|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
review by Dene Bebbington Synthesist Erik Norlander must be a busy man. Since 1993 he's appeared on over 25 albums including those of his own band Rocket Scientists, as a guest musician on other artist's albums, and now on his fifth solo album Seas of Orion. The cover depicts a futuristic Sci-Fi scene, but don't let that mislead you into thinking that the music is all futuristic sounding. Erik makes heavy use of a massive Moog modular analogue synthesiser so there's a distinct retro sound to the music. The release date for this album was set for 11 September 2004. As that is three years to the day after the terrorist attacks in America, Erik wrote the first track "Fanfare for Absent Friends" as a homage to those who died. As the title indicates this is not a maudlin piece, instead it's an uplifting fanfare. Reverbing synth lines, drum rolls, and flute sounds form the lead in before a triumphant melody blares out and is joined by an upbeat percussive drum line. That first track is a general template for much of what is to follow. Most of the tracks feature synth melodies, sometimes quite frantic and blistering, with drum beats and percussion (performed by Greg Ellis) underneath. Besides the final track (more about that soon) the main exception is the longest track "Adrift on the Fire Seas of Orion's Shield" which for most of it's length consists of synth washes blowing like winds while other sounds, including the flutey ones heard in previous tracks, create an atmosphere of otherworldly places out there somewhere in space - think early to mid 1970s Tangerine Dream for a partial reference point. A big surprise on this album is the closing track "Opera Sauvage: Hymne". After the pulsing prog rock sensibilities of the preceding tracks we're treated to a rendition of a classic Vangelis track; in contrast to the refined original this has a less subtle and more powerful delivery. Overall Seas of Orion is a little too much in the prog rock vein for my tastes, and in that respect it's similar to Waveform's and Bjorn Lynne's music. Saying that, it's not actually a bad album, and those who like electronic music mixed in with prog rock motifs will surely enjoy it. |
|