GUSTAF HILDEBRAND "Starscape" CD Reviews

From the Aural Pressure webzine (U.K.)
Space. The final frontier. Or so it was for the adventures of the Starship Enterprise and the homoerotic relationship between Spock and Captain Kirk. Let’s not forget the other crew members…whoever they were again. Space. A shitload of music has been composed about space. Some good. Some bad. Some very fucking bad. Modern technology has made it easier for musicians to try and bring the sounds of space smack bang into the living room. Some of this has been very successful. Some not.
Gustaf Hildebrand falls into the first category. Thankfully not the latter. "Starscape" is 6 tracks of…for want of better words…space ambient music. You know the sort of thing. Drifting electronic textures and submerged radio messages and bleeps and huge explosions and…everything else associated with this type of music. Very nice it is to. Very…relaxing. Nothing outstanding mind. Just a perfect example of this type of music. The conveyance of the desolation and vastness of space has been perfectly realised here. For that we should give thanks. Thanks Gustaf Hildebrand.
It’s music Jim but not as we know it. Well said Spock. I whole heartily agree with your accurate and definitive summation.

From Phosphor Magazine (Germany)
The Montreal-based label Cyclic Law Records released an album by Gustaf Hildebrand, a Swedish musician, involved in LITHIVM (Threshold to Disharmony, Cold Meat Industry) and known from his collaboration with Karjalan Sissit. His new CD is entitled Starscape, featuring some planets and a cosmic entity on the cover. The music breaths about the same atmosphere: a soundscape for a starship could be a good description. A deep robust drone has been combined with some bells tinkling in the wind. An organic massive substance is headed for eternity, destroying everything on it's way. There is no presence of any lifeform, just this powerful drone. It's the first chapter of a deep sonic journey. Starscape features six tracks of which a few are slightly more refined and seem to float into eternity or nothingness, like for instance the second track entitled Dead transmissions. Nevertheless, the general impression created by Gustaf Hildebrand is that of an endless deep drone which stops after 44 haunting minutes. The seventh release by Cyclic Law is just what one expects from the title, no disappointment.

From the Guts Of Darkness webzine (France)
Plus connu pour son projet Lithium (‘Threshold to disharmony’ chez CMI en 2002) et ses participation au projet finlandais Karjalan Sissit, G.Hildebrand sort son premier album sous son propre patronyme. ‘Starscape’ porte on ne peut mieux son nom, tant il nous convie à un voyage loin de la terre, là où les étoiles sont autant de flambeaux illuminant un chemin non tracé et surtout traître. Plus de repère une fois dans l’espace, ni haut, ni bas, juste le vide infini et inquiétant. C’est d’ailleurs le qualificatif qui correspond le mieux au morceau d’introduction ‘Eta Carinae’, une longue plage composée de drones et de nappes grondantes et dissonantes que des craquements peu rassurant se complaisent à perturber. Perdu dans cette immensité, l’être humain n’a pas sa place et ce trip space-ambient n’est pas sans rappeler l’œuvre de Lustmord (notamment l’album ‘The place where the black stars hang’) et aussi de son projet Arecibo (inspiré des expérimentations de la NASA). Le son est excellent, chaque nappe, chaque basse est à sa place et crée une atmosphère oppressante qui renforce l’aspect hostile de l’univers galactique. La texture et les chant grégoriens désincarnés sur l’excellent ‘Journey to Orion’ font penser au Raison D’Etre des deux derniers albums. L’apogée que constitue l’hypnotique et froid ‘Cygnus loop’ pourrait sans aucun problème figurer sur la bande-son d’un film d’épouvante lovecraftien, et il faut des nerfs solides pour arriver au bout de ‘Descending into the silent depths’. Présenté dans un magnifique packaging comme Cyclic Law en a le secret, ‘Starscape’ mettra à mal vos velléité à explorer l’espace intersidéral. Remercions la Providence pour cet avertissement on ne peut plus explicite.
Marco

From the Chaindlk webzine (U.S.A.)
Swedish ambient-musician Gustaf Hildebrand (possibly better known as Lithivm, whose "Threshold to Disharmony" came out on Cold Meat Industry, or for his collaboration with Karjalan Sissit) takes a step into the starry nothingness of space with his "Starscape", a dark, mysterious, aural, astral journey through the artistic interpretation of the silence, absence of atmosphere. The visionary content of "Starscape" draws you along in this journey of deep sonics and fleeing hints of harmony. It's like floating somewhere and observing, speechless. Inspired by the great names of oneiric, visionary and aural isolationism, such as Steve Roach or Vidna Obmana, Gustaf is not far from the quality that those masters have accustomed us to. The art work of this beautiful textured trifold sleeve (limited 500 copies edition) aids the interpreation suggesting a nebula of light, planets, swedish skies, aurea borealis type of images etc. Beautifully haunting.