A Place Where Mountains Hide - acloudyskye

Beloved producer acloudyskye's debut album "A Place Where Mountains Hide" is grand, majestic, dark, and very clever.

Though it might not be his strongest piece of work, "A Place Where Mountains Hide" (or "APWMH" for short) provided a dense foundation for acloudyskye to mature as a producer and an artist. But that's not to say that "APWMH" is weak—in fact, quite the contrary. Before we even get into any of the music, acloudyskye presents us with a very nice title in "A Place Where Mountains Hide"—I mean, is that not brilliant imagery? But fine, that's a minor detail, does the production itself stand up on its own two feet? The simple answer is yes. Invoking a blissful, grand, and haunting world true to its name, "APWMH" features complex and shifting sound design with deft progression and emotion sprinkled throughout. On one hand it's beautifully melodic and evocative. On the other, it's grim and distorted. Structure is where "APWMH" arguably shines the most, commencing with a brighter first half—sometimes impactful (like "Tethered"), sometimes euphoric (like "Falloff"), sometimes peaceful (like "Riverside")—a first half that embodies the melodic side of acloudyskye's production and also the more natural theme of the album, occasionally punctuated by his, quite frankly phenomenal, voice. This is the style that twists midway through the album, pivoting to the ominous, looming sound design triggered by "Alignment"; these next 4 tracks are much more bass-centric, employing a lot of grimy basslines and heavy beatwork in stark contrast to the first half of the project. Culminating in a blissful melodic bass final track in "A Drowning Cry", "APWMH" certainly has something to lend to acloudyskye's discography even now, as a cohesive project with a myriad of good ideas, and as a holistic idea in itself.

A cohesive project, yes, but quite a short one, sitting at just 9 tracks in length. Though that doesn't pose many problems as a mere statement, it does feel like acloudyskye could have spent a little more time with each of his ideas, as they can feel half-baked at points—particularly in the album's midsection—perhaps incorporating more of his vocals in, because, as aforementioned, he does have a fantastic voice. Other than that, "APWMH" does run into a few mixing issues where the track can feel a little harsh or loud, and whilst it is excusable for an earlier project, it does detract from the overall polish a little.