Raison d’être’s Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness Gets Sublime

When I was making my first forays into the world of dark ambient music back in the late ’90s, one label essentially dominated the scene: Sweden’s Cold Meat Industry. And of all of the artists on CMI’s roster at the time, one was held up as the pre-eminent dark ambient artist: Peter Andersson’s Raison d’être.

Subsequently, Raison d’être’s Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness was the very first dark ambient release I ever purchased. Its blend of ominous-yet-sacral atmospherics, monastic chants, and abandoned cemetery ambience set the template in my mind for what dark ambient music should sound like. That was nearly 30 years ago, and Andersson has remained quite prolific since then, releasing new Raison d’être material (e.g., 2021’s Daemonum) as well as music under additional monikers like Atomine Elektrine and Necrophorus.

Last month, Andersson marked Enthralled by the Wind of Loneliness’ 30th anniversary with a new “Sublime” edition. Spanning three discs, the edition features two versions of the album (a remastered version of the original release alongside a re-recorded and re-mixed version), demo tracks, and previously unreleased material. This follows similar releases for Raison d’être’s first two albums, 1992’s Aprés Nous Le Dèluge and 1993’s Prospectus I.