New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Spotted Peccary / Lotuspike) Steve Roach has a hand in these two new releases we've just added to the webshop. His outstanding new collaboration with Erik Wollo, The Road Eternal, was released yesterday, and Roach also provides sonic enhancements and Mastering to Passages, the new release by Resonant Drift.
Following their collaboration STREAM OF THOUGHT, Roach and Wollo reunite to travel THE ROAD ETERNAL, an electronic/ambient path filled with passion and beauty. Six engaging and expansive rhythmic sequencer-based tracks intersperse with ambient zones and soaring electric guitar textures highlighting sparse, arching thematic lines.
Wherein their first collaboration blended a number of shorter passages into a spellbinding whole, THE ROAD ETERNAL is five longer compositions that build upon a basis of complex, inventive and hypnotic sequencer patterns. Intricate and ever-changing rhythmic cycles merge with melodic phrases creating a compelling groundwork that propels the music forwards. With inspiration drawn in part from classic trance-inducing electronic music with early German roots, the project takes on an interwoven structure draped with harmonic and melodic passages. The route through the music offers different perspectives to hear or "see" on every listen.
This is the sound of big skies, open roads and soaring thoughts, pulling one towards the next destination; reflected in the music with the counterplay of long and meditative rythmic zones and constellation-like melodic elements filled with space. The tracks transpose two different worlds: Steve's southwestern desert habitat and Erik's home base in Norway. The sum of these two environments becomes a hybrid landscape of new discovery. "We are both passionate about the observation of nature and the poetic character of natural surroundings," Erik says, "The ways in which we relate to this, as well as the awareness of the ongoing passage of time. These ideas have been a driving force behind our whole artistic careers, and it is strongly reflected in this collaboration."
With Steve on analog sequencing, electronic percussion and most of the zones and atmospheres, Erik focuses on his processed, textural, and melodic elements while performing on various guitars and guitar synthesizers. THE ROAD ETERNAL strikes a perfect balance of the artists' two distinct styles and common ground.
The sound is vibrant, emotional, full of shimmering light and saturated with optimism. With each artist having devoted over 30 years to their art, this album flows with the understanding and skill that comes from this experience, bringing their specialties together in the true spirit of collaboration.
