Customer Reviews

Well of Souls

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The follow-up to Obmana's exceptional 1994 release "The Spiritual Bonding" (on Extreme Records), "Well of Souls" extends the collaborative relationship between desert ambient pioneer Roach and the avant-atmospheric leanings of Obmana. This is without question the most successful of their two collaborative efforts, the other being "Cavern of Sirens" (Projekt, 1997).

In some respects, there has been little attention paid to this great recording, that is, in comparison to the amount of press that has been lavished on albums that are generally considered to be Roach's best, including "Dreamtime Return" and "The Magnificent Void" for instance. While they are milestones in ambient electronic music, "Well of Souls" is sort of a neglected achievement. Roach may have become increasingly prolific over the past several years, namely with the launch of his Timeroom Editions label, but few recordings of late possess the truly hallucinogenic/mind-blowing character of this double CD.

The mid-90s saw Roach developing into a consumate figure in a more avant-garde form of electronic music which has been coined "techno-tribal", which meshes synthesised textures with primitive acoustic instruments. There is a general pattern in which he follows the Jon Hassell/Australian Aboriginal paradigm which began with "Dreamtime Return" and follows all the way through with "Origins". It was with his '94 recording "Artifacts" and especially the track "The Origin of Artifacts" that Roach begins to separate himself somewhat from this archetype by delving in unusually unique sound constructions where his synths and FX processors were involved. That track in particular was the single most ambitious composition since "To the Threshold of Silence" from his "World's Edge" double CD.

So it was hardly a surprise that in the following year he would release this remarkable collaborative effort with Vidna Obmana, who is now considered to be the European answer to Roach's sonic explorations. Considering that Obmana himself collaborated with the likes of Asmus Tietchens (a "sound language" inventor in his own right), it seemed a fitting melding of musical minds.

The first disc opens with the spirialing "In the Presence of Something", created mostly from a highly processed didgeridoo drone and clay pot percussion, nothing too unusual for Roach. But the following "Outlands" tracks pick up where the sparling "The Origins of Artifacts" (from the album "Artifacts")left off. The complex, trancey percussion which goes on for several minutes ends abruptly in a unsettling sea of highly abstract, metallic synth textures on "Outlands One" and an environment which resembles a slow-motion collision of asteriods (for lack of a better description) on "Outlands Two". The second disc, which is absent of percussion, opens with the brilliant "Deep Hours", a stunning exercise in pure sonic drift with a deceptive melody which rivals the 30-minute "Looking for Safety" (from "Dreamtime"), but this a far deeper piece of music altogether. Roach and Obmana here create an environment of ghostly chords, high-pitched cacklings that seem to come from nowhere, and grand sweeps of bright, almost blinding sound colors. Obmana's solo piece "The Quiet Companion" seems to be inspired by "Deep Hours" but is far less disturbing while Roach's "The Dwelling Place" shows him in "Dreamtime Return" mode and is probably the warmest (emotionally speaking)track on the disc. Hopefully, more of those interested in Roach's endeavors will see "Well of Souls" for the work of genius that it truly is.

The first, and best, of three released collaborations between Steve Roach and Dirk Series (aka Vidna Obmana), WELL OF SOULS is one helluva journey into the world of nocturnal slipstreaming. Disc One is the more easily approachable, with spare percussion underlying neverending washes of synth drones. However, Disc Two takes a trip into the heart of darkness. "Deep Hours" and the title track flow out of your speakers (or headphones) like slow motion descents into the unknown, simultaneously creating a sense of dread and calm. The music, at times, is so incredibly haunting that it is almost impossible to believe that it isn't streaming straight down from the farthest reaches of the universe. A highly recommended album and one of the finest of the 1990's... but it's certainly not for the faint of heart (don't feel worried if "Deep Hours" scares the hell out of you the first time you listen to it through headphones, because it certainly left me with an unsettling feeling)!

Spread out over two discs, WELL OF SOULS is chamber music for those of us wrestling with the late 20th century concept of "ancient modern." Here, Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana enter more unsettling, darker territory. Both Obmana and Roach wrench ever more potent atmospheres from one another's machines and earthen noisemakers. Each of their individual muses meld expertly into the other's, but both figure into the grand scheme of things; fixate on Roach's command of sensuous rhythms and monstrous troughs of sound, and Vidna Obmana's penchant for getting interstellar mileage out of even the most minimal of patterns. One might hasten to label WELL OF SOULS a masterpiece, but it's difficult to think of this richly imaginative work as anything but.

I have been a loyal fan of Steve Roach's work since 1987, when I discovered "Dreamtime Return" (which I still consider his best recording--ever), but "Well of Souls" is the exception to his otherwise brilliant explorations into the subconscious using carefully constructed musical waveforms and subsonic rhythms. This particular recording is utterly creepy, unearthly, macabre-something that malevolent spirits would relish. It is not for relaxing after a hard day, trying to feel better or 'enlightening the spirit.' On the contrary, I found it quite entrapping, scary, and it left me with a strong desire to escape, like I had unknowingly been imprisoned in the dark areas of my mind--areas that I cared not to revisit. "Well of Souls" put me in a state of complete apprehension, bordering somewhere between fear and a surreal sense of paranoia. I retained it for two years, hoping it would grow on me, but the fact is that I was glad to have it gone. Seriously. It reminded me of Robert Rich's gloomy and preternatural "Stalker," something else that did not have one positive melody or agreeable chord, only bent pitches and twisted notes on the half-cents that reminded me of the soundtrack to "The Blair Witch Project." I apologize if you might find that unhelpful, but the fact is there is no redeeming quality about it.

I must be candid about "Well of Souls," even at the risk of negative objections, so I won't sugar coat this one. Perhaps it was Obmana's influence on this recording that convinced me that not all artists are meant to share compositions (like "too many chefs spoil the meal"). Instead, I highly recommend "76:14" by Freedom, or perhaps Bioshere's "Substrata", or better yet get Cliff Martinez' ineffable soundtrack to "Solaris" which is out of print and very expensive ($50 to $150 per CD[!]). Another good alternative to "Well of Souls" is an ambient collection called "Inner Space" volumes 1 and 2, where you can get nearly 130 minutes of excellent ambience and electronica for only about $12.00.

The following are also requirements instead of "Well of Souls": "Dreamtime Return" (1987), "Desert Solitaire" (1988, performed with Kevin Braheny), or even "On Ritual Ground" (1990, re-released in 2002). "Quiet Music" (1988) would go so far as to pull me out of the "Well of Souls" while not shaking my consciousness to the core. It made me realize that not all places in the subconscious were meant to be explored. I don't care how you feel about it, I was so glad just to get out of there. When you escape from hell, the rest of your life is all gravy.

I like the music of Steve Roach, but this CD I found derivative of an earlier Roach CD called The Magnificent Void. The tracks on Well of Souls are hardly dissimilar, and as much as I like some drone and repetition, this CD is quite boring. Try Desert Solitaire or World's Edge.

The audacity of these respected talented musicians to depict a cross falling off of a church is unbearable. That visual image speaks volumes toward what this project is about. 'Enigma' passed off the same type of anti christian imagry on their first CD. 'Enigma' who? Yea right. You can find their dried carcass lying in a NYC drain sewer.

What sort of sublime interludes lie buried below the threshold of perception on this CD? Wave fronts of sound, subsonic rhythms. . . . blah blah blasphemy.

We admired your music sir. Immersion : Three we 'Dream Factory' dubbed you as the Mark Rothko of ambient music. Now we shall not tolerate you. We erase our accolades and dub you outcast in our Christian community.

Specifically the cover art is a painting by a Michael McCullough titled "Figures from the Ancestors". That is nebulous enough. But the image sure is direct. A church with its cross falling in the background while an ominous dark totem figure dominates the foreground. No need for further interpretation? Then onto the back cover where said church stands without the cross.

This is new ageish music: sound textures, "relaxing ", bells-and-whistles (quite literally), etc. Common words used in titles are "sacred", "forbidden", "magical", "beyond", "esoteric" etc. In my humble opinion this is perfect music for airports or shopping malls; which is not necessarily an insult. Is music aimed at calming you down when you're anxious, putting you in a good mood to buy that particular pair of trousers, or making you a more "spiritual" person. It's not music for the sake of music. Rather, it uses exotic effects to please the listener. The labels Projekt and Wyndham Hill are the champions of this approach. Maybe "ambient" music is a dangerous territory, where true innovators stand next to genre exploiters. Among the former I'd put Riley, La Monte Young, Glass (some of it), Reich, Tangerine Dreams, Eno, Aphex Twin, Future Sound of London, Autechre, mu-Ziq, Squarepusher; among the latter an infinite number of would-be artists. Summing up, If you like any of the above artists or dislike kitch music, then don't buy this set. If you like "Celestine's Prophecy", Gibran's "Prophet" or any Wyndham/Projekt artist, then go for it.