From the underground of Italy, ERGOT started and remains, a steady one-man Ambient Black Metal project since 2009. Within this 7-year timeframe, ERGOT has released 1 demo ("Through the Branches of One Life", 2010), 1 EP ("Empty Waters Down the Mist", 2013) and 1 full-length ("Victims of Our Same Dreams," 2015). That's where we will turn our focus now.


As an Ambient Black Metal album, there obviously isn't much solid structures such as choruses, verses, interludes, etc. There are, however, layers of sound with overloads of sustain and thick, dark resonance, so the album is thoroughly meshed throughout. The tracks that do stand out and break free of the pre-existing guidelines are, "Black Leaves of Solitude", "The Despair of the Rotting Christ" and "L'Essenza Del Proprio Essere".

"Black Leaves of Solitude" is an 11-minute long, eerie and ominous track start to finish, nearly similar to a track you might hear from EMIT. "The Despair of the Rotting Christ" is set apart from the rest of the album by its rather relaxing melodies. Even the tremolo-picked passages have a melodic refrain as well. The closing track, "L'Essenza Del Proprio Essere" is also melodic buy still comprises of more atmospheric elements.

It is worth mentioning that because this is a one-person project; it is obvious that there is considerable effort that goes into the creation and recording of this music.

On a closing note, it seems today's Metal community often has a pre-existing expectations for bands they're familiar with and are often disappointed by an album when it doesn't fit their idea of how they think it should be. That being said, I find it hard to have such an issue when pursuing new ABM, and "Victims of Our Same Dreams" certainly secures a guarantee of such within the Black Metal community.<