“A solid cd from end to end where the ingenuity of his architect is not to be defended”
1 Blue Sector 8:12
2 Astral Projection 7:06
3 Timeline 8:43
4 Near Machinery 9:02
5 Interphase 6:09
6 Synchronous 7:56
7 Parallel Being 6:31
8 One Hundred Memories 6:59
9 Creation 10:13
(DDL 70:56) (V.F.)
(Pacific School)
SEQUENTARIA is the third album of the American synthesist Jeffrey Koepper. This time, he is alone at the controls, except for the final mixing which was done by Steve Roach. His mission being always to create tomorrow's music with yesterday's technology, he used only analog equipment to make this album. More airy than Momentium, SEQUENTARIA is a true return to the roots where heavy reverberating circles gravitate and astral waves plunging on sometimes sober and sometimes unbridled rhythms. Complex pulsating rhythms pushed by random flows of sequencer into Jean-Michel Jarre's synth swirls which are coupled with the digital era of Tangerine Dream. A strange fusion that leaves good sonic imprints.
Blue Sector starts this timeless musical journey with a cosmic intro covered with slightly metallic fumes. Barely perceptible, chords tinkle in this interstellar void whose vapors undulate like smoke dispersing in the winds. Electronic percussions, sounding very old-fashioned, propel a rhythmic structure stimulated by vocal riffs effects that sound very Tangerine Dream. The rhythm supported by a sequencer with pulsing bass-lines jumping in harmony with the percussions, Blue Sector is a good electronic rock with a rather retro tonality with perfumes of Exit. Seizing the last chords of Blue Sector, Astral Projection slides towards an organic ambience with reverberating layers. It sounds like electronic throat chant that creates magnetic fields where oblong oscillations are formed that become oscillatory beats. Animated by a static rhythm, that our ears filter to our eyes observing them, Astral Projection floats in total cosmic immersion in a bath of analog sound effects. An astral delirium that melts in the opening of Timeline where the sequencer makes its jumping keys twirl under a cloud of solos and of spasmodic riffs. Good rhythm that sinks into the very dark Near Machinery that lets its first minutes pass in a sound illusion where the winds switch for reverberating organic effects. We get to the 3rd minute when the structure comes lively with a violent movement of the sequencer that transports us to TD's Ricochet era. The rhythm gets activated on a spasmodic sequencing pattern full of cosmic jets which act like mismatched percussions. A good sonic wave envelops this rhythmic incoherence, followed by a delicate synth layer that creates a harmonious cosmic waltz. Melodious, the track plunges into an anarchy of sequences where percussions burst into a synthesized storm that reminds the good moments of Synergy.
The calm after the storm, Interphase is melting like a good cosmic rumba where galactic sound effects stick to a lyrical synth that espouses a sequenced languorous cadence. The nervous rhythm of Synchronous twirls in loops on a captive circular movement. A minimalist circle on heavy and swirling sequences with hypnotic curves which modulate a growing musical spiral to brief synthesized incursions. A dark and atonic track, just like One Hundred Memories, which is a slow intro to the splendid Parallel Being. We have a good cosmic ballet that is shaken by delicious crotales percussions in a boreal galactic forest from which filter good mellotron layers having a tone of an enchanting flute. Quite delicious! Creation concludes this 3rd album of Jeffrey Koepper with a pulsating intro à la Vangelis' Chariots of Fire. A minimalist and obsessive intro that hangs on those old percussions, giving a very MIDI sound to an electronic rock that grows with oscillating sequences whose jerky flow creates a form of electronic language. The sequencer drives other sequences that jump around in a programmed anarchy, while Creation barely embraces a cosmic turn. With the rhythm well settled, the synthesist weaves and throws solos that rush, like an army of specters, over one of those good electronic beats I've heard lately. A big track that ends a captivating and fiery album from one end to the other where the ingenuity of his architect is not to be defended nor to be proved anymore.
Sylvain Lupari (May 10th, 2008) ****½*
Available at Jeffrey Koepper Bandcamp