Listening constantly, the feeling is blissful, skillfully crazy guitars floating out there encircled by magnificent howling synths which move in the sky and fill the air like a thick cloud of floating and amphibious tones that slowly come into focus.
Encircled by magnificent howling synths
The winds blow, the beast calls, the forces gather, let the weird and wonderful sounds wash over you. The borders of conceivable electronic space music have just been re-extended yet deeper into uncharted territory. There is no up or down, there is only near and far, a series of explorations of distant territories, and winning combinations of burning electric guitar craft with crystalline icy synthetics. Weathering the Storm takes me into kosmische musik, electronic space rock from the 1970s and 1980s. Leading up to that time German artists were inventing their own style. Some say that the radical new sound and approach to the experience of electronic music was a reaction to the pop sound that was overwhelming their radios, and so they needed to invent their own thing. Kosmische music might include bands such as Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, Yes, ELP, Utopia, Can, Faust, Neu, Cluster, Klaus Schulze, and so many more, and there is always plenty to argue about, who has almost become too commercial, what are classics, what is pure?
“The Prodigal Sun” (18:54), brings the frightening vertiginous depths and the presence of gigantic flying objects overhead for almost 19 epic minutes. This is cosmic heaven, and that is where the magic starts. “A Matter of Time Part 1” (3:02) might be a story of chronological reinterpretation, also since this is Part 1, there must be more. What I hear is a simple and powerful twelve string guitar colorfully and perfectly drenched in swirling electronica. The action is leading up to a dramatic meltdown or sustained explosion, the distances are almost lost while the details keep things interesting. “Aquatic” (7:44) has more elements of interesting sounds woven into the mix, heavy rainfall blending with signals from Atlantis (dark and deep and full), the space beetles call, didn’t it rain?
Fine notes pierce the crystal silence ::
The track “Sunflowers in the Wind” (4:37) sounds like a bright sunny sky, fine notes pierce the crystal silence, feeding on their echoes and slowly propelling the movement in what becomes a synthesized tornado. I hear of a link between the sequential spheres, and that we are riding subtle nuances and sequenced progressions, until eventually flooded in the dream of the crystals, which dance as angels pass by on a delicate crystalline structure, circular and catchy, a pure jewel of the Dream crown. The title track, “Weathering the Storm” (10:12), enters and approaches cautiously, and you know that something big is going to happen, a building sense of some kind of dangerous natural phenomenon that is also clarifying. Do I hear the sweet lamentations of sprites? I hear mythological rumblings like thunder, harkening to multiple chromatic breezes and dark mist, a beautiful spectral environment which flows among dramatic effects and silvered iridescent floating shadows. I feel just awakened enough to feed from this delicate daydreamer rhythm, continued with the twelve-string guitar soaring through space together with the varied sweeps, at times unbearably mind blowing through the massive build up slowly gathering strength. The next track brings a superb hypnotic acoustic guitar in deep space, “A Matter of Time part 2” (1:46), should the two tracks be played together? There is that option. I think they work well as two separate tracks, with similar names.
“Onwards and Upwards” (8:59) reaches into a strange and vast territory. Imagine that the reverberation is an instrument, feel the power and wonder abound, guitar and drone abide, enter the piano. Now bring on a pulse. Life is good. The final track on this aural odyssey is titled “Liquid Heaven part 2” (5:55), and could be a spiritual continuation of a track from the first album Toward the Horizon.
To me, listening constantly, the feeling is blissful, skillfully crazy guitars floating out there encircled by magnificent howling synths which move in the sky and fill the air like a thick cloud of floating and amphibious tones that slowly come into focus. The storm overwhelmingly passes, the road goes on forever.
Weathering the Storm is available on Spotted Peccary Music. [Bandcamp | Site]
