Top 10 Dark Ambient albums of all time

Since I love so much dark ambient music, this was a very difficult list for me to choose. On another day, the order could swap around a bit (with the exception of the number 1 album, which I really think is just the best).

10. Inade: The Incarnation of the Solar Architects (Loki Foundation, 2009). This is a recent-ish release by German legends Inade, and its a monster. Not the darkest of ambients, but just massive; it brings to mind colossal alien constructs floating through space. The production quality on this album is jawdropping (some of the best I've ever heard in any genre of music), and if it had a bit more darkness and depth, it would be even higher on this list.
9. Camanecroszcope II: Echoes of a Beckoning Arcanum (Spectre, 2006). This project is a wonderful collaboration between power noise legend Iszoloscope and cult Tribal / experimental artist Ah Cama Sotz. Together they make a formidable combination that has so far released two incredibly good dark ambient albums. This is the second and I think the best. It has a very cold and alien atmosphere, that invokes images of exploring tombs of long-lost civilizations on Mars. Best listened to at night.
8. Lustmord: Zoetrope (Nextera, 2002). Lustmord pretty much invented dark ambient with his 1990 album Heresy, but has since put out many works since then, and better works. This 2002 album is a soundtrack to some experimental movie; I don't know much about that, but I do know that this album is just stunning, and a great introduction to the darker end of dark ambient. Truly creepy stuff and one of the best albums from the legendary artist.
7. RAAN: The Nacrasti (Malignant Antibody, 2001). This is a criminally underrated album, put out by the odd Malignant Records sub-label, Malignant Antibody. RAAN sadly only ever did this one album, and it is a masterpiece of the genre. It has many moments that equal the power and presence of the best drone artists such as Terra Sancta, but has so much more variation, including some beautiful meditative moments and some almost tribal passages. This is one you have to listen to from beginning to end in one go. Essential and sadly overlooked.
6. Inade: The Crackling of the Anonymous (Loki Foundation, 2001). German act Inade are up there with Lustmord and Raison D'etre as the most respected artists in this genre. While many immediately think of Alderebran as the definitive Inade album, it's this one for me. Classic dark, creepy space ambient, as only Inade can do it. Possibly the darkest album on this list.
5. Lustmord: The place where the black stars hang (Side Effects, 1994). This is an older album of Lustmord's from the 90s, and is just amazing. This CD includes the longest track in my entire music collection, clocking in at over 70 minutes long (don't worry, it's nowhere near the longest track ever made; Robert Rich has that record sewn up, its over 7 hours long). The greatest strength of this album is its subtlety; it's an immensely slow journey through hypnotic yet barely noticeable sounds, culminating in an encounter in very darkest, deepest space.
4. Raison D'etre: The Empty Hollow Unfolds (Cold Meat Industry, 2000). Swedish solo act Raison D'etre is probably the biggest name in dark ambient and has put out many albums, some amazing and some not so. I think this is certainly his best. The first half is probably the most pure and perfect example of the classic Swedish style that Cold Meat Industry is known for, and what I would point someone to who asked me "what does dark ambient sound like?". The later parts of the album are where Peter Andersson pushes the boundaries and breaks the usual Raison D'etre formula, with excellent results. Top Shelf, and one of Cold Meat's proudest moments.

3. Yen Pox: New Dark Age (Malignant Records, 2000). This is pure, pure dark drone ambient, at its very best. Music that hisses and flows out of your speakers and surrounds you in a suffocating fog of nightmares and despair. This album made me really sit up and pay attention to this genre of music. The artwork and mastering are simply perfect. Malignant Records = quality.

2. Desiderii Marginis: Deadbeat (Cold Meat Industry, 2001). One of my very favourite albums of all time; one of those albums which you know you'll listen to in 10 or even 20 years, and still enjoy as much as you do today. Desiderii Marginis' second album, and best album (his later ones are perfectly good but not anywhere near this). Saying this album is classic Swedish dark ambient is the most banal of understatements. The last two tracks take me away to places very far away.
1. Yen Pox and Troum: Mnemonic Induction (Malignant Records, 2002). I don't even know what to say about this album. You take the ultra dark drone ambient of Yen Pox, mix it with the experimental ambient soundscapes of Troum, and you get this block of madness, beauty and utter brilliance. Trying to describe it is futile. Listen to it on good headphones or very good speakers and be amazed.

And just for clarification, my definition of dark ambient here does *not* include neo-classical / folk / ethereal stuff like Arcana (who would be all over this list like a rash, if it did), or death industrial stuff like Brighter Death Now or Megaptera (again, like a rash, a big red rash), or whatever it is you call In Slaughter Natives (again with the rash), you get the idea. Just dark ambient. Also, quick rundown on albums that almost but didn't quite make the list: Deutsch Nepal's "Benevolence", Combative Alignment's "Ritez of Higher Communication", Raison D'etre's "In Sadness, Silence and Solitude".