Since the late '80s, Stefano Musso has recorded deep, evocative experimental ambient and electro-acoustic soundscapes under the name Alio Die. Combining sweeping electronics with found sound and acoustical treatments, he has assembled a rich and varied collection of recordings for such labels as Projekt, Hypnos, Timebase, Heart of Space / Fathom, and his own Hic Sunt Leones label. Based in Milan, Musso studied art and electronic there, founding Alio Die in 1989 self-releasing a debut, Under an Holy Ritual, in 1992. Enthusiastically received in his home country, 'Holy Ritual' expanded Musso's international presence significantly in 1993 when it was licensed by the popular U.S. darkwave label Projekt.
His music is a shadowy, cavernous, intensely detailed fusion of acoustical elements, step-and-repeat sample treatments, sparse, echoing percussion, and deep, atmospheric sound design, playing ambient's static tendencies off of shifting melodic and textural passages that suggest movement without sacrificing the music's vague, entropic formlessness.
Sean Cooper, All-Music Guide