|
Having heard “Galactic Underground Volume 2” made me decide to investigate G.U.’s first chapter. This 70-minute journey through time and space features a similar structure, the majority of the 10 tracks being solo pieces by Johan Geens. The latter delivers some excellent grand expanses, soft swelling textural drones, and deep cosmic atmospherics with a minimal edge on the first five tracks (with some intriguing percussion by Robert Rich on “Mirage”) that are all straight up my alley. Together they make up the best part of the release. Roksana Vikaluk’s exotic vocals though kicking in on both “Burning” and “Blooming” are annoying, misplaced, and disruptive for the album’s attentively built atmospheres, contrary to Erik Wollo’s gentle, beautifully rendered ethereal guitars parts surfacing on “Solitary Waves”. The 12-minute “Photons Colliding” -the longest piece found in the tail of the album- is of a profound adventurous, otherworldly nature due to the merging of rawer, abstract parts with floating spacious worlds before the journey dissolves with smooth gliding textures on the brief “Leaving”. The compact disc version of this release comes in a 3-panel DVD-style digipack design featuring 3D printing, a poster plus 3D spectacles. |
| Website: venja.bandcamp.com
You can see what reviews I have done of this artist on the Venja artist page.
Sonic Immersion © 2024 |
