“Here's a great New Berlin School album where the sequencer and the arpeggios coordinate in good harmonic duels”
1 To Deep Dream 5:44
2 Age of Discovery 5:32
3 On the Wings of a Dream 5:44
4 Obsequium 6:17
5 Wintersun 6:22
6 Aludra 11:28
7 Millennium Cluster 7:48
8 Correlation 8:42
9 Unknown Phenomenon 7:04
10 Quantum Love Bond (Dedicated to Runchana) 6:14
(DDL 70:57) (V.F.)
(New Berlin School)
Since a couple of albums, it seems to me that the Italian musician and synthesist dominates more and more by imposing his style where romance goes hand in hand with a cosmic vision. ALUDRA arrives only a few months after the very good In the Deep Blue which had quite seduced me with a melodious approach glued to the solo works of Chris Franke. This time, Alluste returns to his first love with a more personal vision that he expresses through a skewer of 10 tracks, with an average duration of 7 minutes each, in an album that is easily tameable. And these ten structures evolve quietly in their time frames, making of ALUDRA a great New Berlin School album where the sequencer and the arpeggios coordinate in good harmonic duels.
With its scents of Chris Franke, To Deep Dream seems to come from sessions of In the Deep Blue. Its rhythm is ambient, although structured by a nucleus of jumping keys which innocently frolic in a sunny musical envelope from a synth and its electronic nightingale's harmonies. Arpeggios and sequences harmonize their visions in a structure which accelerates the pace with a line of bass sequences fluttering in a fluty mist. The movement presses the accelerator without ever overflowing in order to return to its original core. Age of Discovery offers an almost ambient structure with an active sequencer which unrolls a vision more harmonious than rhythmic in a nice cosmic presentation. We observe this rhythmic pattern which progresses vigorously, without ever exploding, and which will be present in the majority of the 70 minutes of this album available for download or in CD-r format. Except for On the Wings of a Dream which explodes in a solid electronic rock imbued with good synth solos and some percussive effects which enhance the quality of the title. And it continues with Obsequium which starts rather quickly. Here as elsewhere, the sequencer sculpts a hopping rhythm line with a spasmodic vision. But here it flows with a stumbling effect or yet to miss a jump here and there, giving a structure where resides this stoic key which refuses any submission. It gives a tasty structure that awakens the listening. A structure of hybrid rhythm where the fingers tap strongly and our subconscious is attached to the small effects of this foggy mass which surrounds it. The evolving rhythm phenomenon also strikes this title with a shift in this line of the sequencer, structuring a stealthily approach which makes its legs dribbling. Very good, and as soon as it's ended, Wintersun immediately follows with a less excited flow and where this decor of intergalactic romance seized our ears with nice percussive effects. And the keyboard loosens these arpeggios which jump with tenderness, while the synth develops a melodious plan with percussive gas effects which decorate this stellar decor. The second half reserves these surprises with an attractive, even more melodious approach which drifts towards a final endowed with a dramatic cinematographic vision.
Aludra is the longest track on this new album by the sympathetic Italian musician who takes advantage of his 11 minutes to properly establish his ambient structure. Arpeggios with degraded tones skip like a horde of electronic pushpins on a blue carpet connecting two stars. The movement activates its speed a little with a gradual velocity of the bass pulsations, acting like a metronome, and a more active dance of these small sonic beetles which tickle a large sheet haloed with hums in an interstellar voice. It's a good ambient moment with hoops hitting each other, and a vague evasive melody from a rather pensive keyboard. A change of direction takes place around the sixth minute, pushing this long title-track towards a slow acceleration before reaching the cadence of a good cosmic rock. Rhythm on tiptoe, Millennium Cluster carries the Alluste seal bluntly. What is surprising is this very good solo of a synth which pleasantly caresses a fluid flow with these clumsy keys hopping at the wrong time. A good lack of timing in a dreamlike vision where the music borrows a tangent of electronic rock with a line of pulsations that instantly catches our attention. Alluste inserts good percussive effects on this catchy rhythm which attenuates to relive its genesis in other even more noticeable effects. A very good title!
Correlation exploits a long phase of lunar atmospheres before embarking on the trots of a semi-wild horse in a delicious ride between the stars. This rhythm becomes obsessive, as its development is finely executed. Its second part offers a rather catchy structure with a long spasmodic rush of this rhythmic horse become clearly wilder. At this point, Unknown Phenomenon questions my selection of the best moments from this album with a great heavy title that threatens to explode every second. Intuitive, the sequencer layers a line of keys ready to sacrifice in order to determine which is the heaviest while remaining alive. Rhythm? It's static, except for our fingers! But it becomes more and more catchy with the addition of another line of acrobatic keys to which Alluste to drill a hole in order to give another vision of a clearer tone. It's a title that Piero Monachello likes to create, either sequences or arpeggios with the same harmonic accord. As I reflect on knowing that once again the Italian musician charmed us with another strong album, Quantum Love Bond (Dedicated to Runchana) gets rid of its embrace from a synth with a sweet melancholic solo to offer a beautiful ballad played on a piano full of romance. This track shows all of Alluste's ability to weave very nice melodies that are invented only by his approach and his musical aesthetic that calmly bring him into the sphere of the big names of contemporary EM.
Sylvain Lupari (March 31, 2020) ****¼*
Available at Alluste Bandcamp