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Nothing fills a room up like ambient music. The origins of the word lie in 'atmosphere' or 'surrounding' and it fulfills their meanings in the way it engages with you. As a broke college student, I lived in a city filled with all kinds of pleasures that fell beyond my reach. But what I did have was a small room with neon lights and a great set of speakers. The countless evenings I've spent soaking in all forms of electronic music with my friends still remain the better part of my life. Learning the history of early trance and going down the rabbit hole of serious sound artists like Brian Eno, Biosphere, Carbon Based Lifeforms was my equivalent of ancient astronomers discovering the secrets of the universe. This awe-inspiring form of inner space travel that exists in the realm of electronic music culture is exactly what KillZen's latest album evokes.
The Delhi-based duo of Abhishek Chaturvedi and Anannya Gupta are known for their collaborative sound of dark futuristic dystopian fantasia. LAt month they released In Search Of Something, their biggest body of work, that had been in the works for the last four years. With 18 tracks across two sides, the album is a chronicle of their early sound. Born out of music school and initially slated for release in 2020, it took on a life of its own during the pandemic. Shelved, revisited, and reimagined, the album now arrives as both a time capsule and a testament to their artistic evolution.
Technically, the album sits at a fascinating intersection of genres. It's not pure dark ambient, nor strictly synthwave, but something more fluid. The darkwave influences create a sense of urban melancholy, while the dreamy acid downtempo and organic electronica introduces elements of hope and transcendence. You can also trace some nostalgic early house elements. The retro-inspired samples and drums along with a modern, experimental approach to the arrangement form the architecture of the album. The compositions feel like carefully constructed algorithms — atmospheric foley samples, minimal drums with spacey snares, and the prevalent use of bitcrush trigger specific psychological responses, building living, breathing emotional ecosystems.
Within the amalgamation of different genres and influences, It's hard to pinpoint KillZen's sound, which is only fair given this is their debut album. Yet, a few tracks in particular stand out. Ground Zero captures the immensity of outer space sending you into time-dissolving celestial contemplation. Void leans into Solarpunk territories intersecting nature and technology and whatever's born out their union. Lovespell comes straight out of the 80s with its new-wave romanticism. And Fuon recreates the deep, ritualistic meditations of techno. These imagined sonic landscapes that my mind stirred up while listening to the album are proof of how how fertile it is in terms of storytelling.
Like a memory slowly developing in a dark room, In Search Of Something reveals itself one song at a time, excavating intricate details that were always present but remained just beyond perception. Hidden within it are referential easter eggs you'll come to find if you've ever been a fan of electronic music. This is essentially a 'no-skip' album that feels like traversing different terrains of a vast, uncharted world — sometimes soaring above it, other times wandering its shadowy undergrowth. With tracks that act as maps of these emotional technologies, you journey on, not quite sure of what you're searching for. But it doesn't matter because the quest itself is absolutely delightful.
Follow KillZen here and listen to the album below.
