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Soundtrack: 6:04 - Are You Aware? (2023)

75 / 100
A more polished and atmospheric effort that moves away from raw noise toward dark ambient and soundtrack influences.

Okay, before jumping into Made Collector, let’s first look at 6:04’s second release, which came out on January 31, 2023. The format is still the same: an EP containing seven tracks with a total duration of fifteen minutes. The title is Are You Aware?.

Unlike the debut EP, which had a rather harsh character, this second effort sounds smoother and is influenced by typical soundtrack and dark ambient styles. The first track already shows this character with a slow, pulsating pattern, though it still features reverb/clipping effects from added field recordings, giving it a slightly raw feel.

The next track uses echo effects and is more dominated by field recordings, while the third track applies a kind of fast effect or reversed audio and is the only one of its kind on the EP.

The music returns to an echoing atmosphere for the remaining four tracks, mainly combining field recordings/audio samples with slightly experimental dark ambient. For example, “Circadian Bell” still uses echo effects. The synth pulse is faster and more noticeable on “Sub-Consequence,” while “You Divide” emphasizes a similar pulse but in a more structured manner. “Sands of Apollo” closes the EP with string pad-like melodies, making it the most emotional and arguably the most beautiful track here.

Overall, 6:04 plays it safer compared to their debut, with a good opening hook and closing track, and I definitely prefer this over the earlier noise style. This EP also broadens the range of genres explored by 6:04 and is worth checking out for fans of dark ambient, field recordings, and/or soundtrack music, even if it doesn’t yet possess the fully developed dark characteristics typical of standard dark ambient.

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