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Reviews:

The solo project of core Plumerai member Martin Newman, Goddakk is based more in experimentation and ambience than the output of his other projects. In some ways expanding upon and altering Newman's original Goddakk Dos Dalen EP (read my review here), Monument to a Ruined Age, the project's full-length debut on Silber Records is a 9-song affair that's ambient yet highly rhythmic. Blending often unintelligible, whispery, tremolo-processed vocals with melodic loops, noise elements, and generous use of a Fender Bass VI that adds a more organic air to the affair, it's an album that's sonically interesting and compelling.
While not straying far from the formula of layered instrumental loops building sonic textures topped by more fluid melodies and vocals, it's the sonic differences in, and interplay of, these elements that separate them. The excellent "Unfortunates", for example, blends a more melodic bass riff and great organ melodies, complete with a chorus, for something far more musical, while the instrumental "Your Guilty Prize" builds melodic layers and transforms into a more noise-based piece throughout its 6 minute duration. The eerie "Human Beings" also stands out, unsettling atmospherics and haunting piano melodies creating a moody spatial void, as does the more pop-structured, ethereal "Crucify You".
While sometimes a bit formulaic, Goddakk's Monument to a Ruined Age is, overall, an interestingly textured and emotive foray into experimental ambience with a few dips into ethereal pop territory. Considerably different from Newman's work with Plumerai, it may not appeal to everyone, but will likely prove an interesting listen for experimental/ambient/ethereal fans.
~ Joshua Heinrich, Grave Concerns

Goddakk is the solo project of Martin Newman from the band 'Plumerai' and it came to life as he was trying to put together a band that would concentrate on songs with more of a dark and oppressive character, and this CD is the project's debut album.
This recording consists of 9 tracks of somewhat varied and sometimes aggressive soundscapes where you can hear many loops and sound effects, giving the music a drony but dynamic character. There are some vocals on some of the songs which have been processed through a tremolo pedal, giving the music an airy and spacelike tone.
The best way to describe this music would be like watching lava up close as it makes it's way down a rock formation or a grassy patch. You can see as the lava flows in a slow, repetitive pattern and if paid close attention, you can also see how some of the outer crust starts to dry out and form cracks. This is all of course happening in an atmosphere of intense heat, and that is the way this music feels like.
This is not your typical background music, and as a matter of fact it happens very much in the foreground. The music feels intense and unrelenting. It is harsh in nature and although it is noisy sometimes, it is not just noise because these are actually very structured songs. The music does not expand and contract as in minimalistic type of music where the harmonies go through an additive process, but rather just slowly moves along.
The only 'odd' track in this CD is track 8 where the mood actually changes drastically. Instead of an industrial feeling, this is indeed a very melodic but sorrow sounding track. An orchestral strings sounding tone carries along with what it seems to be a bass in the background and vocals whispering "crucify you". Imagine if you will as you are in the back seat of a car looking upwards to the blue sky in total silence as you are going to your own funeral!
I am sure this music is not for everyone because even when it does not possess any of the qualities of say death or black metal, it still has a very dark character and easily qualifies as very experimental music. It makes for a good interesting listen.
~ Lunar Hypnosis

Goddakk got its start as a result of bassist Martin Newman's struggles to get his main project, Plumerai (who, by the way, contributed an excellent track to Silber's 2004 Christmas comp), off the ground. It then dawned on Newman that he was still able to create music on his own, after seeing performances by Pamelia Kurstin and Brian John Mitchell (Remora). Of course, bass guitar-centric music is nothing new — Rothko, among others, were already doing it — but as a former master of the four-string myself, I find something especially beguiling about Newman's harsh, brittle soundscapes.
While the press materials draw up comparisons to the likes of Coil and The Legendary Pink Dots, I personally hear something more along the lines of Philip Jeck's rolling, rumbling washes of sound. The album begins with the aptly-titled "Opened", which consists of a low frequency rumbling hum — I suspect some serious guitar pickup abuse was involved here — as lighter, shimmering guitar filigrees bounce back and forth. Newman's voice, shredded and whipped by a bevy of effects pedals, gasps out from time to time, though his treated vocals are barely able to maintain their form under the soundscape's onslaught.
"Opened", like all of the other tracks, are by no means the pinnacle of audiophile perfection. They're roughhewn, as if Newman decided that the only possible vessel for capturing his sounds was a battered old 4-track and worn-down magnetic tape. However, the noisy, abrasive quality of the recording actually makes these songs stronger than they might have been otherwise. It imbues them with an otherworldly quality that is both strangely beguiling (given the songs' dark, harsh nature) and rather creepy.
However, it's not all just sonic assaults and walls of rumbling, head-rattling guitar noise. Songs such as "Unfortunates" and "Crucify You" are surprisingly melodic, given the otherwise clashing sounds that Newman generates. This is especially true of the former. The sounds as if you're locked inside a church bell tower at midnight, the giant tolling sounds crashing all around you and threatening to cave your head in. However, a wandering organ has something of a structuring effect, while Newman's tremoloed vocals whisper in from the edges.
"Crucify You" is easily the most song-like song on the disc, as well as the most poignant, as Newman gasps and intones the titular words with increasing desperation, leaving the listener to wonder just who, exactly, is "you". Newman's bass guitar takes on a cello-like facade, while additional string-like arrangements combine with the recording's haziness, resulting in a song that would sound quite at home on This Mortal Coil's It'll End In Tears.
Interestingly, Newman had intended for Plumerai to take on dark, oppressive pop songs a la The Cure's Pornography. I find that somewhat ironic because, while Goddakk's music is much more abstract than anything The Cure ever did outside of "Carnage Visors", there are certain parallels between Monument To A Ruined Age and the Cure's darkest hour.
Pornography found the band delving increasingly into heavily rhythmic songs that were much more atmospheric and stream-of-consciousness than anything they'd done up to that point (or since then). I don't find it too hard to imagine that, had Robert Smith gone even farther into that darkly rhythmic, crushing sound than he did, the result might not too dissimilar from songs such as "Unfortunates" or "Crucify You".
~ Jason Morehead, Opus

Well-assembled drones, loops, and patterns from Plumerai's Martin Newman working solo. Different from some of the other loop-based artists/projects I've heard, in that Newman adds quite a bit of active material to the loop backgrounds, which keeps the pieces from drifting off into repetitive monotony. The moods here range from pretty to bleak to pretty bleak. Most of the compositions are pure droners, while a couple of them actually have a simple chord change or two. All of them present a nice balance between musical elements and textural sounds. I particularly like the crunchy, scattered-sounding bass guitar on #5, and the sneaky processed vocals that show up from time to time throughout the CD.
~ Max Level, KFJC

The same Cure album Pornography is mentioned in the press blurb of Goddakk's debut album 'Monument To A Ruined Age'. Martin Newman was thinking of forming a band that could similar music, but decided to keep it a solo project and be in total control himself. I assume that somewhere along the lines he abandoned the idea of doing songs along the lines of 'Pornography', since 'Monument To A Ruined Age' sounds quite unlike that. Goddak plays around with loops of sounds, played using a six string bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, and vocals, to create songs that are somewhere half way through ambient soundscaping and real songs. The same press blurb mentions influences of Colin Newman (not related, but of Wire fame), The Legendary Pink Dots, and Coil, but I must admit I can only see the influence of the latter. Despite the fact that there are voices used, it's hard to detect them. That makes the idea of popsongs a bit more difficult. Quite 'present' ambient music or quite 'lush' pop-music, and whereas not always the newest or hottest thing in town, it's surely executed with great care and imagination.
~ Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly 
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