Gert Emmens – When darkness falls upon the earth

7 reviews for Gert Emmens – When darkness falls upon the earth

1. 

   Phil Derby / Electroambient Space – 2022-11-22

   With Ruud Heij or without, Gert Emmens has quickly established himself as one of the top names in electronic music these past few years.
   His latest solo effort, When Darkness falls upon the Earth, is no exception. Rich pads fill the opening moments of Rendezvous With 2004 MN4″

2. 

   Matt Howarth / Sonic Curiosity – 2022-11-22

   This release from 2005 features 75 minutes of moody electronic music.

   This CD features a theme, a tale if you will, involving the collision of an asteroid with the Earth. Yet, despite this gloomy subject, the music is hardly fatalistic or desolate. Emmens takes a dire mood and elevates it with awestruck grandeur, applying gripping melodies whose drama transcends the standard disaster panorama. Much of the majestic tuneage is concerned with mortal survival in the face of overwhelming odds.
   Epic harmonics are teased with pensive keyboards, producing a dramatic flair that is enthralling and hopeful. Demonstrative percussion provides a spectacular dignity, with the noble rhythms injecting power as well as pep to the heroic music.As each track unfolds, the mood rises from tenuous harmonics into full-blown epic resplendence. While maintaining a comfortable relaxed nature, the tunes accrete greatness with each passing moment, conveying the incredible power contained in a simple lump of space debris, transforming that igneous state into unbridled force as the object interacts with our atmosphere. And then, when the catastrophe has occurred, the music generates a stolid courage as mankind faces the challenge of a darkened tomorrow. Perseverance and empowered optimism are the dominant dispositions communicated by this superb soundtrack.

   The cover graphics by Pablo Magne superbly capture the notion of a gigantic object plummeting through the atmosphere, colliding with the ground and darkening the sky for untold millennia with volcanic ejecta.

   2005. Matt Howarth / Sonic Curiosity

3. 

   Pat Murphy / USA – 2022-11-22

   One of the exciting things about electronic music is that each artist customizes their keyboards.
   Gert Emmens follows this path with his own enticingly unique sounds. The first track hauntingly begins like Steve Roachs dark ambient music and then develops into a slow and beautiful sequencer piece with synthetic side effects. Gerts solos are warm and inviting; a perfect balance to the dark synthesizer machinations that form and build his pieces.
   Pablos brilliant cover art captures this CDs theme: warm and bright sunlight piercing through clouds of a dry, rigid, and hostile world.
   Longer tracks go through rhythm changes, similar to his Waves of Dreams” CD from 2004.
   In particular

4. 

   Stephan Schelle – 2022-11-22

   Der aus den Niederlanden stammende Gert Emmens ist wieder sehr fleiig gewesen, erscheint doch neben seinem Album Blind Watchers Of A Vanishing Night

5. 

   Edgar Kogler – 2022-11-22

   Amongst the splendid catalogue by the Dutch label Groove Unlimited, this work by Gert Emmens deserves special mention, as its creative quality is most noteworthy. The six pieces included in this album are pure electronic music, with the philosophy of exploring new sonic worlds nonetheless without abandoning melody and rhythm. The composer proves his great imagination by creating a warm, vigorous electronic music, with sequencer rhythms forming rather unusual tonal structures.
   Many parts possess a greatmelodic beauty with romantic airs. In short, an indispensable record.

   2006. Edgar Kogler

6. 

   Ren van der Wouden / NL – 2022-11-22

   This 6th studio-album of Dutch EM-mastermind Gert Emmens is a remarkable combination musical craftsmanship, creative style and knowledge of electronics. Gert’s ability of merging old analogue synths with their warm sound acoustics with high-end digitalism of today is extra-ordinary and unsurpassed. His use of the Mellotron-sound has never become boring. From beginning to the end the music is evolving and organic as electronic music should be.
   Highly recommended to those who are into electronic and progressive music.

   2007. Ren van der Wouden / NL

7. 

   Artemi Pugachov / Encyclopedia of Electronic Music – 2022-11-22

   Rendezvous With 2004 MN4″ has a few seconds of atmospherics before a sequence appears which is then joined by a bass one and some lovely Mellotron string swells. The effects on this track are excellent. Some of the sounds reminded me of Gert’s previous effort