ARCANE: Omega (2020)

“One last too beautiful album, just for us to live a few happy moments before realizing that it is a swan song from another legend”

1 Omega-pt.1 (19:40)

2 Omega-pt.2 (5:41)

3 Omega-pt.3 (16:37)

4 Omega-pt.4 (9:11)

Paul Lawler Music

(DDL 51:10) (V.F.)

(Berlin School)

We all know Paul Lawler for his bemusing story of the spectral link between Arcane and Tangerine Dream. On December 11, he dropped a little bomb on social networks! OMEGA will be Arcane's last album, at least for a long time, and offers a hybrid EM style by tying the 70's and 80's style together in the Berlin School genre. Everything to attract the Berlin School aficionado in us! And knowing the history of Arcane, would it be an album marked with the Tangerine Dream seal? We don't waste time to know the answer!

The opening of Omega Part 1 places us in a cave near an ocean and its drizzle that scourges our empty heads and our senses waiting for a next sonorous feast. It begins with a haunting flute and piano notes that fade into a sharp synth line. An expected expectation sets in at the same time as the sounds are conveyed with the parsimony of an apprehension which justifies our greed. The sequencer comes out at the same time as the chants of interstellar whales around the 3 minutes. The movement is fluid and is flowing with a chthonic harmonic approach that guitar chords adorn with an essence of Edgar Froese emerging from his hibernation. Little by little, Omega Part 1 brings us into the cosmic Palace of the late Edgar with a mix of samplings and tunes that flirt between A Dali-Esque Sleep Fuse and It Would Be Like Samoa from the Stuntman album. Going up and down, the rhythm picks up the pace to imitate these rhythmic trains of the Berlin School, going straight ahead under sound artifices stamped with the Froese seal and many wink to TD's music. The sound of the sequencer is very analog on a structure which seems to me close to the 80's. The guitar only throws riffs in a cortex of chthonian voices to leave its empty space for a splendid flute and its ambient air in a first atmospheric bridge which starts around 10 minutes. A reverberating wave rises in order to reset the rhythmic structure 3 minutes later. More pulsating, it once again welcomes flute fragrances whose harmonies make this transition a passage that surprisingly resembles It Would Be Like Samoa. Let's say it's a big 19 minutes that fulfills its promises. Omega Part 2 offers a good catchy electronic rock with a spheroidal structure whose harmonic loops are covered with luminous pads. The percussions join this rhythmic melody turning in loops, initiating the part of the synth which develops very good solos. The percussive effects which echo the percussions, this melodious ritornello which obsesses our senses and the vibrating tone of the synth in its solos explain why electronic music is so beautiful!

Omega Part 3 is composed in the mold of Omega Part 1, that is to say with samples of Tangerine Dream which this time visit the Tangram era. First of all, it's the part of Johannes Schmoelling on piano that is sampled here. It follows a bed of reverberations filled with organic matters, as wooshh and waashh filled of drizzles. A layer floating of its prismatic color initiates the first phase of rhythm which is designed to support other fluty harmonies and a fusion of line and effects with the scent of musical drizzles. The Mellotron dominates this segment with voice effects and tunes from an enchanting flute which lead us to a second atmospheric bridge. The suite combines a mix of Tangram's second half to Mojave Plan slamming part in an astonishing finale. This is an awesome track built around TD's memories. Omega Part 4 starts with this cool bank of mist blooming in White Eagle's overture. The bank of hazy voices escorts a line of nasal synth which traces beautiful sighs imbued with esotericism. The flute returns to take its place well installed on a thick layer filled with dense tones. The sequencer gets out of it to create a slightly zigzagging rhythm, a question of avoiding the traps of resonant chords. Guitar riffs and sequenced harmony are embedded in this title where everything now revolves around this melodious rhythm where effects of Le Parc adorn the curves.

This last rendezvous with Arcane takes place under the sign of its legend. OMEGA returns to its roots, while a passage from our universe to a parallel universe made the communications between the band of Edgar Froese and that of Max Richter complacent. A very nice album. One last too beautiful, just for us to live a few happy moments before realizing that it is a swan song from another legend.

Sylvain Lupari (January 6th, 2021) ****½*

SynthSequences.com

Available at Paul Lawler Music Bandcamp