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The decision to review this album presented me with a rather intimidating challenge. The Stargate is the final release from Mortiis’ Era 1, his final faux-medieval ambient album, and his finest work. Not only is it a personal favourite, but it is also an incredibly rich, detailed composition, vast in its scope and sumptuous in its presentation. It seems almost an impossible task to truly do such a complex piece justice; nevertheless, I humbly present to you, the reader, my modest attempt at doing so. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this release is its sheer scope. Although it is certainly not an instrumental album, there are few lyrics; however, the liner notes reveal a grand and complex story, about the creation of a spirit, and world-genesis, and vast armies sweeping across the plains of that place in conquest. Effectively, it’s a concept album, with each of the eight songs having a narrative, ranging from speeches to poetry. Fragments of these occasionally show up in the few instances of sung lyrics on the album, but the primary mode of expression is through the music itself, which Mortiis has achieved absolutely perfectly. Abstract themes such as drawing a world into existence are given a fitting (and rather haunting) voice; more accessible ideas like the desolation of an abandoned village, and the spirit of jingoism, are given tongue in a manner that is both very easy to relate to, and simple to visualise, where appropriate. The instrumentation on this release is the best of Era 1, without contest. It is still mainly generated using keyboards; however, the sound quality has taken a vast step up. Where earlier recordings were dominated by strange sounds, like flute synth patches played well below the instrument’s natural range and with a heavy vibrato applied, the instruments sound far more convincing here. It’s still evident that they are synthetic, but the sounds are far more believable; less like MIDI or Casio’s finest, and more like customised patches, perhaps. Mortiis thanks four synth/sampler manufacture companies in the notes: Kurzweil, Roland, Alexis, and Ensoniq. This gives us some clues as to how exactly the music was created. The effect does wear thin in a few places—the higher timpani sounds, in particular, as well as some flute passages, are possessed of a notably emulated sound, nothing like the timbre of a real instrument. However, by and large, the sound is extremely good, which is of course boosted by the richness of the arrangements, the vocals (both of which will be discussed presently), and the use of real acoustic guitars, which blend in exceptionally well. There’s also some bass guitar, which sounds real and could well have been performed by Mortiis himself. That these real instruments meld so seamlessly with the synths is a testament to the quality of the sound in itself. A very small amount of sampling is also included; mostly the sounds of battle, horses and clashing metal. This is too infrequent to have much of an impact on the overall work, but does add a certain something to the mood of the pieces. The primary melodic voices in the music are the strings, which utilise mostly large, sweeping, flowing movements to carry the melodies. The violins are nearly always held separate and distinct from the celli and basses, and the arrangement is strongly given to polyphony. Woodwind and especially brass are also used as key elements of the sound texture. This is a common element in all Era 1 releases, bRead full review
always love for madrush media m/ one of the best
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