In A Long Line of Kings.
This is the third Senmuth album released this year. Like the previous two, and all the others he has released over the past years, ethnic and Egyptian music is mixed into a different style. This one has a different sound than the others released this year.
As just stated above, this album's sound differs from "Chambers" and "Sekenenra." This album is more electronically based; and not in his usual industrial style. What you will find on here is ethnic melodies played with tribal percussion and synthesized and layered production, giving the vibe of symphonic music being mixed with electronic. Not a new idea, but once again well played on his part.
The overall flaw with this album is that compared to some of Senmuth's past work, this lacks the necessary components to draw a listener in, often falling into the background. Numerous listens reveal hidden textures and layers, but that is only to those who find the time to listen to this album with dedication. Tracks like Universe Principles or Pillars of Creation contain those types of textures as well as some cool orchestration, and when listened to solely are quite interesting.
Probably the highlight of this record is, obviously, Inaccessible Movement. This track holds elements that are found throughout this record, but are assembled together into a form that is music more attention grabbing. Taking from industrial, electronica, symphonic, trip-hop, and obviously ethnic folk and mixing them all into one, while other tracks seem to focus mainly on only one or two of these styles without them really blending together.
Like most tracks that are divided, they are actually one larger track; this occurs on this album's final two tracks, Approach Distance I and Approach Distance II. While the first part contains symphonic ambient music, the second is more "metal," to use the term. This track uses symphonic elements mixed with tribal trip-hop beats and a cool guitar melody.
Overall, this is a decent recording, but lacks any real repeat power unless you really want to hear everything inside these tracks. For fans, this is probably another record you're going to get either way, but if you are new to Senmuth, check out some of his older material. Electronic music with some cool sections but no real staying power.
Overall Score: 6.5
Highlights: Revival of The Reason, Inaccessible Movement, Avatarati, Approach Distance II
No comments:
Post a Comment