Inkeys

01/12/2024

Now available.......
ALISA CORAL'S MONO CHROME – World In Grayscale Album
Featuring Alisa on Synths, bass, guitar, FX, samples and electronic percussion, with additional drumming courtesy of the mysterious I.D.F. , it features two tracks lasting 30 and 21 minutes respectively, plus a 4 minute track in between.
The 30 minute opener is the title track and if you could imagine a darker, ambient answer to Klaus Schulze's “Totem”, mixed with elements of Banco De Gaia's “Last Train To Lhasa”, you'd be in the right place, only this is altogether much further out into deep space, and so organic, it's amazing. With a sea of drum beats taking up the beating heart of the track, the layers and textures created are pure magic. Vast swathes of cosmic synths, almost space-rock like synth swoops, deep swirls of electronics and an even deeper bass, all combine to give this a positively galaxian feel and soundscape, in many ways, the perfect meeting of synth and chill-out. As the piece progresses, the rhythm takes on a train-like quality as you are taken on a journey with all manner of textures, spacetronics, implied but not stated melodic undercurrents, and all the time, there's always something going on in the mix – Lettmann-esque heavenly vocals for a a minute or two here, filmic samples for a minute or two there, but all the while the huge sounding infinity of space music is spreading across, over, behind and beyond, the rhythms that are propelling the piece to perfection. Just short of the 13 minute mark, hushed voices echo deep in the mix as the electronics whirl overhead, and the rhythms coalesce with electronic sequencer-like patterns joining the main core, and the track turns into this amazing mix of samples, bass synths, high-flying electronics as a musical solar wind blasts through the icy worlds being created. What sounds like guitar textures arrive around the 16 minute mark, as more echoed vocals make it sound like some eerie, altogether scarier, early seventies electronic soundscaping, only then to put you into the ambient arena as it all changes shape continuously, the story of the track as a whole. The final 10 minutes see the music burst through the black hole into the light with the menace replaced by warmth, the rhythms spreading out, the synths still dominating the cosmic landscape but with that sense of darkness never far away. Overall, it is mesmerising, hypnotic, so much going on you'll need several listens to take it all in and just one phenomenal track.
The 21 minute Sepia track is the white to Grayscale's black, and, with a much more textural rhythm of electronic and acoustic percussion, deep bass and throbbing electronics at the core, right from the start, the synthesizers create huge clouds of gorgeousness that sweep across the horizon in full space music flight, again, the BDG-esque train-like rhythms propelling it forward but so interwoven into the track that you take it all in, layers, textures, rhythms and all. Once again, nothing is repeated and nothing stands still as the mighty magical and majestic music rolls inexorably forward, the synths much more melodic in their approach, and this time, the Schulze element really shining through, only way more modern sounding than his early seventies rhythmic excursions. The full sound envelops the listener as you take it all in, whispered voices echoed briefly, samples appearing then gone, swirls of synths intertwining all around the exterior and, overall, as a multi-layered slice of synth-laden, incredibly rhythmically addictive electronic creativity goes, this is wondrous.
In between the two is a 4 and a half minute track, “Fading Into White”, built on a rhythm pattern that could almost be an outtake from Schulze's “Totem” sessions, as synths sparkle and play all around, guitar textures sound almost like sitars, and the melody lines become rhythms as it all climbs and spirals, the addition of Coral's “Cosmic Jokers-esque” whispered, echoed vocal, only serving to heighten the track further, so engaging that you wished it could have been longer.
As electronic music, that spans decades yet is totally timeless, this album is at the top of the tree.
https://spacemirrors.bandcamp.com/album/world-in-grayscale
CD available on Ebay UK and, worldwide shortly, Discogs

3 track album

20/10/2024

SPACE MIRRORS – Nexus Between Space And Art Album/CD
Predominantly from the hands and creative mind of Alisa Coral, along with a suitable helping of guest musicians including ex-Hawkwind Nik Turner on flute on one track, this is a full length CD that's as powerful as it is spiritual. The first 6 tracks are brand new mixes of the tracks that were on the “Interplanetary Oddities” download, so let's start with those.
The opening track veritably fires out of the traps as a huge rush of sound thunders out right at you, this tidal wave of guitars, riffs, rhythms, electronics and mellotron, all providing an energy that starts at a height and slowly spirals down before gathering pace once more and firing up even higher than before, a kind of space-rock adrenaline rush that takes you out of orbit and really scores. There's a whole lot going on in the heady, rolling mix that's as powerful as it is dramatic, even at times almost spiritual.
Then comes “Transmissions From Mars Part 1” where a squall of guitar riffs heralds the sound of space control as sampled voices from the Mars landing control room add to the almost amorphous soup of searing theremin, blood curdling undercurrents, slowly rolling drums and then suddenly the path clears, allowing a military arsenal of stomping riffing guitars, pounding bass, solid drums and electronic heat firing out at all angles as the track ferociously progresses to the 4 and a half minute point, where it decelerates and then gathers a new head of steam with infinite guitars, still the slow pounding rhythm and a whole new landscape of swooping electronics. The similarly 6 and a half minute “Part 2” continues where the first one left off, and this times twists and turns through a variety of meaty space-rock territories, the instrumental depth as full sounding as the swooshing synths are powerful, the bass solid and upfront, this time the voices that appear are alien and otherworldly, barely distinct from the instrumentation.
The 7 minute “Siddartha” is synths driven with a decided Middle Eastern vein running through its melodies, as a kind of Moroccan space-rock makes its presence felt, both original enchanting, powerful and mesmerising. The 5+ minutes of “Moon 44”, essentially a brand new track, herald the arrival of sequenced synth rhythms, cosmic electronics, swooping synth comets, a building fogbank of space music as a guitar feeds back, the tension rises, deep bass pounds below and the sequenced rhythms become the focal point of the track, a kind of Tangerine Dream in hyperspace, but with so much going on around the core heart of the track.
The album ends with the calm of the near 3 minute “21st Century Electronic #2”, which is just superb – if you like the idea of Nico doing interweaving space-rock, that is – with Alisa's vocal absolutely dramatic, the ebbing and flowing of the electronics giving a very rhythmic sway as the deep presence of drums and what sounds for all the world like Simon House's violin, makes the track sound like a cross between Hawkwind and Mother Gong.
Then onto 39 minutes of brand new music not previously available, starting with 9 and a half minutes of “Kepler-442b” where a slowly moving army of electronics, drums, bass and guitars, shudders along with a depth that is unreal as the assorted musical tectonic plates, shift and drive, while there's a beautiful flute solo from Turner in the middle of the piece, heralding the climb into space as the intensity subsides and electronic sunburts rise to the surface, all the while the excellent drumming providing the rhythmic anchor as the track decelerates but loses none of its strength, now more cosmic rock than before,a s the magical flute returns and the track drifts in spectacular fashio, towards its final resting place.
“T Coronae Borealis” starts with spacetronics and sequencers, the latter moving in cyclical fashion like some outer space ferris wheel, gradually taking on a much more bass heavy sound as the almost “Berlin-school” type track, weaves its synths-laden interstellar spell. “Cydonian Lullaby (alt piano edit)” is what you'd expect from the title, but as an instrumental, it's no sleeping matter – after a brief intro that makes you think you're in softer sounding territory, it bursts into life with a melody that's truly memorable, as the backdrop of piano, drums, bass and guitar, back this uplifting guitar lead which then subsides as the reins are taken over by piano and rarely has a piano melody sounded so fantastic in what is a slowly moving lava flow of space-rock undercurrents.
The 9 and a half minute “KOI-4742” is a wondrous cosmic synths-based track that has all the hallmarks of the early Teutonic pioneers of “Kosmische Musik”, while “Awake in 2004” start with a shimmering lead that sounds like an electric harmonium (but isn't) as synths are added in the background, the track starts to build and an electronics-based city emerges from the desert, guitar riffs forming a strong foundation on which the slowly intensifying track, builds and rises upwards, gradually turning form space to space-rock before your very eyes. The album ends with 3 and a half minutes of cosmic synths-based gorgeousness in the form of “Crab Nebula”, as mellotron and synths become one, the whole things rises to a climax and ends the album in a truly awesome way.
So, there you have it – 72 minutes of instrumental magic and the CD is limited, so grab this while you can, 'coz there won't be any more once it's gone.

13/08/2024

TRIGON – Cosmic Kraut Jam album
44m
Digital Download
https://trigon.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-kraut-jam-releases-september-2nd
First album by the German trio since 2018 and to call this a comeback of epic proportions is a bit like saying Notre Dame is a bit of a decent building.
This thing smokes.......smoulders.......burns.....flares......fires up.....and is the best of its kind in years.
The opening track from the guitar-bass-drums trio of Rainer And Stefan Lange and Rudi Metzler, not necessarily in that order, is the 23 minute “Achtung Traumspoiler” where, put quite simply, if you're a fan of the early Ash Ra Tempel Guitar excursions and the first three Guru Guru albums, then you are in for a treat and a half. Wasting no time in opening, introducing or building, immediately Rainer Lange's fluid electric guitar work, spirals into action and across the 23 minutes of the track, simply solos effortlessly, the jam taking on a life of its own as it never repeats, always moves, and, just like the classic Krautrock guitar tracks of yore, holds your attention in such a way that 23 minutes seem to go in the blink of an eye. The mood is one of restrained power, unafraid to take it back to almost cosmic proportions, while the axework shines without ever thundering. Stefan Lange on bass underpins it all superbly, always present, never overstated, and the perfect backbone for Metzler's drums to have a life of their own, at times shuffling along exceptionally well giving the feel of the vintage drummers of the past such as Liebezeit and Neumeier. It's one of those tracks, you just can't stop playing and it's the sheer joy of finding something that's the equivalent of unearthing a Roman mosaic, that will keep you hooked to this gem of a track for years to come.
Elsewhere, there's the 8 minute “Guten Morgen Aurora” which starts with stumbling drums from Metzler before hitting this chunky groove as the guitar work becomes more McLaughlin than Gottsching, but then presses the “Krautrock” button as the engine slowly leaves the station and gathers steam, before the trio fire up, yet maintain a medium pace as though wanting you to be able to survey the results rather than whizz past them at breakneck speed, resulting in a track that hints at melody without ever carrying a tune, spirals without disappearing and the trio create a slice of chunky jamming that hits the heights. The 3 minute “Hinterm “Ereignishorizont”, sort of continues where the previous one left off, only here in a much more molten wah-wah guitar soundpool as the drums hammer and the bass really pounds away underneath.
The album finishes with the 10 minute “Setzt Das Sonnensegel”, led by the undulating drumming, a river of perfect flowing bass, and that electric guitar positively singing, as the chords and notes fill the horizon with the might of the sun on a perfect summer's day, this time really taking off and filling your heart and head with sonic delight as another guitar-led jam unfolds to effortless success.
Overall, this thing is absolutely flawless, and, as essential purchases go, its value can't be overstated.

4 track album

13/08/2024

MARK JENKINS – New Inventions For Electric Guitar album
49m
CD
Amp Records AMP-CD101
www.markjenkinsmusic.com
OK – I'll probably not be the first to say it, but that cover!!! A complete copy of the original Ash Ra Tempel album cover art only with Jenkins standing there instead of Gottsching. Must admit when I first saw it, I thought “oh dear, only Mark could do this and get away with it”, not being overly sure that he had. Treading a fine line between tribute to a legend and self-elevation, I could actually imagine some fans being quite aghast. “So”, I thought, “he's gonna have to have come good on the music to carry this off”. So, did he? Let's find out.......
With four lengthy tracks between just under 10 and just over 19 minutes, all played on guitars and effects/treatments/call it what you will, the album opens with “Echosphere”, that kind off continues where “Echo Waves” left off, but here is the amazing thing – it's stunning!!! I mean, seriously – it just blew me away. It starts with getly strummed guitar chords as light strains of top register guitar fly off, before settling into its looped rhythm, similar to the ART album, but in contrast to the overwhelming intensity of that album that I always felt was dense to the point of stifling, here Jenkins takes a more relaxed approach, still busy, still loads of layers, but there's a dream-like quality to it, lurking in the depths. A combination of distant guitar leads, join the main body of the rhythm, as the whole thing shimmers and shines, travelling onwards to an abrupt change of shape around the three and a half minute mark, whereupon a searing guitar leads take off over the multi-faceted guitar rhythms underneath, and it all sails into the sunset rather than crashes into the sun as the Gottsching version tended to do, but slowly intensifying its layers as it progresses, always changing, never standing still. Finally, it decelerates, and the last minute of the track is utterly heart-melting, and I was jaw-dropped at the beautifully restrained and gorgeously played ending to what is a gem of a track, worth the price of the album on its own.
Up next is the near 10 minute “Ostalgie”, in a sense, continuing from the previous track only initially with slower guitar rhythms and layers, all with more space between the chords, as the track begins to build, and assorted guitar textures, leads and colourations, come into play, so that around the two minute point it sounds more like something off “Ommadawn” than the Gottsching album. But, the two styles are tied together to perfection, as various cyclical guitar leads rollercoaster slowly over the deep bass resonances of the guitar rhythms while fast-paced guitar notes fly overhead, on what is yet another excellent track. By the final third of the piece, the lead guitar has become a supernova and assorted leads fight for space above the train-like rhythmic backdrop as the track twists and turns to perfection, “Oldfield and Gottsching colliding just sublimely”.
Up next is 10 minutes of “Protocol Omega” that initially sounds more like the John Martyn style of looping and squalling guitar processes, but as the rhythm takes hold, the track solidifies and by the 5 minute point, is the closest that Jenkins has got so far to sounding like the Ash Ra album, as the intensity finally appears, the leads sizzle and glide, the fierce melting pot of guitars is heard along the way and the rhythms take centre stage, but with so much going on in the mix, it'll take several plays just to take it all in.
The final track is “Nightvisions” at a massive 19 minutes long. For the first 5 and a half minutes, there's no rhythm and the overall feel is more akin to the “New Age Of Earth” album without the synths. But slowly, the guitar undercurrent appears, initially like chiming bells, but then the echoed waves appear, very serenely and sedately, almost cosmic in fact, and this then drifts forward in assorted tones and textures, almost twangy in parts, light and airy but with enough at the bottom end and variation throughout, and it is this feel of universal calm set to a multi-layered shimmer of guitars, that takes the piece on its journey through the cosmos, to the end of the track, in many ways a meeting of the middle section of John Martyn's “Outside In” and the more peaceful parts of Gottsching's legendary opus.
Overall, I didn't think Mark could pull it off, but he has, and I doff my proverbial cap to the guy, for this is a triumph – as to the cover, I'll forgive him.......

13/08/2024

STEVE ORCHARD – Saltwater Cafe Album
In today's world of electronic, keyboard and guitar-based music, it is a rare thing to come across a 12 track instrumental album, weighing in at between 3 and 9 minutes long, that is completely and overtly commercial, arguably with a capital “C”.Not only that, it's choc full of melodies, it's easy listening and, arguably, the sort of album that could easily accompany practically anything you're doing and put you in the most laid-back of moods no matter how stressful your day or life has been.
Throughout the album, you'll find string synth backdrops, plenty of gorgeously flowing piano, electric and acoustic guitars that set the scene, enhance the mood and add sparkle and zest to the tracks, while the rhythmic presence from the drums, is not as simplistic as you might think, but still propels the songs through a gently swaying summer breeze of sunny proportions, positively Hawaiian at times.
It's the sort of album I'd put on if I wanted to hear something easy on the ear that held my attention but didn't make me deviate from the task in hand, and on a long car journey, it fulfils the brief of being thoroughly pleasant without distraction.
From samba to Classical, tropical to orchestral, this album covers a lot of emotional ground that will make you feel relaxed and unwind, and for that alone, it stands proud as a seamless example of melodic music with a solid heart.

13/08/2024

OSE – 1984 Album
51m
CD
Amp Records AMP-CD 100
ose3.bandcamp.com
Third album from the duo of Herve Picart and Mark Jenkins, this time inspired by the Orwell legend that is 1984. When I saw the idea as the album was presented to me, my head filled with thoughts of Rick Wakeman and overblown ideas, but I needn't have worried as this is seriously good stuff.
The fact that it opens with a 4 minute track, “Winston” that truly does set the scene, with a rhythmic undercurrent but a sombre tone, as piano, synths, mellotron and electronic percussion all take up the lightest but solid realms of space and the brief sampled voice, is perfectly placed to add to the mood. Gradually, melodies emerge as piano becomes dominant, synths twinkle in the background, and the darkness surrounds, albeit with a depth of instrumentation well placed and produced. The near 7 minute “Julia” starts with a river of drone, as synths bubble up, more sampled voices fit the mood to a tee, the rhythms have a lightless of touch and the melodies kind of cycle up and down, all a strange hybrid of shadow and light. A delicate synth rises to the top as an orchestral sounding layer is added and the whole thing ebbs and flows like a ship bobbing on a clear blue sea, but miles from anywhere remotely resembling home. There's a romantic heart to the track as the synths dominate and clarity outshines the gloom. The 6 minute “O'Brien” starts with a flute line that's positively folky and you think you've suddenly moved into a Mike Oldfield album, but the synths are plucked to perfection (yes, I know you can't pluck a synth – you'll see what I mean) as a kind of Uillean pipes styled melody line gives the track a strength of character that positively Celtic and is a beautiful follow-on from what's so far been revealed. Luckily, it doesn't become a folk cliché, but adds throbbing synths, sequencers and hi-register flute-like synths to change the scenery fro wide open spaces to the dark cosmos as “Oldfield is replaced by Froese” and a more Teutonic sounding track sails into view.
The 6 minute “Hate Week” is a tale of two halves – the incredibly deep sounding space orchestral mix of the first half that then is accelerated on a train ride of electronic drum rhythms into a sold slice of synth-dominated instrumentation that is more '80's than it is present, conjuring images of Dolby, Hardcastle, Synergy and Floyd, all at the same time. A short piece follows with cascading synths going round like a ferris wheel before gliding into the near 6 minute “Thought Police”, with its stuttering electro-percussive rhythms, echoed synth expanses, soaring lead melodies and a kind of sequenced background that adds an extra depth as the guitar comes to the fore and adds a grinding strength to the power of the electronics, as the track builds and become ever more cohesive, positively huge sounding by the 2 and a half minute point, briefly relaxing, then back into the stride of the rock solid yet wide open space courtesy of the synths and percussives, only then to veer off once more into the cosmos, only to drop back to the rhythmic heart of the track.
Another short track with fast paced stuttering sequences, leads into the 4 and half minute “Pornosec” which is led by synth rhythyms and electronic percussion, and features a wide variety of melodies across a wide spectrum of the sonic scale, everything from later TD like passages to more ethereal flute-like moments, but all the while the rhythms taking centre stage. The next 1 and a half minute short track is a busier consequence of the previous one, asthe 4 and a half minutes of “Miniplenty” come along, this time veritably galloping along together with assorted electronic melodies, brief vocoder section, then blossoming out into a track where everything from space synth swoops to Verdeaux-esque piano melodies, orchestral backdrops to dark synth leads and landscapes, all come and go as the journey passes by.
The next 1 and a half minute track, “Miniplenty”, I loved with a lone sequencer line and space synth swoops really catching the attention, and this one could have been a lot longer, but it goes into the near 6 minute “Room 101” that is what you'd call a slow burner, starting life on the safety of the cosmic universe with flowing electronics as it gradually gather pace and strength to develop into a solidly rhythmic driving electronic track, overlaid by string synths, phased electronics, and all manner of lead melodies, all coalescing into this grandeur that is the last long track on the album, which then really ends with 1 minute of “Big Brother”, as the final message is delivered.
Overall, not what I expected, the idea works a treat, the ex*****on even more so and as an electronic music album in its own right, easily the best thing the duo have come up with to date.

13/08/2024

DF TRAM & CANOPY OF STARS – The Upsweep
Album
78m
Digital Only
https://canopyofstars.bandcamp.com/album/the-upsweep
I will admit that I do have an immediate affinity with an electronic music album whose opening track doesn't make me think of any particular style, classification or band from the past, and this is the case here.
The 11 minute track in question has rhythm and melody, it's dreamy and cosmic, it floats and flows, and it has occasional samples – but because it doesn't readily sound like anyone else, it's highly engaging. The electro-percussive rhythms shuffle along over a plethora of textural synth layers, as the occasional melody weaves its way through the undoubted outer space qualities that the music possesses, while the samples and a kind of distant whirlpool of sonic colouration all blend to make a track that's as deep as it is dark as it is dramatic.
The near 6 minute title track is altogether more “warming”, this time with a kind of arpeggio lead synth echoing away merrily as, just over a minute in, what sounds like one of those seventies style choral mellotron lines starts to breathe, as a clattering of rhythms appears below, and the whole thing flows swiftly. Then, out of nowhere, a top layer of higher range synths kind of crashes the party and creates yet another sonic cauldron of bubbling soundscapes.
The near 10 minute “Hidden Microphones” is a builder of a track that starts from a silent synth cosmos before adding rhythms, more synth layers and turning into a piece that reminds me a bit of something like Klaus Schulze's “Totem” or “Mental Door” in the way that the electro percussive rhythms stutter and drive under the flowing synthscapes, only here there's an altogether busier sound going on overall, with actually so much in the mix, you'll need about three listens just to take it all in.
At 12 minutes, “Buddy's Psychedelic Stroll” starts with birdsong, adds clattering sounds, introduces a distant drone of a synth line that slowly unfolds, deepens and takes centre stage, becoming ever more “cosmic” as it travels. Soon, the backdrop is replaced by more bubbling synths from underneath and more space layers to flesh out the cosmic cake. Just around 7 minutes in the dudo introduce a much stronger, meatier electronic layer on top of it all, smoother and almost choral in its sound, it' lends a richness to the track at just the right point, sadly dropping away at the 9 minute mark, but then leaving us with a magically sparse river of cosmic quiet, as the musical starts twinkle, well up, morph into a melange of weird and strange samples, and it's gone.
“The Subterranean Chamber Dream” is a serious slice of multi-textured cosmic magic, where layers and rhythms come and go, implied melodies weave in and out, but at the heart of it all is a river of constantly shape-changing synths and electronics that carries the listener into a hypnotic universe into which you can immerse yourself for a gloriously refreshing 19 minutes.
The 11 minute “Towards The Light” takes this idea of shape-changing synths and electronics, plus multi-layered sonics and textures, allied to bursts of samples along the way into a much stronger musically and altogether more muscular territory, still in outer space, but with the engines running rather than free-form drift.
There's a final “bonus” track in the form of a remix of the earlier “Hidden Microphones” track, that isn't so dissimilar and certainly doesn't do anything to interrupt the undoubted magical kingdom in which this splendid album resides.

7 track album

13/08/2024

CHURCH OF HED – The Fifth Hour
Album
57m
Digital Only
https://quarkspace.bandcamp.com/album/the-fifth-hour
The new instrumental album from Quarkspace main man Paul Williams, aided by Camper Van Beethoven's Jonathan Segel on guitar, violin and bass on three of the 9 tracks, plus fellow Quarkspace member Stan Lyon on bass and synth for a couple of track, this is an instrumental, electronics-based album, with a lot of denisty, intensity and depth.
The opening track, “Pleiades Waypoint” is over 13 minutes long and is a shifting universe of sonic explorations, underpinned by a sea of undulating synth rhythms, over which space-synth comets swoop and soar, a river of cosmic electronics flows right through the heart of the track, plus assorted ripples of texture, melody and space, weave assorted patterns on top, the result being a kind of dense, busy, almost darkly seasoned mix of electronic and synth music tectonic plates that mover over one another in slow motion, as the ever evolving sonic pattern, continues to chart its path to the outer reaches.
After this, the fast-paced, electro-percussive stutter of the 2 minute “Aniluminescence” is quite startling, although perfectly placed to herald the arrival of the 6+ minutes of “Hyades Noir”, this time, altogether more sky high than black hole, as a lush and airy wave of guitar notes are joined by emotional piano chords, gently undulating electronic rhythms and there's almost an Ash Ra feel pervading its soul, throughout the gentle warmth of the breeze that carries the ever sharper guitar-led slice of magic, to a fitting conclusion. The 4+ minutes of “Blue Spaceways” enters on a phased sea of shimmering electronic rhythms and undulations before another orchestral sounding slice of light cosmic splendour appears, as a shuddering rhythm is way distant, but a soothing section of piano chording is added on top, the whole track a quite mesmerising juxtaposition of the busy, almost caustic, slowly flowing undercurrents, mixed with the cosmic grandeur and rippling keys that drift and soar on top.
The near 9 minute title track,continues from where the last one ended, only this time, a lot more unnerving, intense, dense and even slightly discordant, with a high register lead, kind of swaying and groaning over the dense slab of rhythmic undulations, going on below, altogetehr way more challenging and, although with plenty of layers and textures, always travelling, it somehow stands still in time as well. Here Segel's violin lead takes centra stage and it becomes this melting pot of violins, synths and fx that will leave you spellbound. Following on comes the 3+ minutes of “The Bells Of Alpha Persei” which is what you'd expct from the title, as bell-like electronics ring out over a boiling sea of electronics and string-like cosmic bliss. Another 1 minute track gives us a discordant and caustic interlude before the near 15 minutes of “Son Of A Silicon Rogue” is upon us. This is a classic electronic/guitar-based track that builds from a mix of drone and cosmic smouldering, through wafts of space guitar, to a rising intensity of rippling piano chords, laid-back Helon-esque guitar and all manner of synth backdrops, before abruptly changing direction thanks to some huge sounding piano chords that are almost like a peal of bells, as the guitar and violin interweave, the synths swoop and soar, while the multi-layered morass of electronic darkness, becomes altogether lighter and the guitar cuts through to add the sharpness which sees the track to its slowly flowing conclusion. The final track is less than 2 minutes, but personally, I'd have ended the album on the previous track as this sounds and feels like a totally out of place afterthought, especially after the gorgeous climax to the previous track.
All in all, the best Church Of Hed album to date and definitely one for the head and the headphones. A gem.

9 track album