Earth Island
by Darren Bergstein, Muze
'Hemispherically-correct,' the trio known as Suspended Memories recorded the follow-up to FORGOTTEN GODS between gigs and literally from the four corners of the globe. Techno-shamen Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes and Suso Saiz are three of the few only musicians who can effectively merge the primordial and the contemporary with both mesmerizing force and galvanizing power. Atmospheric presence is in spectacular abundance on EARTH ISLAND, enshadowed within a smoky calvacade of obfuscating rhythms, piercing chants, liquified guitars and chasms of respirating, nocturnal electronics. The commonality shared by this trio, the seemingly telepathic link that establishes a seamless joining of their abilities, reflects itself more vividly in these macrocosmic compositions than any other recording in the 'genre' in recent memory. From the drifting expanses and rugged hand-struck percussions of "Melting World" and the near-mythic prehistoric rumblings of "Places Inbetween" to the ancient floating meditations and serpentine rhythms of "Curandera," Roach, Reyes and Saiz' ongoing tribal odyssey continues in a gripping exploration as equally illuminating as the aural templates they've individually forged.
by Darren Bergstein, Muze
'Hemispherically-correct,' the trio known as Suspended Memories recorded the follow-up to FORGOTTEN GODS between gigs and literally from the four corners of the globe. Techno-shamen Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes and Suso Saiz are three of the few only musicians who can effectively merge the primordial and the contemporary with both mesmerizing force and galvanizing power. Atmospheric presence is in spectacular abundance on EARTH ISLAND, enshadowed within a smoky calvacade of obfuscating rhythms, piercing chants, liquified guitars and chasms of respirating, nocturnal electronics. The commonality shared by this trio, the seemingly telepathic link that establishes a seamless joining of their abilities, reflects itself more vividly in these macrocosmic compositions than any other recording in the 'genre' in recent memory. From the drifting expanses and rugged hand-struck percussions of "Melting World" and the near-mythic prehistoric rumblings of "Places Inbetween" to the ancient floating meditations and serpentine rhythms of "Curandera," Roach, Reyes and Saiz' ongoing tribal odyssey continues in a gripping exploration as equally illuminating as the aural templates they've individually forged.
  feature | Suspended Memories (Steve Roach, Jorge Reyes, Suso Saiz) 1994 Hearts of Space HS11043 (CD) Reviewed by Cliff Tuel, Linda Kohanov, Muze, The Tracking Angle The second chapter in the Suspended Memories story. Recorded between concert dates in Spain and Germany. This recording presents a more complex and layered sound due to the studio conditions the group found themselves in. A "Next World" sound is further explored. Prehispanic and Mexican shamanic influences merge with more urgent rhythms while the guitar and synths create the expansive fabric on which it all sits. Winner of the NAIRD Independent Release of the Year, 1993.
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