For the best part of a decade, Ricardo Donoso has been delivering albums that inhabit the no-man's-land between drone, dark ambient, experimental electronica, and neo-classical soundscapes. On Quintessence, his eighth full-length excursion, Donoso continues to mine these complimentary genres. So while opener "Interphase" glides along on evocative strings and gentle ambient chords, "Metaphase" crackles with crunchy electronic intensity, with Donoso's dark mood coming to the fore. Elsewhere, the majority of the tracks sit somewhere in between these two contrasting approaching, with manipulated orchestration rubbing shoulders with moody, droning electronics and reverb-laden audio textures. It makes for an impressive, if a little chilly, collection of otherworldly cuts.