversed piano melodies. The overall atmosphere of the album is not one of darkness or isolation; rather it creates an enlightening story portraying, while simultaneously expressing the the seer grief of the catastrophe. Favorite tracks: Davidian and The Seven Seals.

Dusk is a beautiful balance of modern fps and classic shooters, probably the first classic game that comes to mind is Redneck Rampage or Doom. While Dusk has many references to the classics even like Half Life and Quake it manages to create a whole new atmosphere of absurd fun and is constantly feeling rewarding to the player through high amount of mobility and high responsiveness. There are many aspects to Dusk that make it very special to me one being the soundtrack; the soundtrack was produces by Andrew Hulshult, If you've been in the fps genre you'll most likely know who he is. The soundtrack in episode 1 starts out with more synth based notes that slowly progress into darker industrial metal upon reaching episode 2. The music is not only super fast paced bust very well composed when beats are not present. The ambient soundscapes achieve their goal extremely well when putting the player into the setting of fear, suspicion or even malice. Even though I finished the game a while ago I find my self constantly revisiting the game, because I'm never really felt dissatisfied with the gameplay. In conclusion I truly believe that Dusk is a great throwback for classic gamers or even new gamer who are looking to get into the classic fps genre.

Winter Restlessness by Mount Shrine is a more warm dark ambient album that could be could be considered to fit more into the genre of drone or field recordings. While it's not exactly dark ambient it's still an excellently crafted album. What Mount Shrine is really excelled in accomplishing is creating an atmosphere which takes you to places of your imaginations. For instance Winter Restlessness and Lifeless Indoors really make me think I'm in a dark snowy forest, where you can't help but to feel at peace and in a meditative state of mind. Favorite Tracks: Lifeless Indoors and Exile

I consider Mushroom Men The Spore Wars to be a hidden gem of 2008. It's has awesome open world exploration and combat, perhaps why I love it so much is collectables and crafting of weapons as you progress though the game. To this day Mushroom Men has remained to be one of my favorite video games of all time, although the franchise didn't make it much further along than a second game; I feel they made a perfect game that has formed many memories that should not be considered to be a failure by any means. 11/2/21

This album is an eerie and cold adventure; uncovering that what lies within the depths of the northern polar sea. The absence of light makes the heart mourn for the warmth of the light once more only to be left to one's self in isolation. What I love most about Arctic Gates is the attention to details; heavy drones of Ugasanie and the atmospheric sounds of Dronny Darko coming together to create a masterpiece. Favorite tracks: Isolation pit and An Object.

Miles to Midnight by Atrium Carceri, Cities Last Broadcast and God Body Disconnect is a unique dark jazz and Noir album that makes me think in in a large deco style hotel with endless halls and rooms that I must explore. While this is within the dark ambient genre you will be hearing simple melodies in some tracks and full on songs even with some vocals added. Best tracks: Miles to Midnight, Sorry Sir you're in the Wrong Room and Quiet Days on Earth

Visitors by EXIMIA is an utterly terrifying album of extraterrestrial invasion with heavy drones and eerie field recordings along with windy sounds of the alien craft observing through supercell storms. The best track is "First Contact" it starts out with sounds of the incoming invasion and air raid sirens followed with thunder claps and echoing tones making the listener feel isolated. The track ends with sounds of large craft creaking and ominous sound effects.