It’s sometimes hard to find the words that accurately bring justice to an ambient work. With a band like Tangerine Dream, you almost only have to mention their name for fans to understand the potential for a good to great album of music. Ambient artist, Steve Roach, should be at that level for many fans of the genre. With more than 60 creations within his catalogue, not to mention his many collaborations, Steve Roach is (or should be) an instantly recognizable name within the ambient world of sound. His latest album, Spiral Revelation, is a classic album in the making. And I do not say this lightly.
Spiral Revelation is a newly released set with six lengthy tracks (yes, you want these tracks lengthy). Beginning with the eleven minute first track, “We Continue”, there is a beautiful and repetitive piece that is bathed in a wash of sound. Occasionally filled in with other sounds, this opening track easily sets the quality of music tone for the rest of Spiral Revelation. As the first track glides into the second, you barely notice a transition has occurred, it’s that well orchestrated. Your mind is completely in tune it simply does not recognize a change.
There are two tracks over the ten minute mark, and deservedly so. The rest ease between six and ten minutes with two of them quite near ten minutes in length. All in all, this ambient work is an otherworldly masterpiece, beautifully composed by one of our ambient masters. With just over a full hour of transitional tunes, Spiral Revelation should be heard by all fans of ambient music.
The album itself is noted as being “The Sound of Life, Interconnected and Unfurling”. Under the disc, within the plastic well that holds the CD, the four (North, East, South West) corners have -appropriately – the words ‘Feeling’, Sensation’, ‘Thought’, ‘Intuition’.
I’m infatuated with Spiral Revelation. And I wanted you to know about it. As a note for hi-resolution fans, Spotted Peccary Music will be releasing Spiral Revelation in 96kHz/24-bit downloadable files (here). Projekt Records handles the CD and standard digital downloads via Bandcamp. You can hear streams at both locations.