LLYN Y CWN – Dinorwic (Limited edition DIGI CD) (2020)

Llyn Y Cwn conveys atmosphere and environment through deep ambient sounds. The sound of nature re-establishing itself in the post-industrial wilderness of a former quarry. A phantasm of echoes reflecting the bleak majesty and poetic melancholy of the hinterland of North Wales. A hole within a void, a place defined by absence in a world of negative space. The backdrop for this cavernous soundtrack is „Dinorwic” slate quarry. The field recordings were taken in this vast subterranean environment where an exposed scar of rock is carved out of the mountainside on the western slope of Elidir Fawr in Snowdonia, North Wales.

Standing alone in the quarry, which covers 700 acres up to a height of 600m, it isn’t difficult to imagine work going on around you with the abandoned industrial landscape juxtaposed against the backdrop of the majestic Snowdonia skyline. Each track is named after an area of the quarry, descending ever deeper through each rock gallery, with their acoustically unique echoes and sounds. The landscape is in a state of constant flux with small avalanches of rock and spoil slate tumbling over itself – it was such a landslide that led to the eventual demise of the quarry. The hydroelectric power station, built deep underground inside the mountain, can be heard rumbling away through the various air shafts dotted around the quarry, adding to the overall ominous feel of the pieces.