Bearly Queen is a one-man dark ambient project based in Finland. Notably, BQ cannot play any instruments, so he must rely entirely upon samples as the source material for his bleak soundscapes. That wouldn't be such a big deal if he made harsh electronic or noise music, but Bearly Queen is quixotically hell-bent on recapturing the sound of Tangerine Dream at their absolute spaciest. Despite that significant handicap, he has nevertheless been a remarkably prolific fellow thus far, releasing at least four full-length albums in just the last year and a half. Lamentably, his talent is not at quite the same level as his ambition and work ethic just yet.

"Void, Oh The Void" consists of just a single lengthy track. The first six minutes or so are devoted to completely non-engaging deep rumbles and unrecognizably slowed-down and stretched sounds, but gradually the noises get louder and more intriguing and a low and ominous synth drone creeps in to add some much-needed atmospheric color. Then, for the next half hour or so, the foreboding crackling, creaking, and rumbling glacially swell and ebb in intensity, yet never really become engrossing or progress into anything more. In fact, it is quite easy to entirely forget that this album is even playing at times unless it is being played at jet engine volume. Oddly, however, the piece ends with an unexpected flourish of color and musicality, as the last two minutes are populated with chimes and a heavily-delayed glissando of classical guitar. This is a rather mystifying artistic decision, as this crescendo was not previously hinted at or built up to in any way, but it is hopefully a harbinger of more memorable and varied work in the future.

I suppose this album succeeds artistically to at least some degree, as the atmosphere is undeniably cold and empty enough to approximate the void of space. Also, anyone with the superhuman patience and attention-span necessary to assemble a 44-minute track entirely from samples on their computer deserves my grudging respect. Unfortunately, “Void, Oh The Void” is generally just too murky, meandering, and one-dimensional to warrant much attention in the already hopelessly oversaturated experimental music world. 4/10 -- Anthony D'Amico (4 August, 2009)