“The music of AOI is without borders and is at the crossroads of a progressive New Age and a melodious not too adventurous EM”
1 All Galaxies Sun 2:20
2 Cosmic Rain 5:12
3 Supernova 5:19
4 Passing the Pulsar 5:55
5 Drift Upon the Sky 14:15
6 Lightyears 2:35
7 Planet Dawn 5:05
8 Trimelar Starflight 11:55
(CD 52:40) (V.F.)
(Progressive New Age)
We should not judge All Galaxies Sun to get an idea of the music of Art Of Infinity, except that the title fairly clearly portrays the universe of DIMENSION UNIVERSE. An acoustic guitar floats in space and resonates its plucked chords in a Space Western Music style. The Mexican percussions animate a feverish rhythm while the synths inject orchestral layers. The guitar solos accompany this opening by tearing apart this orchestral invasion which tries to bring the music towards the mouth of a multi-directional modulation. The music of AOI is without borders, and All Galaxies Sun brings us to this diversity of styles that our ears will cross in the 53 minutes that the DIMENSION UNIVERSE adventure lasts.
Cosmic Rain is a beautiful ethereal melody with tribal airs on a beat of some islands of the South. The arrangements are in tune with good percussions which structure a down-tempo fanned by nice suave voices. It is quite the opposite with Supernova and its hesitant and unstructured rhythm. The floating solos and shrill lamentations of the guitars draw a very atmospheric phase. We float between two zones while Passing the Pulsar offers a hypnotic ode on a fine pulsation with intertwined effect on the tunes of a synth which makes whistle its chimes. A nice sweetness with celestial voices on melodious modulations. Drift Upon The Sky is a space ballad that oscillates between Space Western Music, Jazz and easy-to-tame progressive music. Genre Strawbs and Mott The Hoople. The effect is quite striking, since totally unforeseen on an EM disc. But it's the style of the German group. Is it good? I would say yes, to the extent that we understand and accept the multicultural character of Art Of Infinity, especially in this album. Here there is no question of sequences, or barely. The rhythm section is autonomous from the synths, so it gives more of an impact of symphonic prog rock than EM. But there are very good ideas that spark quite some flashes, like this galactic western.
It's obvious that Art Of Infinity is a structured band with very good composers. Titles like Drift Upon the Sky, Trimelar Starflight and Passing the Pulsar are fairly complex titles that require a good imagination and a good sense of creativity. DIMENSION UNIVERSE is at the crossroads of a progressive New Age and a melodious and not too adventurous EM. Not too far nor too close, just the right distance between the two opposites to let an ethnic touch filter through. So, a vision where genres are merging which charms and captivates on ambient interludes. In the genre of album which can encourage the timid ears to go towards in the discovery of EM.
Sylvain Lupari (February 8th, 2007) ***½**
Available at Art Of Infinity Music