Marc Azrael Hoyland, previously of Black Metal bands Ethereal Forest and Heathen Deity, and then of Goth rock bands 13 Candles and The Realm has now branched out alone going under the name of Hoyland.

'Dance Of The Twilight Stars', released on Quartier23 in January this year can be described as Dark Ambient.  Hoyland's influences are listed as Darkness, Spiritualness, Paganism, Black Metal and Burzum amongst others and it is the latter influence most people will pick up on. His music bears a stark resemblance to the dark ambient of Burzum throughout Varg's career, however one would presume that indulging in Hoyland may be done so without the shadow of Burzum's ubiquitous controversy and far right-wing political stance. Having said that, the music remains true to type and is satisfyingly evocative: if this were an alcoholic beverage, it would of course be mead.

Being devoid of vocals is actually quite pleasing as the album is a rather nice dark soundscape to lose yourself in and great for chilling and relaxing to. I was wondering where this sort of experimental album would fit into my life, well, in lots pf places. I gave it one play and then without fully realising it I'd replayed it about 6 times in a row and in that time I'd prepared dinner, sat with a glass of wine, ate dinner, tidied up and had a soak in the bath. So that's where it fits in - as the background to your daily tasks when you need to slow your day down.

The title track 'Dance Of The Twilight Stars' has a slightly Elizabethan feel to it that makes one imagine ghostly dancers in farthingales and ruff collars dancing to it and I love it. All of the tracks are fairly evocative of landscapes whether your mind strays to fjord, a forest or the moon with song titles such as A New Dawn, Paganland, Tears Of A Time Forgotten, The Ruins Of An Ancient Kingdom, Winter's Labyrinth, From The Mountains She Came and The Spell Of A Wintermoon adding to the whole feel of the thing.

There are no big bangs or surprises to make you jump out of your skin and because of that this album in its stress busting glory, will be featuring regularly on my CD player.

http://www.myspace.com/hoylandazrael
http://www.quartier23.eu/