Hollan Holmes - Sacred Places (CD)

Release Date: 01/12/24

Ornate sequencer passages with tribal ambient flourishes that are intricate yet intimate, all to transcribe amazing landscapes in the listener's mind

Sacred Places, the third release by Hollan Holmes on Spotted Peccary Music, is comprised of eleven geographic vignettes, with each composition inspired from Holmes's travels to different locales of deep personal significance. Here, Holmes blends ornate sequencer passages with tribal ambient flourishes that are intricate yet intimate, all to transcribe amazing landscapes in the listener's mind. On each piece, Holmes invites the listener into his inner world, reconstructing these sacred places with meticulous sound design and powerful thematic sensitivities.

Holmes crafted this latest work from a variety of hardware and software instruments, including the Oberheim OB-6 and Moog Prodigy hardware synthesizers as well as Propellerhead Reason and Spectrasonics Omnisphere software synthesizers. On 'Temples of Stone,' a majestic melody ascends over staccato bass before erupting into a percussion-less trance. Shimmering sequencer passages cascade over an immutable bassline, all the grandeur befitting an ancient temple untouched by time. Bill Porter adds a swaggering electric guitar riff to the Berlin-school warble of 'An Elevated Life,' confident and cosmic. Contrarily, 'Bristlecone,' swirls like windblown pine needles through a forest clearing, meditative and yearning yet no less propulsive. 'The Divine Connection' juxtaposes low end rumbles with bright arpeggiators, soaring to a shimmering crescendo.

With Sacred Places Hollan Holmes once again demonstrates a mastery of electronic ambient worldbuilding few can match, presenting a staggeringly cinematic vision that defies simple definitions of analog or digital instrumentation. Rather, he inspires us to experience these remote special environments in such a personal manner as to truly evoke the magic of these very sacred of places.