Amber Asylum is a highly variable
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
-based music group that serves as a platform for composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Kris Force. The current lineup of Amber Asylum includes, in addition to Force, Fern Lee Alberts (Deathgrave), Sarah Rosalena Brady, and Becky Hawk (Laudanum). Other members and performers have included
Steve Von Till
Stephen Francis Von Till Jr. is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the metal band Neurosis (band), Neurosis, in which he also shared lead vocals with former member Scott Kelly (musician), Scott Kelly. Following Kelly's departu ...
(
Neurosis
Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...
),
Annabel Lee, Martha Burns, long-time collaborator Jackie Perez Gratz (
Grayceon/
Giant Squid/Asunder), Erica Stoltz (Lost Goat, Sanhedrin), Wendy Farina, Lorraine Rath (The Gault/Worm Ouroboros), Sarah Schaffer (The Gault/
Weakling), John Cobbet (
Hammers of Misfortune/
Ludicra, Vhol), Eric Wood (
Man Is The Bastard,
Bastard Noise), Leila Abdul-Rauf (Saros,
Vastum, Hammers of Misfortune, Bastard Noise, Ionophore), Chiyo Nukaga (Noothgrush/
Graves At Sea), Andrew Veskoukis (Akphaezya) and Sigrid Sheie (Hammers of Misfortune, Vhol).
Amber Asylum's music is generally within the
neoclassical or
dark ambient
Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...
genres, and tends towards the
romantic, introspective, and brooding. Violin and cello are the dominant instruments.
Discography
Albums
* ''Frozen in Amber'' (1996, Elfenblut/Misanthropy) (reissued 2003,
Neurot Recordings
Neurot Recordings is an American independent record label founded by members of avant-garde metal band Neurosis in 1999. Gradually expanding, it has showcased a variety of artists including a number of sludge metal, post-rock, and noise bands. ...
)
Discography from official web site
.
* ''The Natural Philosophy of Love
''The Natural Philosophy of Love'' is the second studio album by the American experimental band Amber Asylum. It was released on May 20, 1997, through Release Records and Relapse Records.
Critical reception
AllMusic wrote: "Essential listening ...
'' (1997, Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The ...
)
* ''Songs of Sex and Death'' (1999, Relapse Records)
* ''The Supernatural Parlour Collection'' (2000, Relapse Records)
* ''GardenOfLoveAutonomySuiteStillPoint'' 10" vinyl EP, (2005, self-released)
* ''Garden of Love'' EP, (2006, Paradigms Recordings)
* '' Still Point'' (2007, Profound Lore Records)
* ''Bitter River'' (2009, Profound Lore Records)
* ''Sin Eater'' (2015, Prophecy Productions)
* ''Anthology 1995-2015'' (2015, Prophecy Productions)
* ''Breaker of Rings/Blood Witch'' split with Völur (2019, Prophecy Productions)
* ''Ruby Red'' (2025, Prophecy Productions)
References
External links
Website
* Amber Asylumat AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
American dark wave musical groups
American avant-garde metal musical groups
Profound Lore Records artists
Relapse Records artists
{{US-band-stub