Stormloop "Arctic Conditions" CDrUK ambient drifter Kevin Spence, known as Stormloop, has returned during the end of hot summer weeks of 2013 with his newest, chilling album "Arctic Conditions". Again released on his own in limited and numbered edition of 50 copies and again packaged in nicely looking hand-made sleeve with stunning cover image. I think Stormloop's albums are attractive collector's items and this newest album is no exception. Once again, nice job, Kev!!!"Arctic Conditions" open the journey with utterly soothing ethereal washes, floating majestically through enormous spaciousness. Catchy, reverberating dissonances ride along and produce a truly mesmerizing effect while few gentle cyber-tech fragments emerge here and there. Welcome to the deepest end of graciously aerial atmospheric reverie!!! This title composition is followed by two parts of "Winter Into Springtime". Heavenly realms are fully unlocked with divine choirs, exquisite high-tech infusions inconspicuously move throughout deeply embracing sublimity. Part two has more earthy feel due to running water and chirping crow sounds. Yet still strongly expansive and warmly captivating. Freezing drone hums unfold the following cut, "An Evening Snowstorm". Slightly unsettling oscillations precisely display the track title and escalate into helical mindscapes. The longest composition, a 13-minute "Snowdrift", sounds exactly as it is titled. Grandiose dronewalls glide, expand and decline. Colossally absorbing soundscape, this is Stormloop at his most magnificent!!! "In The Frozen Morning Light" with quietly meandering washes, which evoke feelings of longing, and backed by distant, scenic drone hums, paints beautiful dawn sceneries with impressive natural ice formations. Shorter "From The Summit", as its title suggests, has a very strong, warmly panoramic feel. "A Sunday At Twilight" keeps on the same path, with hauntingly evocative atmozones, guarded by heartwarming angelic choirs. And this balmy tranquil and graciously expansive ride continues also through the next piece, "Ice Wind". It serenely waves into everlasting sublimity of amorphous spaciousness and its monstrous calmness pleasantly surrounds the listener. "2nd Sunday At Twilight" closes this journey with slightly more droning and darker soundwashes, enhanced by assorted subtle cybernetic traceries. Again spellbindingly drifting through gorgeously panoramic winter sunset sceneries. A really tranquil finale!!!If you prefer download version, you get also two extra tracks entitled "Clouds Merge" and "All Pales Into Insignificance", clocking totally to 22 minutes in length. Both these tracks are featured also on the extra CDr, which was available with first 10 orders of "Arctic Conditions" CDr. "Clouds Merge" is as much colossal as its title, deep expansive drone, at times rather monochromatic, but always grandiose with some cyber-tech breaths and swirls thrown in here and there. "All Pales Into Insignificance" keeps its imposing droney path, sublimely drifting and calmly cascading through warmly scenic skyline. Bonus tracks are always welcome!!!"Arctic Conditions" is another very strong album by Stormloop. And even it doesn't break any new grounds, it offers to each aficionado of drifting soundscapes a truly graceful sonic experience, fully immersing and rewarding. As far I know, most of the limited edition is gone, so give a listen to Stormloop and encounter "Arctic Conditions" in comfortable chair of your listening room... In memory of Pete Namlook and Oophoi.Richard Gürtler (Now 10, 2013, Bratislava, Slovakia)