by Phil Derby, Electroambient Space
August 2003
This review presents me with a difficult challenge. I feel that I more than used up the superlatives in my vocabulary when I reviewed last year's TRANCE SPIRITS and DARKEST BEFORE DAWN. Though I like virtually all of Steve's output, I wasn't prepared for him to top himself quite so quickly and so thoroughly. At the risk of contradicting myself when I called TRANCE SPIRITS the best ambient CD ever (which I knew would come back to bite me, but not this soon), I will limit myself this time to saying this is easily one of Steve Roach's finest hours -- well, 5 hours to be more precise.
As an overview, MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES is what I would call the "classic" organic ambient style of Steve Roach: "Labyrinth" is his dark ambient style, "Recent Future" is a tasty variety sampler platter, and "Piece of Infinity" is one of Steve's trademark minimal long-form works, perhaps the subtlest and softest he has ever done.
My favorite is the first disc, five tracks running from nearly 12 to just over 20 minutes each. There are great highs and lows, wonderful deep drones and high shimmering tones, all richly layered in an organic primordial soup that touches a vibrant nerve for a thoroughly soothing listening experience.
Reaching deeper still is "Labyrinth", 10 tracks that plunge deep into "The Otherworld," a track which is representative of the intense darkness found at several moments on disc two. Strange creatures call out from the caverns as we stand on the precipice looking down. With no looking back, we enter the even darker "Wonderworld". Gems are found in both long and short tracks, as evidenced by the beautiful "Threshold". This small number takes on no small task, providing a smooth transition between the darkest and lightest selections on "Labyrinth", and it most ably does so. After "Dream Body" and "Slowly Dissolve" deceive us into thinking we've found our way out, "Womb Of Night" tells us otherwise. Though undeniably Roach, I'm also reminded here of old haunting Schulze numbers from the early 1970's.
We climb our way back out of the maze into disc three, "Recent Future". It's still a little dark here, but not as much as its predecessor. Here Steve shows just how many subtleties can be brought to bear on this genre called ambient. In these 13 tracks, as on the rest of the discs, not a beat is heard, but the variety on this single disc while retaining a cohesive quality is remarkable. Light, dark, simple, complex, visceral, elegant -- all are apt adjectives to describe the music to be found here. Sample to your heart's delight, or better yet, play it through from beginning to end and hear the flow as Steve intended. For that matter, I recommend doing that from "Palace of Nectar" all the way through to "Piece of Infinity". Consider it time very well spent.
 
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Steve Roach 2003 Projekt PRO144 (CD, Poster) Reviewed by Frank MacEowen, Gilles Bédard, Jim Brenholts, Hannah M.G. Shapero, Ambient Musings, Beneath the Icy Floe, Deep Listenings, Disquiet, Echoes, Eclectic Earwig Reviews, Electroambient Space, e|i magazine, Morpheus Music, Sonic Curiosity, Synth Music Direct, Wind and Wire MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES is truly among the creme de la creme of Steve's distinct work. It is an astonishing series of recordings. At times I found myself facing the darkest of the dark in the collective unconscious. Just as I thought I had reached the edge of where I could go in my voyaging, a tonal shift would occur and carry me into a delicious and heart-achingly beautiful space of unparalleled hope and faith. These recordings are both initiatory, and a veritable soul-retrieval in this time of widespread soul loss. In essence, this is healing sound. Arranged as a collection of four discs, each is a stand-alone musicscape experience. Yet, as a full collection MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES is nothing short of initiation, each disk building upon the energy of the previous one, opening out into vast domains and vistas, carrying us deep into subterranean realms of luminosity. MYSTIC CHORDS & SACRED SPACES is a vibrant topography, a map leading us to the dwelling places of sentient and divine energy." -- Frank MacEowen, author of From the Celtic Dreamtime, The Mist-Filled Path, and Chasing The Deer Note: The 4-Disc Set has an extra $3 shipping charge for deliveries outside the U.S. and Canada.
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