3.5

Release data:

[‘ramp] – Havoc
CD/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Doombient, 2024

As Stephen elaborated in an interview, the majority of “Havoc” was recorded in parallel with “Happy Days are here to stay” (2022) and “ARP-en-ciel” (2023), and at some point, it wasn’t exactly clear what music would end up on which album. Its rough sketches were finished in August 2022, and Stephen thought that he ought to send a draft of the opening piece “Fallen Giants” to Mark Shreeve as he thought he might like to listen to it. Mr. Parsick though never got round to doing this as only two weeks later he had to learn about Mark’s unfortunate passing. This event determined the mood for the rest of the production, and the title track is dedicated to Mark’s memory. As such Stephen wishes it would be great if people were listening to this album as a continuation of the Redshift spirit – Mark is no longer around but his spirit is still present.

Well, that attempted impact, intensity, and realm shines through clearly on “Fallen Giants” with its extended Ricochet-sequencing, choir pads, vintage synths, and additional atmospherics. Then the lovely psychedelic-ish, hallucinogenic soundscapes and heavy sequence of “Wrecks” take us back to the early days of TD, while the dynamic title piece putting an end to the 79-minute album is a blast of energy which Mr Parsick refers to as “massive sequencing meets mellotron”.

Rating: between 3.5 and 4 stars.

Website: ramp1.bandcamp.com

You can see what reviews I have done of this artist on the [‘ramp] artist page