“What we have here is possibly the best opus of this very audacious bet from Alba Ecstasy”
1 Infinite Eight 13:37
2 The Lonely Forest 3:40
3 From C to B 7:56
4 Infinite Nine 15:47
5 Epic Flight 3:20
Alba Ecstasy Music (DDL 44:21)
(New Berlin School)
Does this collection of Alba Ecstasy still have interesting things to offer? It seems so. And I begin to understand that the artist and the sound designer is a real machine! A human sequencer with a smart chip that literally makes it a man-orchestra. You probably understand that I liked ALBASTRU INFINIT Vol. 4! By far the best opus of the series that was conceived on the inspiration of the moment, AI Vol.4 is an album all in rhythms that should please the fans of Klaus Schulze's Dreams years and the twilight ambiences of Remy.
A line of zigzagging sequences is the first link to Infinite Eight's circular rhythm. Like a spirograph whose first lines are stretched, the structure is not quite homogeneous with its rotating axis and its tone rising and falling beneath floating misty pads. There are 3 or 4 lines of sequences that spin in this setting of oscillations, amplifying a rhythmic dimension that gives the impression of spinning like a big lasso sound. The more I think about it and the more I imagine a runner who has child's legs running and turning in circles with subtle variations related to a possible fatigue of the legs. Arpeggios and organic squeals constantly join this circular mass that presses on the accelerator with the arrival of a bass-drum and of electronic percussions. Synth solos begin to sing in the endless circles of Infinite Eight, emphasizing Mihail-Adrian Simion's vision of Berlin School style that has impressed me ever since I discovered his music in 2015 with Night Sky. And to top it off, another line of sequences starts to flicker, adding even more auditory charms to this sequencer carousel that bass pulsations try to maintain in a pattern of Techno morphic. It's a very good track!
The Lonely Forest offers a stationary rhythm with its share of bouncy sequences that host the rather sharp chants of the synth, a bit like songs of a synth sharp enough, a bit like the Martenot waves. Always on a very creative sequencer, From C to B proposes another strongly animated structure which is furrowed by a multitude of synth solos. Its spasmodic rhythm does quite contemporary Klaus Schulze. This is another very good title that evolves with subtleties in its frame of rhythm and its atmospheres that embrace a Remy phase of horror and suspense. Infinite Nine moves on a swarm of hyperactive but static sequences. It is a long title that derives subtly with a first part tied to the mysteries of the Luciferian ambiences. The flow of sequences is like that finger that regularly taps on a soft surface. A finger that gets impatient and taps with more power, on a surface that reflects a clearer tone, in a second part that takes a more wavering tangent as it progresses. Short, Epic Flight pleasantly spinning with stereo effects, like a train that goes from one ear to another, pulsating sequences and good percussions forge a structure of rhythm that hesitates between rock or EDM. Alba Ecstasy invites organic sequences to garnish this bank of sequences and oscillating effects of new tones a bit organic. With such music, I'm waiting for more!
Sylvain Lupari (June 28th, 2019) *****
Available at Alba Ecstasy's Bandcamp
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