Sometimes you just accidentally run into surprises. Earlier this week I came across this album via a weblog. Interesting artwork, dark ambient, an album title like "Spectacvlvm Horarvm"... it was enough to peek my interest. After listening to it I was left with one thought wow...!Papyri is the alter ego of a certain Andrew O. from Brazil who has released a demo last year by himself. And Papyri is still without a major label. Spectacvlvm Horarvm's theme is "time" and, I might add, "transience". With five songs and under 25 minutes of music it's a short album but what a pleasant one it is. "Aeon" opens with some drones, quickly joined by chimes and strings. Although these elements may sound cliche, they are not. The last track "Tempvs Non Est" indeed features the sound of many ticking clocks but if you think that the track will peter out with that, nope, wrong again. Instead we get a piece of terrifying orchestral music.The sound quality is exceptional. Andrew uses a lot of sounds of strings and percussion and I'm curious whether he sampled this himself or not. Regardless, the loops merge seamlessly. Often Andrew also knows where to put a moment of silence to then take the music into a completely different direction. As far as I'm concerned this music sits somewhere between cinematic neoclassical music and dark ambient. Especially the unpredictability and originality of the music makes that this album stands head and shoulders above many, sometimes more professional, acts out there making dark ambient. Tasteful and original music, well-designed artwork and webpage... I certainly hope that this artist is picked up by a major label because I would like to hear more of this! Judge for yourself however, as the album can be downloaded for free from the artist's webpage.- songsoverruinsOriginally written for the Dutch weblog IkEcht, English translation by the author.