o I was was thinking what we'd collectively done this year and got the impression we'd had a quiet year on releases, but as it turns out, between us we've released four albums, which isn't too bad I guess. And on top of that The Chasms have recorded a session for Pete Jacksons's Dandelion Radio show, which will be released on Monday (2nd January) to download, and sometime shortly after that to buy on CD.

(2nd January) to download, and sometime shortly after that to buy on CD. So all in all it's ended up quite a busy year, although we didn't play live, but we already have a couple of gigs planned for 2012. More on them closer to the time. So anyway, here's a quick(ish) roundup of what was released in 2011...

First up was Richard's solo album...

Then we had a new album from myself (Simon) and Mike's long running (approximately 15-20 years) side project The Phantom Carriage...

We got one review for this album, it's in German, but a rough translation reads... "the gentlemen Mike Seed & Simon Pott behind The Phantom Carriage here a masterpiece in terms of Electronica deliver that in the same league as publications by Massive Attack, Leftfield, Portishead, Aphex Twin etc.."
The Phantom Carriage - III, reviewed at Kultur [terrorismus]

Next up was the first (and only) full band release of the year...

This was our third album and just happened to be the one that got us our first proper reviews, and very good they were too... "The greatest band to appear this century."

The Chasms - Alchemical Postcards, reviewed at Unwashed Territories Alchemical Postcards was also rated as the second best album of the year at Unwashed Territories. Thank you Mark.
"it may very well already be too late for the Isle of Man." The Chasms - Alchemical Postcards, reviewed at The White Noise Revisited "BRUTALS"
The Chasms - Alchemical Postcards, reviewed at L’Apartment 18

And then came Mike in collaboration with The Language of Light which was released as part of a split 12" with Stone Breath on the flip-side, 'The Aetheric Lamp'... Mike Seed with the Language of Light - Grendel At Long Mynd by AntiClock

This release can be bought from our good friends at AntiClock.

There have been quite a few reviews of this, here's a few snippets...
"Mike Seed and Language of Light mix drone, atmosphere and vocals to devastating effect, the opening track “Commit to Water”, getting straight into it, a rattling haze of sound offering a sonic background to the almost spoken vocals, each element drifting in and out of the mix in a cloud of atmosphere."
The Aetheric Lamp reviewed at The Terrascope
"Mike Seed's voice sounds tormented and the pieces almost like murder ballads. Much more radical, less musical, free form etc this side leaves a mighty impression on me." The Aetheric Lamp reviewed at Vital Weekly
"Bearing in mind the darker path of Mike Seed, it seems that his take on The Ætheric Lamp is perhaps a more traditional one as there wasn’t much “light” to be found on his side of the split. If anything, it seems that the illuminating nature of his will to go on in the current world is the brightest part of his side."
The Aetheric Lamp reviewed at Heathen Harvest

So that's all the proper releases covered. The Chasms did record a track for 'Five Years' double album download to celebrate 5 years of the wonderful Dandelion Radio. The track was a slightly different mix of 'A Copse of Trees'. The download was only available throughout June and July via Unwashed Territories on Bandcamp.
The Phantom Carriage also recorded a track for The Oneirocritical Society which is a project curated by AntiClock.
The Phantom Carriage - 1st of July 1986 (Dream 1) by AntiClock

And to finish off the year we had the best news ever. The Chasms were voted into the number three spot in this years Official John Peel Festive 50 which has been hosted by Dandelion Radio since John's untimely passing. The track that made it was 'The Occult Soul Review'.

This now makes three years on the trot we've managed to get into the top 5. So for all the people who voted for us in the Festive 50, and to all those that have downloaded or bought any of these releases and enjoyed them we hope you've had a great year.