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Reviews:
Quadra comprise four of musicians: Brendan Pollard, Steve Humphries, John Sherwood and Jez Creek.
Deep reverberating drones and a bass throb provide a very atmospheric introduction for 'Convergence'.
Little melodies shimmer over the top accompanied by soothing mellotron. A rapid sequence nestles
perfectly amongst the other instrumentation. A second comes to join it and we are soon motoring along
in energetic, head nodding, fashion. In the eleventh minute things wind down to soft tron. A little melody
shines above it all, echoed by the mellotron. Soft meandering tinkling piano adds to the gentle atmos
still further. The track then seems to spend the next few minutes searching for direction. A sequence
can be heard low in the mix but that is where it stays whilst various lead flourishes come and go but
without really making their mark. In the twenty first minute a more substantial sequence surges forward,
mutating this way and that only to subside back to tron and piano a couple of minutes later.
We then get a section of pleasant atmospherics which gradually becomes more metallicly percussive
and sparse sounding. Images of dank rat infested dungeons come to mind. A heartbeat sound can be
heard, soft drones lightening the mood which becomes brighter still as wordless vocal pads give an
ethereal presence. The heartbeat fades away and is replaced by a tinkling sequence, slow rhythm then
more sequences as things surge forward nicely once more. In my opinion this track was good for two
thirds of its over forty minute duration, it just had a bit of a dodgy middle section where things became
a little aimless. Initially 'Pastorale' is wonderfully soothing, with gentle tron and flutey synth combining
beautifully. A tinkling sequence emerges in the second minute, then a rhythm starts up skipping along
nicely. Flute sounds are particularly effective but the other leads aren't bad either. Sequences become
more prominent as things get increasingly energetic. 'Starbirth' acts as something of a fest for mellotron
and string pads. A faint beat low in the mix gives a hint of structure rather than any driving force, which
in the context of the track is a good thing but I thought the track lost its way for the last three minutes
as layers of percussion etc were added that weren't really necessary and only resulted in the track losing
its focus. 'Heritage' starts in a similar tranquil way to the previous track, dreamy vocal samples adding a
little detail whilst a slow strangely comforting throb can just be heard low in the mix. A gorgeous way to
finish the first disc.
The second CD starts with 'Emergence'. The first few minute or so are a little like 'Epsilon in Malaysian Pale'
but then we get lots of twittering effects. A slow bass sequence starts up and I found my head gently nodding
to it. We descend to electronic twitters once more in the eighth minute. Whining drones go up and down the
sonic spectrum like an alien craft swooping high into the air then plunging Earthward. In the thirteenth minute
a brace of sequences pick up the pace. They bounce off each other nicely, various 'melodies' coming and going
over the ever-present tron. The sequences mutate beautifully but the lead lines were maybe a little over done.
This stage of the track finishes at about the twenty-minute mark. Mournful plucked strings lead to a slow
sequence (backed by more mellotron of course) then restrained drums and yet another sequence. Things
quickly build to quite a head of steam before just as suddenly subsiding, allowing the musicians to regroup
for the next sequencer based section. The swirling pulsations work well enough but the leads seemed a bit
directionless to me. 'Astral Plane' is a slow dreamy track, the atmospherics working wonderfully along with
a subtle bass line. From around the six-minute mark the pulsations become more prominent and things chug
along very nicely. 'Callisto' is a lovely track featuring soft tones over fizzling pads. There's something rather
melancholy, even spooky about it all. 'Take-Off' creates tension with the use of choral pads. The sequences
slowly start to build developing into a strange sort of manic groove. It's like listening to some bizarre satanic
ceremony!
Review by Dave Law of SynthMusicDirect
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