Cave Dweller - Walter Goodman (or the Empty Cabin in the Woods)

CAVE DWELLER - Walter Goodman (or the Empty Cabin in the Woods) (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

Aesthetic Death keeps surprising me, doing albums I would never expect to hear... this time with Cave Dweller and their album “Walter Goodman (or the Empty Cabin in the Woods)”. Before I go into details about what you will find on this CD, let me just say that Cave Dweller is a project of Adam R. Bryan from Pando, whose "Rites" recently have been introduced here as well. Musically there isn't really much in common between these two projects, but I need to say that in both cases I've been really impressed by the visual presentation of these albums. I mean, the whole layout and more so, the incredible photographs in the booklets are just brilliant. And in case of “Walter Goodman (or the Empty Cabin in the Woods)”, it is all about the nature. And when I see a photograph of Adam himself (or I think it is him?) relaxed, lying somewhere at the river, then it just all fits together perfectly, as this album can be a nice soundtrack when you take a walk in the woods or somewhere to chill out and just spend some time in loneliness. 

But, what sort of musica do we have here? Well, Cave Dweller goes deeply into acoustic neo folk / ambient sort of stuff. And the music is very tranquilizing, I think, it can charm the listener much, but it can deliver kind of dark, melancholic feel as well. Which is nice, I think. Obviously, it’s nothing like acoustic Ulver or stuff like that. It's not nordic folk or whatever. But if you know some neofolk acoustic projects, then I can assure you that Cave Dweller fits this category of music very well. And these songs are great. I admit that at first I was a little sceptical towards it. But one or two listens and Cave Dweller really convinced me. I like this album a lot. I don't listen to acoustic music often, but I do from time to time and mostly it would be stuff like Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio or Death in June... I just need to be in a proper mood for something like that. “Walter Goodman (or the Empty Cabin in the Woods)” will be a guest in my stereo in the future also, I am sure. 

But again, I am sorry that I didn't have time to read the all these notes and lyrics on the album, to understand “Walter Goodman...” better. I will do that one day for sure, just I didn't have time to do it now. Anyways, I think this is a very interesting and impressive album. 

Verdict: 70/100