Steve Roach & Vidnaobmana - Innerzone (CD)

Release Date: 05/14/02

An unusual combination of instruments both acoustic and electronic can be heard on this compelling release.

Step into theInnerZone with surrealist soundsculptors Steve Roach and vidnaObmana on their first collaborative work since 1999’s quickly sold-out limited edition box set Ascension of Shadows. Venturing off safe and well travelled roads, the duo head into a chilling and beautifully haunting realm of shape-shifting soundscapes mixed with fascinating rhythmic forms. An unusual combination of instruments both acoustic and electronic can be heard on this compelling release. Central is the fujara, a East-European overtone flute, and the electric guitar — both creatively altered with a multitude of audio processing equipment to create a hybrid electro-acoustic mix. The final merging of surreal acoustic, electronic elements and deep “inner” rhythms creates a bold new atmospheric music experience.

CD in jewel box.

Star’s End “The circle, ripe with cosmic associations, is a most mysterious object. Often representing infinity, the line of a circle does not begin nor does it really ever end - a seemingly endless sequence of events. It is this perplexing concept that Steve Roach + Vidna Obmana are consumed with in their musical collaborations. The dark soundscapes that are brought forth on the album InnerZone are the result of loops; cycles of sounds layered in and out of phase that mature into spheres of pensive ambience. Throughout the album, the duo conjure up drifting soundworlds that absorb the listener into the flow. But the cyclical nature of this conceptualization is most easily noticed when the musical current picks up and the beats emerge. The ring of rhythms repeat their rapid circuits, surfacing out of the aural fog, breathe, then back down below. InnerZonefeatures an array of unconventional acoustic sources; distorted, shifted, delayed and otherwise processed - almost beyond recognition. These accents add an exotic flair to the album's uniform sonic circulations.” -Chuck Van Zyl

CD in jewel box.