One of my favorite ways writing for this particular column enriches my life is by allowing me to see familiar faces in a new light. On today’s Rainbows In The Dark, Neon Gods/Own Your Darkness is a split release between two names that should be immediately familiar to anyone reading this website’s content. Iggor Cavalera and Shane Embury have spent decades defining and shaping the world of metal through their contributions in bands that have achieved legendary status, yet here we are introduced to a vastly different side of them, yet one that shines light on the people involved, their tastes, and their life outside of the world of heavy metal that they may often be pigeonholed into.

Split into two long-form, exploratory dark ambient pieces, the album begins with Iggor Cavalera’s “Neon Gods.” Nearing twenty minutes in its run time, Cavalera uses noisy, crackling synths, washes of atonal noise, and deep, thrumming sub-bass to invite the listener into a journey through what feels like a dystopian far (near?) future. Calling the piece “Neon Gods” allows the mind to conjure images of seedy back-alleys in a technopolis lit by dazzlingly colored lights that somehow do nothing to banish the dark corners from which some danger is always waiting. It’s a slow-burn, anxious piece that showcases the kind of tension building that makes dark ambient so effective as a genre.

Shane Embury’s complimentary piece, “Own Your Darkness,” takes a much more inward approach. As the name might imply (or does to me, at any rate), this piece is much more introspective, allowing sparse synths to rise and fall over a churning background of static noise. Over thirteen minutes, the eye slowly turns inward, and we are introduced to our own inner demons, given voice by the almost horror-movie like rising crescendo of the song. Will we choose to embrace what we see, to own our darkness and wield it? Or will we deny the totality of ourselves? The choice is the listeners’.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to do this split release with Shane,” writes Iggor Cavalera of the collaboration between the two. “I believe we share a lot of similar ideas when it comes to opening our mind to different styles of sounds.” While this is an album that is more out of the wheelhouse when it comes to these two, the friendship and passion for the art form shared by Shane and Iggor cannot be denied here. Neon Gods/Own Your Darkness is more than just a split, more than just an exemplary piece of dark ambient music, it is a testament to the bonds of friendship, and to how a mutual desire to push your own boundaries can result in something spectacular.

— Vincent

---

Neon Gods/Own Your Darkness is available now on CD, vinyl, and digitally through Cold Spring.