Not sure if this has been covered before, because I haven't read this entire thread, but here I go:
Inade -
Aldebaran: Inade are, in my opinion, the MASTERS of mystical/spacy/dark ambient. "Aldebaran" is probably my favorite album of theirs, and is really their landmark work. It's a concept album, based on the star Aldebaran and the Black Sun mythos (I think it's a Celtic belief...) I cannot recommend this album enough. It can be had cheaply in the USA from
Malignant Records and
Cold Spring in Europe.
Lustmord -
The Place Where the Black Stars Hang: Though Lustmord's older work (Monstrous Soul, Heresy etc.) is massively original and innovative, it doesn't age too well. Those "night of the demon" samples get a little cheesy for me, and I've found a lot of the CMI folk do the "dungeon ambient" thing better. Not so with Black Stars. This album is a masterpiece. It is an obvious influence on Inade's "Aldebaran" and in some ways, even better than it. 75 minutes of unbelievably ominous, evil outer-space drones, whirs, and moans... I'm sure it has to do with the fact that I am terrified to death of aliens ("Signs" put me into shock - literally), but this album is horrifying to my ears. God, the spaceship sounds on the first track send chills down my spine.
Reutoff - anything: These guys are a relatively new band from Russia, who are absolutely one of the most amazing bands I've ever heard. Calling them "industrial" or "dark ambient" does not do them justice. They really have their feet dipped into all genres, and they are masters at it. Their releases are tough to find (a few tapes, a few CDRs, some compilation appearances, and a recently-released full-length CD) but WELL worth tracking down. Try their webpage,
right here.
I highly recommend the previous recommendations for Vladislav Delay, especially "Multila." One track on there - "Pietola" I think it is - is a 16 minute morass of drones, synth, and ultra-chaotic clicky beats. Wonderful.
If anyone's interested these or other things, feel free to PM me and I'll hook you up with MP3s or something. A good source is
Soulseek - message me if you like (nick: "minya").
Hope someone finds this interesting,
- Chris