“Without faults, without burrs and without one second too many. One of 2005's best”
1 Enigmatic Rumours 5:28
2 Ankh 14:37
3 Bindu 10:02
4 Dhurjati 26:49
5 Nataraja 5:48
(CD-R/DDL 62:47) (V.F.)
(Berlin School)
Usually, at least in cinema, a sequel always leaves a little bitter taste. A little something that looks like a reheated movie. We remember that Magic Circle closed The Call of Shiva Vol.1 with techno jolts. Enigmatic Rumours starts THE CALL OF SHIVA Vol. 2 on this momentum. Very heavy with a spasmodic sequencer line and a dynamic pulsating bass line, Enigmatic Rumours goes through an Indra's Techno Transe anthem under spasms of a synth that furrows an overexcited ambience. Quite a way to start an opus that has an undeniable sense of the beat. Without spinning with so much energy, Ankh is a boiling track. Static, it swirls with force on varied intonations around a discreet mellotron. A mellotron that wonderfully frames an exploratory synth that throws sparse laments between its superb strata that create a slow mood animated by weak and timid percussions. Courted by such cosmic blasts and sound effects, as well as timid tabla percussions, Ankh continues its progression under nice synth blasts. The movement varies subtly with infinite tenderness in a superb cosmic procession that shakes the backbone and gives us shivers, even if the sequencer tries to rock things out.
Though a bit more agitated, Bindu keeps us in this static cycle. Minimalist percussion flutters over a muted rhythm that grows as it progresses. The synth is floating and fills the atmosphere with a placid darkness, parsimoniously filtering invasive sonic streaks with mellotron-like impulses. Great hypnotic art that brings us back to the great Totem era of Klaus Schulze, which is not negligible. Dhurjati is a real musical feast. A bomb of almost 27 minutes that starts nonchalantly on a soaring intro with cosmic breaths. Soon after, keys float with heaviness forming a circular rhythm in immersion. The movement gets restless, driven by pounding metallic percussions which hammer a deafening rhythm. A good bass line is added, and Dhurjati goes to the crossroads of rhythms as varied as heavy and yet catchy. A unique musical fresco that gathers all the necessary ingredients for a psychedelic party. From ambiguous sequenced movements to frenzied pulsating rhythms, through trance-like techno sequences, Indra refines the genres while maintaining a rather confusing harmonious ease. Rarely have I heard such a long track that has so much rhythm without falling into minimalism and easy hypnotism. Short, but how sublime is Nataraja! On a weak pulsating bass, a superb synth borrows the various mellotron blows to decorate our ears of beautiful melodies to take us a tear. Just a little one.
I've listened to a lot of EM, and Indra keeps on impressing me from CD to CD. THE CALL OF SHIVA Vol. 2 is an intense, melodious and infinitely tender opus, even with the frenzied rhythms that abound all around. In spite of the passing madness and its audacities as well in the rhythms as in the structures, the Romanian synthesist preserves his latent sensitivity which always ends up coming out in the shade of a superb melodious passage. Without faults, without burrs and without one second too many, THE CALL OF SHIVA Vol. 2 is in my opinion the album of 2005. A must have!
Sylvain Lupari (December 3rd, 2006) ****½*
Available at Indra Bandcamp