Instrumental Ambient-Electronic Review: Carlos Dengler-The After

Release Date: December 8, 2023

Label: ‎Independent

Website

According to Carlos Dengler's website, The After is a meditation on timelessness, ethereality, and their relation to the vanishing moment we call life. Looking back on one's life can sometimes seem like a flash. Your perspective will evolve as you get older, and I promise you that.

 

Music can put you into another realm, plane, or mindset. I always felt this way, and that was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with sounds. Indeed, artists who create that music sound like they are also reaching for something. It is the same goal, to get somewhere with the music. If they can accomplish that, they can do the same for a potential listener.

 

In most cases, it works for me. With instrumental music, it is more than tracks with vocals included. Ambient electronic music is moldable, stretching into diverse sounds and frequencies. Carlos manipulates all of his tools for the listener who enjoys instrumental music that allows the mind, body, and spirit to stretch out without the clutter of lyrics pulling you away into another frame of reference. It is all about focus, relaxation, and what may lie ahead for us in the ether or The After. If you look at the cover art, light, and many colors blend in, suggesting a multiverse ahead if our surviving souls want to find it. Or many planes exist right beside us that we are unaware of. It is possible.

 

There is not one track below six minutes in the eight tracks offered on this recording. Each one stands on its own, separate from the previous. Looking at the track titles and stopping momentarily to absorb the meaning will allow a clearer picture of what the artist is trying to convey. "Silent Veil," for instance, has spiritual connotations. It provides over seven minutes of electronic ambiance and mystery. What you cannot hear in silence, you can envision it within your mind's eye. Tracks like that prompt a listener in the right direction. There are the wordless vocals that call to you and ask you to find the answers that this veil has behind it.

 

The After holds the beauty of life within and keeps the reality of it and the afterlife real. As you listen to the light as a feather traces, the layers of colors and sound beckon you into the artist's world. Listen, feel, and look. You won't be disappointed. It may put another spin on your thoughts about what happens when we leave our physical bodies and enter another eternal existence without the limitations of a physical body to hold us. At that point, it is no longer the before, the present, or the after; it is a perpetual state of consciousness with no reference to time segments. That, in essence, is complete freedom. The music frees us to think along this path and opens us to the many possibilities.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-NAMR Founder

January 31, 2024

Tracks:

1. Extremophile

2. Mirrored Moss

3. Silent Veil

4. The Harvest

5. Preparation

6. Gift to the Fire

7. Tomorrow's Halls

8. The After

Acoustic Instrumental/New Age Review: Carlos Dengler - Private Earth

Release Date: June 2, 2023

Label: ‎ Independent

Website

Carlos Dengler's Private Earth is your seat to appreciating our planet and all its wonders. Carlos has personally tapped into the transformative powers of music, and you will realize that within minutes once you listen.

"Violet Night" enters most beautifully and gently after the introduction of "Desert Flora" to set the mood and proper thought process for what this is all about. The acoustic guitar, flute, and keyboards mold into your private magic carpet ride around the beauty of Mother Earth. The music seeks to take you into the place where we all should be, in total respect and awe of our planet. It is an impactful way to catch the listener's ear and maintain interest. It's like heaven in your backyard with a precise, crisp recording mix and birds chirping happily. Just wait there is more.

 

Each track is an extensive and immersive experience of nature that is ours to enjoy. This music prompts awareness and appreciation differently than you may be accustomed to. The shortest track is "Rising Mountain" at 7:02, and the longest is "Ancient Lake" at 9:31. The artist ensures the experience is long enough on each track to leave a mark on your consciousness and perhaps a different way of thinking about our environment.

 

When "Golden Dawn" begins to play, you can feel the atmosphere and ambiance of the music sweeping you away. The acoustic guitar has a nice rhythm and consistency; all the other elements combine to build the song into something you will remember. The music is transient and prolific in that you begin to think about the cycles of nature, the seasons, and all the beauty it beholds for us. Every living thing is here for a reason and purpose, and we quickly forget that going about our daily lives. Music on this track puts things into a different perspective and sheds light on the truth of who we are and the importance of our connection to our planet. From the earth, we originated, and from the land, we shall return. 

 

I am only two tracks in, and I am thinking about all of these points and facts about our humanity and the inhumanity of our lives on this planet. We are destroying the earth for progress and the almighty dollar. We should have a universal wake-up call before it's too late. 

 

Think for a moment about the title "Ancient Lake" and how long it has been in existence and all the creatures and vegetation and insects that have kept it alive, not to mention the people that may have used it for survival for water, a source for food and many other things. The strong connection between that source of nature and all the living things that depended upon it is sacred. Native Americans lived by it, respecting all the earth and its creatures and what they provided. While the music plays, I am in a mode of reflection on all of this and enjoying taking in all the beautiful sounds Carlos has produced to initiate all those thoughts. The gentleness of the piano, guitar, and ambient sounds intermingle, bringing a rainforest of sound to your senses. It is refreshing and spiritual. 

 

Many people understand the delicate balance of the rainforest, which is another way to look at the big picture. The sound of water hitting the shoreline at the end of the track is the final element that hits home and cements those thoughts in your mind.

 

"Solemn Cavern" and "Rising Mountain" continue the path of reflection to engage the listener and to give reason for thought and consideration. As with previous tracks, the music gently invites you into that mindset. 

 

Soft, beautiful, and inviting, Carlos Dengler gives you your Private Earth. You can use the music to reflect and think about the message, meditate, or both. Whatever you seek, the music will allow you to go there if you can give pause to your life and absorb all the sounds. I felt moved by the music in many ways and expressed that to interested listeners and those concerned about the life of our planet and all its inhabitants. It's time to listen and receive the message. 

 

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-NAMR Founder

September 29, 2023

Tracks:

1.  Desert Flora 

2.  Violet Night

3.  Golden Dawn

4.  Ancient Lake

5.  Solemn Cavern

6.  Rising Mountain