The Fires of the Borderlands

Rapoon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 10, 1998)
• Original Release Date: February 10, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Relapse
• ASIN: B0000064E2
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,797 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hollow Flight

2. Sires Divam

3. Snake of Earth

4. Omaneska

5. Deserted shadows

6. Looking...not finding

7. Circling globes

8. Talking To A Stick

9. Still, So Still

10. A Softer Light

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Storey's definitive opus, December 2, 2001

By 

dronecaster (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fires of the Borderlands (Audio CD)

Robin Storey, the British artist who goes by the moniker Rapoon, has emerged in the past decade as an important composer/musician of atmospheric/technology-based tribal music, much like his American counterpart Steve Roach as well as a dozen or so other artists working in the same arena. With albums like "Vernal Crossing" and "Recurring (Dream Circle)", he created mind-bending tapestries of minimalistic percussion patterns and quasi-melodic drones fused with occasional doses of well-placed white noise, an approach much in debt to his 12 year stint with ambient-industrial pioneers *zoviet-france* from 1980-1992. Though most of his works are certainly worthy of critical acclaim, "Fires of the Borderlands" is the album that will be eventually acknowledged as his masterpiece.

His most atmospheric work yet, Storey has started to use percussive elements more and more in the background. Rhythm is still discernable in pieces like "Talking to a Stick" but becomes less of a standout on "Snake of Earth", where a swirling combination of metallic drones and what sounds like a highly processed steel drum motif take shape. "Omaneska" is both the longest and most breathtaking track, its choral underpinnings refering to the works of Ligeti and seems to reflect an expansive desert landscape, but this is not the desert musings of Steve Roach. Instead, Storey's ruminations seem to reflect more of an Asiatic mystique: case in point, the track "Looking...not finding" reminds me of the early music of Paul Horn (most importantly "Inside the Taj Mahal"), where Horn combined exquisite flute solos with equally exquisite vocals. Here, Storey has done the same, except without the superior acoustics of the Taj Mahal but with an equal sense of sublimity, achieving a sense of grace few others within the electronic music realm have done before. Now, if he would only reunite with *zoviet-france* (even if it's only to record one album), we could expect the impossible to occur...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars refreshingly "ethno-ambient" gone right., June 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fires of the Borderlands (Audio CD)

when i bought this cd in ninety eight i didn't think that it would become a staple to my collect. it has been the main sleeping texture in my life for almost two years straight (that and Asphalt by In the Nursery.) i still have not gotten sick of the album. I can listen to it on repeat for hours and lose all concept of time, something that i can't say for most albums.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Primal Achieved., January 16, 2001

By 

Matt Wilson (Andalusia, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Fires of the Borderlands (Audio CD)

There are many facets to the sort of music you'll find on this disc. Some refer to it as ambient, or minimal. Some dub it dark and tribal. In all forms of music - the above included - to evoke a unique spirit in the creation is a tricky endeavor.

The Fires on the Borderlands succeeds here; much more than merely unique, the album is a world in itself...full of a mysterious and ancient sound that draws you in quietly. The sound is huge, surrounding and elegant...performed with a mastery on the level with the best of its kind.

I heard the opening track - "Hollow Flight" - on an internet radio station. Though my attentions were elsewhere, it didn't take long for the piece to hook me. I had no experience with this artist before, but now I'm fascinated to learn more. Give this album a try...and I think you'll feel the same.