Alio Die & Parallel Worlds – The Utopian Blossom (Album – Hic Sunt Leones)

Genre/Influences: Ambient, experimental, cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: This album is a new collaboration between Stefano Musso (Italy) and Bakis Sirros (Greece). It’s the third collaborative work between Alio Die and Parallel Worlds and a new experiment between the electro-acoustic world of the Italian ambient master and the analogue/modular sonic universe of the Greek artist.

Content: Both debut cuts are progressively built up, animated by relaxing passages, but still spiced with field recordings. The tracks are evasive and yet there’s a kind of mysterious and somewhat dark flavor hanging over the composition. The album moves quite progressively into a more cinematic approach, which is more monotonous. The last track moves back into darkness, like an apotheosis or who knows maybe a prelude to a next collaboration. Notice by the way the work features 7 tracks, which each have a duration time over the 7 minutes.

+ + + : If you like ambient music composed with electronics and with an experimental flavor on top, this album will fulfill your expectations. The ambient approach has something serene and peaceful at one side, but also featuring an exciting darker touch at the other. And that’s precisely what I like in both debut tracks and the last cut of the work. There’s a perfect chemistry between both artists.

– – – : This opus has a great debut and start, but some tracks in between are a little bit too monotonous.

Conclusion: This album will for sure catch the attention of both artist’s fan base, but it also is an easy listening piece of music to relax and dream away.

Best songs: “Underwater Fields”, “Ethereal Abyss”, “Introspective Oceans”.

Rate: (7).

Artists: www.facebook.com/Alio-Die-224841924199335 / www.parallel-worlds-music.com / www.facebook.com/parallelworldsmusic

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.