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“BioSonic” puts a new branch onto the long list of collaborations Steve Roach did in his long career, this time meeting up with UK-musician Robert Logan. I learned the hi-tech music has been in the works for a couple of years, first through online collaboration and then together in the same physical space in Steve’s Timeroom. In molding and shaping the music, Logan and Roach often talked about bio-mechanics, the birth of the alien and ideas to do with the cyborg in relation to this music, amongst many other things. Well, the overall bio-electrical rhythmic workout fits in the same linage as Steve’s releases with Vir Unis (“Light Fantastic”, “Body Electric” and “Blood Machine”) but lands on a different level. “BioSonic’s” elegant electronic futurism and myriad of entrancing, non-melodic groovescapes has a very active and rhythmic appeal, coming up with lots of switches, changes, evolutions and shifts of gear within tracks, which was also the case on “Stream of Thought” (with Eric Wollo). In between the very detailed, pulse-driven excursions one runs into some mellower interludes. “The Biomechanoid Lifecycle Revealed” and “Biosense” feature the most abstract/experimental and psychedelic flavours on the recording and make the hardest ones to crack. Contrary to this, a mellow aural realm of respite and deep tranquility is all over the place on “Amniotic Universe”. This 20-minute spiraling sci-fi soundscape with hypnotizing currents found at the end of the album breathes Roach’s typical, lush aural fingerprint all the way. It can just be me, but somehow I don’t find the coldish, abstract sphere dominating “Biosonic” that appealing. Instead I prefer the few textural excursions of this heavy body music and mind music over the other stuff, especially the transparent soundscapes making up the closing piece. |
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