I love reviewing ambient music. In some way, it is antithetical to progressive rock and metal in all their technical glory; in other ways, it captures the same sense of wonder, emotion, and unconventionality that those genres portray. That’s why I love it. The album I want to discuss today is Gunnar Spardel’s new offering, The Fade to Afterlife. This rich album has been a pleasure over the last few months. It released on April 28th.
Gunnar Spardel comes to us originally from Hamburg, Germany, and now from New England in the USA. He is well-known for Tigerforest, an award-winning chill out project. A few years back, he started releasing albums under his own name.
For this record, Gunnar offers a sound that meshes two genres. On one hand, this is an ambient electronic affair with all of its subtlety, hovering emotions, and pleasing synth tones. On the other hand, it is a neoclassical work with violin front and center, along with harp, trumpets, Theremin, and piano. The album goes a bit further, too, using electric and acoustic guitars and even drums at certain points, which makes this album difficult to pigeonhole under any specific label.
While I cannot give a neat and tidy label for this music, I can tell you how it makes me feel. The Fade to Afterlife is a glorious, simmering, beauteous work that revels in quiet wonder, emotes with glowing coals, and uplifts the spirit with gracious sounds. The album title gives some clue about the overall tone and ambience, and so each track feels deeply meaningful, not to mention it produces a mixture of sadness and joy. That is a difficult line to walk, I think, but Gunnar really delivers here.
The Fade to Afterlife has so many luxuriously human moments. In its eight tracks, it visits the spectrum of human emotion in its own way, and in its own timing. The first half of the album is so beautiful, from the riveting neoclassical electronica of the excellent opener “Gone into a World of Light” to the slowburning wonder of “The Missing” to the nostalgic sparkle of “In the Shadow of Memories” to the promise and power of “The Light Remains”. I love how Gunnar slowly and compassionately transitions tones, and I love how the violin and trumpets specifically have their own respective voices, as if they are speaking to us.
I think the second half is my favorite, though. “On the Quiet Path of Dreams” is an exquisite piece with a rising, atmospheric tone; I like how celestial it feels, but also how loud and proud the violin sounds as it enters the song in the second half. “Carpe Momentum” leans heavily into electronic territory, but I like how that wonderful style is complemented by guitar rhythms in the background. It really works.
The last two tracks are my favorites overall. “Towards Silence” is a brilliant piece; it begins like the approaching dawn with quiet mirth and horns to accentuate the morning. It soon transforms into something of an acoustic ballad with horns still giving gentle sway, but also with burgeoning, crystalline electronic textures to give a sense of light and transition. This leads perfectly into the masterful closer, “The River”, a track with deliciously hushed power. Gunnar’s emotional piano leads the way, but the song transitions through various portions of flowing, heavenly beauty and rich, marvelous light. The last two tracks are the brilliant icing on this amazing cake.
Gunnar Spardel has created an evocative and serene work here. The Fade to Afterlife gives elegant sight to something that we all anticipate in our lives: our deaths. And no matter what you believe about it, the purity and splendor that Gunnar has voiced for us is something that pulls at the heartstrings, and paints colors and light onto my mind. I love this album, and I think I will grow to love it even more.
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Find Gunnar Spardel online:
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The PROG Mind 