|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
review by Bill Binkelman Steve Roberts is the man behind amongst myselves and on sacred black, he has recorded ambient and dark ambient soundscapes that paint musical paintings of lands both desolate and beautiful. Opening with "Dawn 1958" wherein guitar-like drones reverberate against a background of percussive textures (which resemble a bass guitar being plucked), this is one of those CDs that takes time to get to know (as all good ambient recordings do, IMO, except for those few that either are instantly recognizable as either priceless or as crap). The tracks unfold into one another, so one might say that sacred black is a long form ambient recording in that it's possible to hear the cuts evolve as one long piece (albeit a piece with distinct shades and moods). "Morning of the Earth" opens with drones and reverberating bell-like tones, before the synths grab hold and slowly emerge to control the track and take it into more spacemusic-like territory. Arrhythmic beats impart a quasi-tribal feel to the track; the music has some of the characteristics of o yuki conjugate, but lacks the latter's primal sense of urgency. Here, the mood is more futuristic and detached (perhaps by design?). "Sea of Rains" begins with isolated flute-like notes that echo into a stark nothingness; then, the track evolves into a disturbing mixture of dark electronic textures before traversing into neo-retro EM territory. This is one of those ambient pieces that, on paper, sounds haphazard, but works just fine within the context of playing the entire album. To my ears, the best song here is "The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean," a soft and slowly evolving ambient piece which avoids the perceived pessimism of the album's darker leanings. Piano and synth strings combine with other keyboards to lighten the oppressive tone of the CD (oppressive being a subjective choice of words; others may find previous tracks to be less dark than I heard them to be). "Argo Navis" is a swing back to either neutral or darker emotional soundscapes and again features guitar balanced against swelling keyboards. On the album's closing track, "Returning Home," Roberts elicits a favorable comparison to Jeff Pearce with his electric guitar work, featuring cascading notes against a dark/neutral background, comparable to Pearce's earlier and later work (i.e. Tenderness and Fatality and Bleed). For me, sacred black yielded mixed results. Make no mistake about it - it is a fine ambient album that mixes darker and neutral tonalities to yield a satisfying listening experience. My mixed reaction to it is owing to the lack of "oomph" it gave to me emotionally. I can't fault the recording on any aspect, but it didn't grab me particularly either. If your taste runs toward darker-tinted ambient, full of a combination of drones and non-melodic synth work and a smattering of Pearce-like electric guitar, you'll doubtless enjoy the album. |
|
