Press release:

Second "chapter" in the "Hall of Mirrors" saga, a project that hides the fervid minds of Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh and Andrea Marutti/Amon. On this release they're supported by Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Konau...) and Andrea Ferraris (Ur, Sil Muir...), who gave their contribute with additional sound sources. Another long and fascinating journey among the ruins of lost and ancient civilizations, among desolate landscapes forgotten by time... To enrich the already busy electronic stratifications, among slowly evolving ambient sonorities and occasional parts of more sharp and "rough" elements of a Post-Industrial nature, we also find suggestive sound of reverberating flutes and dilated electric guitar parts, ending with delicate melodic arpeggios and evocative rhythmic accents of a vague cinematic taste. The adventure goes on... (Silentes press release)

Reviews:

"Non c'è pace né consolazione nella musica degli Hall of Mirrors. Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh) e Andrea Marutti (Amon) hanno dato un seguito alla loro lungimirante collaborazione pubblicando il successore di "Reflections On Black" e pregiando ancora la scena elettronica sperimentale italiana di un vero e proprio manifesto di arte contemporanea. Questa volta al fianco dei due artisti troviamo Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Konau) e Andrea Ferraris (Ur, Sil Muir) che caratterizzano le stratificazioni elettroniche disposte nella sala degli specchi. "Forgotten Realm"è suddiviso idealmente in cinque capitoli che rappresentano altrettante escursioni nei meandri del nostro animo attraverso una serie di immagini che fanno parte del passato e della quotidiana realtà. "The Crossing" e "Among the Ruins"' sono i due estratti che più si conciliano col materiale del debutto mentre "Gates of Namathur", "Decadent Splendour" e "The Fortress" si immolano come magnifici esempi di tecnica asservita al genio sperimentale. Calarsi nell'universo degli Hall of Mirrors sarà come immergersi negli abissi che le tenebre hanno riservato a mente e corpo per raggiungere la redenzione completa."
Divine, Dagheisha, January 2010

"Forgotten Realm" is the second album published by the duo Andrea Marutti (Never Known, Amon, Sil Muir) and Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh) under the project name Hall of Mirrors. In this new release, they are seconded by guest musicians Andrea Freschi and Andrea Ferraris who provided some field recordings and some guitar parts. If their first offering was a shadowy heavily lugubrious atmospheric ambient manifest (made of static, ferocious, muted dreamscapes), "Forgotten Realm" is much more a primal-alchemical music procession that could be nocturnal hyms to the genesis, to the ancient time. Consequently the dynamic dronescapes and textural electronic waves are profundly expressive and intuitively beatific. The serene and deeply absorbing ethno-electronic pieces are stylistically close to the most ascentional synthesized works by Alio Die, Vidna Obmana, Harold Budd (...) but with much more emphasise on nocturnal motives. Thus it is less luminous and most vertiginous with a constant association to mnemonic traces, fractured living memories and melancholic visions. The opening track is an organic classic ambient piece with long chordal dronespheres. "Gates of Namathur" partly uses acoustic instruments that seem to flow in a magic worship. "Decadent Splendour" is a moody-funereal sanctified music ritual for echoing guitar chords and foggy harsh noises. This is among my favourites, the perfect way to experience contemplative ecstasy through music. "Among the Ruins" is a detached soundscape that connects us to some other worlds. The atmosphere is progressively charged with some kind of high tension including buzzing noises and doom like feelings. During the last minutes we go back to the heavenly origins with superb acoustic flute lines. The album closes with an utterly dark and primordial synthscape, admitting hermetic cyclical melodies into it and guitar epic dreaminess. "Forgotten Realm" is a voluptuous-essential vertical trip in cristal like spheres and lost paradises."
Philippe Blache, ProgArchvies, January 2010

"Под названием «Hall of Mirrors» уже во второй раз объединили свои усилия итальянские музыканты Андреа Марутти («Amon») и Джузеппе Вестиккио («Nimh»), пригласившие для верности своих друзей из групп «Canaan», «Subinterior» и «Ur». И Марутти, и Вестиккио известны как мастера эмбиента, и, совершенно естественно, что их совместный проект представляет именно это ответвление экспериментальной музыки, обильно приправленное экзотикой стран Азии, древними мифами и полевыми записями, сделанными Джузеппе во время путешествий. «Forgotten Realm» начнется с отстраненного, равномерного гула, омываемого льющейся водой и соседствующего с грохотом проезжающих поездов (обработанным при помощи простых, но всегда действенных эффектов) и тревожными звуками разрушения, которому нещадно подвергаются какие-то деревянные предметы. Все это постепенно обрастает шумом, созданным при помощи обратной связи, который неожиданно обрывается – и композиция вступает в новую фазу. Появляется гитара, своим звучанием сильно напоминая манеру исполнения Роберта Рича с его фирменной «стальной гитарой». Собственно, музыка дуэта тоже начинает странствие по пространствам, давным-давно открытым американским маэстро. Плотный, гипнотический и архаичный эмбиент, «ночной» гул, наполненный пением птиц, шорохами леса и треском цикад, экзотические мотивы тайской флейты, с которой Вестиккио очень удачно управляется на «Gates Of Namathur», и многократно усиленный эхом звон гонгов - все это звучит очень гармонично, и быстро наполняет пространство вокруг слушателя монолитами заброшенных в джунглях храмов, стены которых уже веками не отражали голоса людей. Чуть выделяется на общем фоне композиция «Decadent Splendour», она звучит более экспериментально и абстрактно, но также весьма интересна, хотя режущий слух высокочастотный гул, добавленный в эти потусторонние, сомнамбулические зарисовки, придает записи некоторую не вполне уместную агрессию. А вот последние две вещи альбома не добавят ничего нового в звучание – строго говоря, в них используются те же приемы, что привлекали повышенное внимание к первым трем трекам, а вот уникальная атмосфера, увы, осталась где-то за бортом. В «Among The Ruins» есть чередование ночной тишины и шершавых вкраплений, а «The Fortress» способна, конечно, порадовать приятной мелодией, исполненной на акустической гитаре, но в целом представляет собой бесконечное чередование не очень хорошо связанных с собой элементов, которые гораздо успешнее проявили себя в начале альбома. Впрочем, диск «Forgotten Realm», безусловно, достоин рекомендаций к прослушиванию – не часто в наше время появляются релизы с такой атмосферной и «глубокой» музыкой. Даже упомянутый выше Роберт Рич, видимо, забыл уже, как писать подобные произведения, так что поклонникам его раннего творчества работа итальянского дуэта может быть особенно интересна."
Sergey Sergeyevich, Maeror3, January 2010

Il secondo album degli Hall Of Mirrors (Andrea Marutti/Amon, Giuseppe Verticchio/Nimh) vede la partecipazione di Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Canaan) e Andrea Ferraris (Airchamber 3, Ur, Ulna, Deep End...), quasi come se attorno all'etichetta Silentes si stesse formando una sorta di collettivo industrial/ambient italiano. Rispetto all'esordio "Reflections On Black", sembra esserci una maggiore varietà di situazioni. Su "The Crossing" è come giungere su qualche rotaia in qualche posto abbandonato e piovoso: curiosa la somiglianza con il disco collaborativo tra Hollowing e Maor Appelbaum (altro musicista che compare spesso su Silentes), ma arriva il suono dilatato della chitarra di Giuseppe Verticchio a rendere il tutto diverso e momentaneamente più sereno e meditativo. Di "Gates of Namathur" rimane in testa flauto khlui suonato in chiave quasi "drone" da Giuseppe, il che – come suggerisce il titolo – dà una sorta di connotazione ancestrale al tutto e fa capire definitivamente che stiamo viaggiando in un mondo "altro", tema ricorrente sia in Amon sia in Nimh, seppur declinato in maniere diverse. Con "Decadent Splendour" torna protagonista il suono indolente della chitarra, che prelude a una prima fase rumorosa e satura del disco, in apparente contrasto con il synth impalpabile della successiva "Among the Ruins", ma durante lo sviluppo della traccia si scopre che il gioco del "crescendo noise" è simile. Si chiude in malinconia con "The Fortress", con la chitarra di Verticchio che sembra echeggiare tra macchinari in continua e misteriosa attività. "Forgotten Realm" è un disco realizzato da chi ormai è un veterano in questo ambito, con ammirevole cura dei dettagli e capacità di ricombinare elementi noti agli appassionati del genere in qualcosa di valore, grazie anche all'adozione di una formazione aperta.
Fabrizio Garau, Audiodrome, February 2010

La seconda collaborazione tra Andrea Marutti (Amon) e Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh) ha un respiro psichedelico che era meno evidente sul cd d'esordio degli Hall of Mirrors, "Reflections On Black", pubblicato giusto un paio d'anni prima sempre dalla lungimirante Silentes di Stefano Gentile. Sul nuovo capitolo ci sono anche Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Canaan) e Andrea Ferraris (Airchamber 3, Ur, Ulna, Deep End) ad aggiungere elementi ad un mondo già di per se stratificato e complesso. La traccia che apre il disco, la lunga "The Crossing", mostra subito l'abilità di Marutti e Verticchio (qui aiutati da Freschi) nel dare respiro ad uno scurissimo drone che prende vita tra un ruscello d'acqua e una cascata di rumori a tratti assordante. In mezzo l'essenza del drone continua indisturbata la propria lenta avanzata, almeno fino a quando, dopo la boa dei sette minuti, una chitarra elettrica imposta i comandi per il cuore del sole. La stessa attitudine visionaria pervade la meravigliosa "Gates of Namathur", sorta di dark-ambient psichedelica trasportata dal flauto thailandese di Verticchio in uno spazio-tempo indefinito. Una vera casa degli specchi in cui ogni particolare viene riflesso all'infinito. Come i detriti che scorrono sotto le chitarre alla Cure nella prima parte di "Decadent Splendour". Il tenebroso finale alla Popol Vuh di "The Fortress" chiude nel migliore dei modi un album che rappresenta una sorta di manifesto del suono post-industriale nato dall'incontro tra due delle realtà più significative della scena elettronica sperimentale italiana.
Roberto Mandolini, Onda Rock, May 2010

Andrea Marutti is a busy man. Besides playing music as Amon and Never Known, he runs the Afe Records label, helps out people with mastering skills, and records various projects with other people. One such project is Hall of Mirrors, which sees him teaming up with Giuseppe Verticchio - sometimes known as Nimh. For their first release they invited Giulio Biaggi and Daniela Gheradi, and for "Forgotten Realm" they work with Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Konau, Canaan) and Andrea Ferraris (Ur, Sil Muir, Airchamber 3). The cover lists a variety of instruments: samples, turntables, treatments, audio montage, guitar, samples, effects, field recordings and khlui (Thai flute). The recordings for this album were already finished in October 2007 and now finally see a home. If all of these names of all these projects mean something to you, and why shouldn't it since they were all reviewed in Vital Weekly at one point or another, then you probably have an idea where to place this: in the world of drones. Dark, atmospheric drone music. Built around loops of sounds of which we not recognize any origins, heavily treated with lots of sound effects. Every now and then we hear a guitar coming in, which add to the ambient character of the music. Its music that I like quite a bit from a private point of view. Objectively speaking its however something I should admit that isn't bringing much new to the world of drone music. Marutti and his friends have capable hands in producing such fine music, but if you were looking for the real shift in this music than it's not here. Having said that I can finish of the review and play the CD again, not having to worry about a review anymore.
Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly, May 2010

Hall of Mirrors is an Italian dark-ambient project by Andrea Marutti and Giuseppe Verticchio. With "Forgotten Realm" they deliver their second album, again on the Silentes Minimal Editions label. The album has 5 tracks but is 70 minutes in length, so expect long, drawn-out songs, like an effective dark-ambient track should require. We open with the epic, almost 18 minute long, "The Crossing". This track is very much in the vein of the newer Raison d'Etre material; heavy industrial sounds over dark-ambient passages. It's thus not like we haven't heard this industrial-ambient before, but it is rather effective and has a nice tension to it, with in the middle quieter moments with the use of nice guitars. A very good track! "Gates of Namathur" is again dark industrial-ambient. This time it's heavier on the reverbs. There are also some nice sounds to be heard to give it a dualistic feel. The track is very atmospheric, with a good dimensional feel to it. "Decadent Splendour" starts off more quiet with guitar sounds in heavy reverbs. As the song progresses we venture more into the industrial-ambient realm. "Among the Ruins" goes again for the same route; starting off with more quiet ambient passages, before becoming an intense industrial-ambient wasteland. The journey ends with "The Fortress", which is a darkly melodic and cinematic song which works very effective with some nice guitar melodies weaved in. "Forgotten Realm" is a good album. While sometimes it has a little too striking resemblance with Raison d'Etre, and then especially his newer work, Hall of Mirrors still have sounds of their own to offer, to not make it a complete copy, especially with the use of nice guitars and in the last song they create a more authentic atmosphere. As a whole the album sounds very good, with good production values. If they could make their album sound somewhat more "original" in places, they would have a real winner. But this is still an excellent album for dark-ambient fans, especially of the Cold Meat variety! (8/10)
Fabian, Gothtronic, July 2010

Dopo il debut "Reflections On Black" prosegue con tenacia il flirt creativo fra Andrea Marutti e Giuseppe Verticchio sotto il sognante segno degli Hall of Mirrors con un altro full lenght di pregiata dark-ambient dove presteranno servigio anche Andrea Freschi e Andrea Ferraris. L'opening di "The Crossing" ci fa precipitare all'istante in un magma di drone e dissonanza, alleggerito al suo centro dalla presenza di field recordings naturalistici e acquosi (farina del sacco di Freschi) che ben si adagiano al via vai etereo delle sparute note emesse dalla chitarra del Verticchio; parlerei serenamente di un'ispirazione che attinge, tout court, all'estatica fonte del maestro Paul Schütze, sfiorando qua e là obnubilanti retaggi post-industrial. Seguitando il cammino verso l'infinito, con "Gates of Namathur", l'aplomb degli HoM di danzare con la volontà di potenza dell'oscurità è cosa ormai assodata, ma a tale disegno va aggiunto un trasporto parallelo dei nostri per i suoni primordiali dalla consistenza etnica, intercettati nel catacombale e discontinuo vagito di un flauto tailandese, la cui enfasi accresce di minuto in minuto grazie anche alla filigrana elettronica inerpicata dagli inferi. "Decadent Splendour" è un titolo, poi, che si sposa a meraviglia col climax del brano: un tragitto di decadente espiazione esistenziale introdotto dalle fosche iniezioni delle chitarre tramite un effetto scivolante che ricorda non poco lo slide, e che al suo termine le vedrà risucchiate da un grigiastro motorik percussivo sceso a patti col martial. E se il diletto per un bilinguismo fatto di estasi e rumore irrompe puntuale anche in "Among the Ruins", alternandosi tra retrogusto organistico e power frequencies tracimanti nell'harsh, "The Fortress" disimpegna la propria spiritualità attraverso l'uso della melodia con docili arpeggi in lontananza su cui s'infrangono temperate pulsioni ritmiche di stregata fattura ambientale.
Sergio Eletto, Sound and Silence, July 2010

Nicely disconcerting set of deep, dark ambient rumble from this duo of Andrea Marutti (Amon) and Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh) here ably supported by Andrea Freschi (Subinterior) and Andrea Ferreris (Sil Muir) which, it must be said, is an awful lot of Andreas for one record. The five tracks that make up "Forgotten Realm" are concerned with teasing out as much spatial resonance as possible from their sound sources. On the whole the album paints a pretty crumbly sort of vista but this bleak post-industrial ennui often breaks nicely into a more plaintive and disconsolate sort of ambience with the addition of more melodic and melancholy interludes. It is these interludes (with the exception of the guitar on track five which I didn't like at all) that are the saviour of this album. The rest of it isn't bad by any means, it's all pretty good in fact, but the seamless transitions into the more decorative aspects really catch the ear and pull you back into the music's reality whenever one starts to slip back into our more mundane one.
Ian Holloway, Wonderful Wooden Reasons, August 2010

Reisen in ferne Länder und das Erleben der dortigen Kulturen stehen momentan hoch im Kurs der "Urlaubswilligen", die vor Stress, Hetze & Kälte in der Heimat fliehen. Zur perfekten Einstimmung könnte "Forgotten Realm" von Hall of Mirrors dienen, das eindrucksvoll in die Zeit & zu den Plätzen versetzt, wo die Anfänge unserer heutigen Zivilisation liegen. Wie schon der erste Teil der Hall of Mirrors Saga "Reflections On Black" (2007) erblickte auch "Forgotten Realm" das Licht der Welt über die feine italienische Manufaktur Silentes, die die CD innerhalb ihrer Minimal Editions Serie herausbringt. Mittels der Bebilderung des Booklets lässt sich schnell erkennen, in welche Region der Welt uns Hall of Mirrors einladen – Südostasien wählten Andrea Marutti & Giuseppe Verticchio für ihre Arbeit "Forgotten Realm" aus, die aber ansonsten keine genaueren "Koordinaten" vorgibt, eine Tatsache, welche viel Spielraum für eigene bzw. individuelle Kopfkinoausflüge bietet. Musikalisch "bastelte" das italienische Duo mit seinen Helfern Andrea Freschi (Subinterior, Konau) & Andrea Ferraris (Ur, Sil Mur) fünf eindrucksvolle Tondokumente aus den Stilen Ambient, Ritual, Industrial & Noise, welche über die komplette Spielzeit durch Ausdruckskraft & Vereinnahmung überzeugen. Als äußerst gelungen darf die Ausgewogenheit zwischen synthetischen & organischen Strukturen bezeichnet werden, die die Italiener mit Ton- & Sprachsamples bzw. Feldaufnahmen verfeinerten, wodurch sich mystisch ergreifende Atmosphären mit hohem Wiedererkennungswert ergeben. Aufgrund der engen Verbundenheit aller Tracks untereinander, welche gemeinsam eine kompakte Einheit ergeben, lässt sich kein expliziter Anspieltipp ermitteln, somit geht der Rat zum Komplettdurchlauf, um das best- wie größtmögliche Hörerlebnis zu erhaschen. Fazit: individuen, die sich schon die "Hände" von Penjaga Insaf & Herbst9 begaben, sollten "Forgotten Realm" von Hall of Mirrors unbedingt antesten – meine absolute Empfehlung
Raphael Feldmann, Kultur Terrorismus, August 2010

A hall of mirrors is a house of doubt, erected for the specific purpose of disarraying the senses – which image is the substantial one? Andrea Marutti (as Amon) and Giuseppe Verticchio (as Nimh) have teamed up before for the album "Sator" and once previously as Hall of Mirrors. For this perfectly balanced third collaboration, they have chosen to work closely with veteran Andrea Freschi and Andrea Ferraris, Marutti's partner in Sil Muir, just as they did with the lesser-known Guilio Biaggi and Daniela Gherardi on the first Hall of Mirrors album, "Reflections On Black". Arranged in five, grand audio frescoes, they convey a mixed message in combining clearly Buddhist and southeast Asian inspired iconography with the grimy, almost entirely abandoned ambience of urban gray zones. A mixed message which can be very attractive in its ambivalence, like the lone Thai flute being blown against a distant hiss and hum of heavy machinery losing momentum on "Gates of Namathur". It is as if nature, having given way to civilization, which exploited it until exhausted, is being reconsecrated and reclaimed. A light-hearted guitar coda recurs on the final track, broadcasting optimism and rejuvenation. This is how Hall of Mirrors sows doubt and thus dimension in its music - does this music grieve or celebrate?
Stephen Fruitman, Sonomu, April 2011

"Forgotten Realm" is the newest release from dark ambient project Hall of Mirrors, which is comprised of Andrea Marutti (aka Amon) and Giuseppe Verticchio (aka Nimh). The album appears to have several other collaborators as well. Sound-wise, "Forgotten Realm" is a dark, etho-ambient record that is a bit reminiscent of Steve Roach, Alio Die, or some Robert Rich. The album art provides a fitting visual representation of the contents of this record: evocative soundscapes that bring to mind exploring ruined jungle temples and the rites of the forgotten primeval tribe who built them. The songs are structured with foundations of long, layered droning passages with various other sounds (guitar, didgeridoo, flutes, etc.) making an appearance at different points throughout the rather lengthy durations. The tracks are, in essence, minimal (not dissimilar from Marutti's own Amon project), although just enough happens at the proper intervals to keep the listener from becoming bored. In a couple of the tracks, the drones will build into a noisy, near-cacophonous section before subsiding back into a quieter state. The flow between these sections is good, and they add a heightened state of urgency and the feeling of imminent peril. The ethnic instrumentation is rather minimal as well; most of the instruments will only play one rather simple melody, however this works fine in the context of these tracks; any more would likely be overkill. There are sections of subtle, but repetitive, percussive sounds ("Decadent Splendor") or repeating pulsing sounds ("Among the Ruins") that give this record something of a hypnotic, ritualistic feel. Though the tracks are all fairly long (beyond twelve minutes), they never overstay their welcome; however, they seem to have unnecessarily long dwindling outros, and most of them could have ended a minute or so earlier. My main critique of this album is that it sounds really old. If someone told me that this was released in 1991, I would believe it wholeheartedly. The production is quite muddy and extremely gritty, though it doesn't detract terribly from the music (it sounds suitably ancient, I suppose), and it may even suit certain tastes. Overall, this is a pretty interesting, albeit hardly revolutionary, bit of tribal/ethnic dark ambient. I'm a big fan of tribal influence, and this one definitely caught my ear. If you're interested in hearing the ancient ceremonies of a long dead, mysterious jungle tribe, and don't mind gritty production, then you will want to check this out. (8/10)
Dan Barrett, Connexion Bizarre, September 2011