A Deepening Record from Arcane Asylum Has Arrived
- BuzzSlayers
- Aug 16, 2025
- 9 min read
The unique and expansive but addictive electronic compositions of Arcane Asylum return once more with a brilliant LP that spans a wider variety and different directions than you might expect.
The album blends and mends gritty electronic undertones that border on Industrial and bear a heavy-handed cinematic output, with robust elements of rock, post-punk, and even a bit of an experimental dark wave feel.
We are no strangers to the sounds of Arcane Asylum, and are always pretty blown away by the stuff that they release. This is no exception to that rule whatsoever.
This record is called The Looking Glass, and it jumps in with a sort of glitchy and dirty feeling electronic single that has a brilliantly vast underbelly but utilizes some inventive synths and keys to add color and layers.
Throughout the unfolding of this album, you get the feel for how the artist builds songs.
These are tracks that deliver moods, soundscapes, emotions, and outstanding sets of textures that seem to come together, bringing out a thick atmosphere.
Once you find yourself in this atmosphere, you just want to stay there.
This is because the project is driven by a producer and composer who takes time to sculpt and shape sounds.
Not just songs or pieces of music. Not just arrangements or compositions, he shapes actual sound so that what you're hearing is a synthesizer coated with a decimator or a pad affected with massive amounts of reverb or delay.
All the sounds that you hear are shaped, and because of that, there are a lot of intricacies to the record that let it feel alive and breathing.
Now, having said that, there is also plenty of attention paid to the arrangements as well. This is also why songs feel like they have a natural flow.
Throughout this record, you begin to expect the unexpected, even though you know it's going to be something that you can get swallowed up by.
This is the kind of album that delivers a massively electronic and cinematically driving approach, so it is okay to get swallowed up by sounds like this. That is part of what it's meant for.
These are songs and albums that are designed for you to escape into. They set tones and moods and let your imagination sort of run wild.
This is one of my favorite aspects of the project in general.
Your mind does go where it wants to as the songs feed you these kinds of moods.
Some songs blend ethereal and dreamlike tendencies with edgy and haunting ones like "Laura's Scream (The Never Never).
Songs like that blend such unique approaches together. There are glitchy sounds with chopped up vocal samples, pianos that make you think of bands like Nine Inch Nails through the back of the track, and invite you to drift along into this semi-nightmarish landscape.
Like I said, you never know what to expect, but you are pulled into the aesthetic of this record almost immediately.
I am a fan of many things musically that were derived from something cinematic or visual.
This entire record feels like it's derived from a visual or cinematic source. It breeds that effect just by listening to it, and your mind is the projector that plays what it wants to as the songs run through.
You don't always get something like this. It's quite a rarity. When you do come across it, you listen to the whole album this way, and you get the full effect.
You want to hold on to the atmosphere the record gives you.
After listening to multiple albums and EPs from this artist and project, we wanted to find out more about this record.
Don't get me wrong, I hit play and ride the waves because it's a great journey, but I also have so many questions that pop into my head as I do that, because what I'm hearing is something that's again so intricate, but also so emotional at the same time.
I feel like it's hard to pull that off, so I want to know more about it.
Following their first listen to The Looking Glass, Buzz Slayers called ARCANE ASYLUM’s latest “gritty and haunting… opening into atmospheric darkwave and cinematic tones” with Made Of You delivering a “wild” yet “classic dark-edged” sound. This record pulls listeners into a world where beauty and unease share the same space, a sonic film that plays entirely in your head. In this interview, ARCANE ASYLUM’s Emmet O’Connell opens up about the creation of The Looking Glass, the art of building immersive worlds in sound, and why the edges between genres are where the magic really happens.
Buzz Slayers: Where did this album come from?
You mentioned Boxed In being gritty and haunting, that’s exactly where the journey starts. I wanted the opening to feel claustrophobic, like the walls were closing in, but then to slowly crack open into something vast and unpredictable.
I write every day, like it’s a job with a clear outcome. Sometimes a track comes together in an hour; other times it’s almost there but not quite right, so it sits for weeks or even months until it finds its shape. I always have multiple projects or series in motion, like the Dark Series, the incoming COLDER collection, and my upcoming personal project DEEPLY DIVIDED. That means there’s always a lot happening at once, and the music needs to fit both the mood and the interplay between ideas.
Once a track earns its place, I refine it over the next few days, then move into mixing and final mastering. It’s about making sure each piece doesn’t just sound good on its own but feels like part of the larger world ARCANE ASYLUM is building.
Buzz Slayers: When you are writing a record like this, are you going into it knowing what you want?
I start with an emotional compass, not a strict map. I never know exactly what I want from the get-go, I just start to see what happens. My wife calls it “fiddling with buttons,” and she’s right. Sometimes the smallest tweak sparks a completely new idea, and the track heads somewhere I never planned.
It’s very organic, even though it’s electronic-based. I might have a visual or mood in mind, shadowed corridors, neon-lit streets, desert horizons at night, but I let the process surprise me. With Made Of You, for example, I wanted an obsessive intimacy that’s both alluring and dangerous. It’s built on repetition, almost hypnotic, so it feels like you’re being pulled deeper in without even noticing.
Buzz Slayers: How much of this record started improvisational?
A lot. I’ll often sit in the studio late at night with no agenda, just letting sounds and textures evolve. Some of my favourite moments on this album, like the opening in Boxed In, came from complete accident or first-take experiments.
Sometimes I’ll capture a moment I don’t fully understand until days later, and that’s the take that stays. It’s about trusting the spontaneity of the process and letting unexpected ideas become part of the final vision.
Buzz Slayers: How do you choose the kind of synths and sounds you want to create?
I see sounds like casting actors in a film. Every synth, every texture needs the right character for the scene. Sometimes I start with something pristine and then destroy it, running it through distortion, re-amping it through old gear, mangling it with granular processing, until it feels alive. Other times I want pure atmosphere, something so deep it feels like you could step into it.
It’s not just about what works technically, it’s about what works emotionally in the context of the whole album. If it doesn’t serve the scene, it doesn’t make the cut.
Buzz Slayers: What sort of things inspire albums like this?
Films are a huge influence, David Lynch for surreal tension, Ridley Scott for scale, Denis Villeneuve for the way he uses silence. But also the real world: wandering through cities late at night, watching how people move and speak, hearing fragments of conversation, the way a street can shift mood when the light changes.
That cinematic mindset is why my music naturally lends itself to visual storytelling. Even if I’m not composing to actual footage, I’m still thinking in scenes and atmosphere, building tension and pacing as if the music was already part of a film. It’s one of the reasons I’m so interested in sync licensing and film scoring, much of what I create could easily be dropped into a scene and feel like it was written for it.
Buzz Slayers: How long have you been producing music?
I started in the early ’90s as part of London’s industrial scene, so we’re talking decades. ARCANE ASYLUM was born in that era but has evolved into something more atmospheric and cinematic while still carrying that industrial DNA.
I’ve stepped away at times, but the need to create has always pulled me back. These days, I work faster and more deliberately, partly because I’ve built a huge archive of unfinished material waiting to be brought to life.
Buzz Slayers: Is composing music for film something you’ve done before?
Not yet, but I’ve always felt my style was built for it. Every ARCANE ASYLUM track is designed like a scene, with its own pacing, tension, and emotional arc, so moving into film or TV scoring feels like a natural step.
A lot of my work is already cinematic by nature, the way I layer atmospheres, control dynamics, and build tension translates easily into visual storytelling. I’m actively interested in sync licensing and open to collaborating with filmmakers, game developers, and content creators who want something that’s both emotionally impactful and a little unconventional.
The goal wouldn’t just be to “fill the background” but to become part of the narrative, to create music that makes the visuals hit harder and stay with you longer. If a director handed me a scene tomorrow, I’d know how to shape it sonically so it feels unforgettable.
Buzz Slayers: Do you come from an electronic music background?
Yes, but I’ve always been straddling worlds. I’m a music listener first, and have been since I was a kid. When I started finding my own taste, I was drawn to all sorts of genres, but electronic music was the one that made the hairs on my arms stand up and sent a shiver down my spine.
I was pulled towards artists like Cabaret Voltaire, Kraftwerk, and Gary Numan (via Tubeway Army), along with a lot of post-punk, new wave, and early industrial/noise from the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten. I’m also a collector, so my influences are vast and layered. ARCANE ASYLUM lives in that in-between space, too heavy for some electronic purists, too electronic for the rock crowd, and that’s where I feel most free.
Buzz Slayers: This felt like a big undertaking! How long does it take you to build and release an album like this?
The Looking Glass took a few months from first note to final master, but some tracks take longer than others to be fully realised. Sometimes I’ll start something, set it aside, and then reanimate it months later when it finally fits the mood or direction of the latest project.
I work pretty fast and have a quick turnaround when the vision is clear, but I also have a lot of tracks in the vault waiting for the right series or collection. That’s where the excitement comes in, knowing there’s unfinished work just waiting for the perfect moment to come alive.
Buzz Slayers: Do you mix the record yourself?
Yes. For me, mixing is part of the creative process, not an afterthought. It’s where I decide how close or distant the listener feels, how much space a sound has to breathe, whether something is whispered in your ear or shouted from across a room.
I would also love to bring in in a sound engineer on certain projects to see what they can draw out of the work. That level of collaboration can be both inspiring and a huge learning experience. When I worked with David Michael Lawrie, a fantastic music producer and award-winning sound designer, on The Royal Ritual remix of Pleasure Hides Your Needs (Arcane Asylum Remix), I learned a lot about detail, space, and sonic storytelling. Sessions like that stay with you and inevitably shape how you approach your own music.
That kind of spatial awareness is exactly what’s needed when creating for film or TV, you’re not just making something sound good, you’re making it sit in a world. Whether it’s a club scene, a tense dialogue moment, or an expansive aerial shot, I want the music to feel like it belongs there without losing its identity.
Buzz Slayers: As a composer, producer, and artist, what advice would you give to up-and-comers out there?
Trust your instincts. Learn the tools, but don’t let the rulebook dictate your art. Finish your work, even if it’s not perfect, momentum is more important than perfection. Don’t fear the in-between spaces. Genres are just signposts; you don’t have to stay on the road.
And above all, create the kind of music you’d want to stumble across unexpectedly, the kind that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder where it’s been hiding. For me, that feeling goes back to exploring record stores, flipping through vinyl, and then the store suddenly plays something that grabs you instantly. That moment where you think, I have to know who this is, right now, and you walk out with it under your arm. That’s personal. That’s connection.
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