Laniakea by Atomine Elektrine (Review)

Peter Andersson’s work as Raison d’être has made him one of the preeminent names in the dark ambient genre. However, Andersson’s a busy man with numerous side projects to his name, including Necrophorus, Bocksholm, Stratvm Terror, and Atomine Elektrine.

Raison d’être’s music often plays like soundtrack material for disused castles, abandoned factories, and haunted monasteries. Atomine Elektrine, however, is Andersson’s ode to ’70s electronic space music, specifically German kosmische acts like Tangerine Dream. (Fittingly enough, Laniakea is a tribute to Tangerine Dream’s Edgar Froese, who died last year.)

You won’t hear any of the melancholy textures, ominous tones, or ghostly monk choirs that typify Andersson’s most popular project. Instead, Laniakea — which means “immense heaven” in Hawaiian — is full of swirling, arpeggiating analog synths (see “Abell 3521”) that sound like they’re emanating from the most distant and forsaken reaches of space. In other words, think soundtrack material for collapsing nebulae, dying galaxies, and the wreckage of ancient alien civilizations.