... Or music similar to The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud. They're actually martial industrial/neofolk, but I always like describing them as medieval ambient for their use of archaic languages, chants and instruments, and the medieval imagery, as well as keeping that eerie, esoteric, dark ambience. They're one of my top medieval-related bands to listen to.

I've tried looking through other martial industrial bands, but none of the ones I've come across have quite hit close to MLHBC... For those of you who have a more extensive knowledge of various dark ambient groups, can you give me some suggestions?

Thanks.

Well, there's:

Dark Sanctuary from France (my fave)

Lustmord of course!

Poke around for Love is Colder than Death

Also a favorite, the rather dark-carnival sounding QNTAL

You can also check into period groups such as Sequentia (about the best there is), the frontman Benjamin Bagby sings Beowulf solo with a harp. I've seen it. It's like nothing else.

good, dark luck!

Thanks for the suggestions Lachrymose. I think Lustmord is worth getting into (I have one track by him). I think I need something less on the neoclassical/electronic side and more on the harsh ambient side (less lyrical content, more sound; cathedral-ish), though (but I still love all of the groups mentioned!).

Have you given Dargaard a try? Don't think many of their songs contain lyrics.

You might like Burzum's ambient music.

Whenever I'm looking for new music in a genre I'm not familiar with [not saying you are unfamiliar with Medieval Ambient...] I like to try out compilation CDs. They give me a nice taste of what may be available and if I find a band I like, I can then research them and find more. Or you can type a band name into amazon.com and see what other customers bought.

Even though they are old, you can look at the Cryptichon compilations:
http://www.discogs.com/search?q=Cryptichon&btn=&type=all

You should let us know what you find!

Dead Can Dance, Dargaard, Pazuzu, Grabesmond, Arcana, Summoning/Die Verbannten Kinder Evas, Mortiis, Wongraven, Hagalaz' Runedance, Aghast, Vinterriket.

well, do you consider Sopor Aeternus as a medieval ambient??

Elements of it, perhaps, but keeps it mostly restricted to intros/outros/interludes.

Sopor Aeternus is more of a general "darkwave" act.

Centurion, you have some great taste in musik!

I would also say, THE SOIL BLEEDS BLACK are very much along this style, tho they don't have such a deadly & dark atmosphere.

DARGAARD, PAZUZU, GRABESMOND, DIE VERBANNTEN KINDER EVAS, MORTIIS are all great recommendations...

Others similar to this are :

FATA MORGANA (MORTIIS projekt)
MIRKWOOD (SUMMONING projekt)
VOND (MORTIIS projekt)

Lord Wind.

Corvus Corax

They're a German Neo-Medieval music group.

Being a fan of Graveland's music (but definitely NOT Darken's racist beliefs), I expected more from Lord Wind.
Their first albums just made me laugh out loud.
Darken still tries to incorporate his black metal growls into the music, but more in a "groaning" manner, as to sound like an old man sitting on the can after a night of whiskey & beans.
His "monologues" were exceptionally painful, as his English makes this doofus English teacher I'm forced to work with everyday sound like William Shakespeare by comparison.

Luckily his later Lord Wind albums all but banished those vocals, and I can admit I quite enjoy them.

I highly recommend ZA FRUMI. Really top notch medieval ambient music. Pretty much all of the other suggestions are worth checking out as well. Some of them might be slightly off in terms of the style you're looking for, but they are all solid bands/projects. Slight warning though: if you are checking out Mortiis, be sure to ONLY check out his older (Era-1) albums. He lost his mind afterwards and started going in a WAY more trashy/Marilyn Manson-ish direction, and his music completely sucks now!

Za Frumi...... the guy who would go on to create the awesome dark ambient project Atrium Carceri!!!
Alright, but for those easily irritated by orcish voices chattering in another language throughout the whole thing, prepare to be amused. Definitely for Tolkein/D&D geeks!!!

I wouldn't be too harsh on newer Mortiis.... despite being unoriginal, it's ok for what it is...... typical Pretty Hate Machine-esque industrial metal.
The older stuff is where he shines though, despite it's painful amateurish edge (synths being out of sync, etc.)