Steve Roach Well Of Souls CD

In the company of Vidna Obmana, Steve Roach enters more unsettling, darker territory. 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." Having spent some time at Roach's southwestern abode before hitting the keys, 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, snake-charmer rhythms and monstrous troughs of sound, and Vidna Obmana's penchant for getting interstellar mileage out of even the most minimal of patterns. One hastens to label WELL OF SOULS a masterpiece, but from the gorgeous, shadowy hieroglyphics of the digipak to the crepuscular habitues created on "Deep Hours" and "The Gathering," it's difficult to think of this richly imaginative work as anything but.

Recording information: SerenitY Studio, Belgium (??/1994-03/1995); Timeroom, Tucson, AZ (??/1994-03/1995).

Personnel: Steve Roach (flute, synthesizer, percussion).

Liner Note Author: Linda Kohanov.