Visions – Temples (CD Album – Cyclic Law)
Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, dark-cinematographic.
Background/Info: Frederic Arbour is not only running Cyclic Law (now established in Berlin), but he from time to time also composes his own music under the Visions moniker. He last year released the “Monad”-album together with Phurpa and now strikes back with his first solo-album in nine years. “Temples” is meant as ‘as a hymn to lost civilizations, and a gratitude for what can still be found and discovered from our predecessors. As societies fall, most of their temples and shrines seem to remain, perhaps, as a reflection of the materiality of spirit.’
Content: The main characteristic from “Temples” is the permanent fusion between dark-cinematographic music and pure dark-ambient. The compositions are characterized by heavy, impressive blasting sound waves. You sometimes get the impression to hear electronic signals from outer space. The tracks are rather long, but featuring several climaxes.
+ + + : Frederic Arbour took me by surprise! He released an overwhelming ambient composition, which is moving crescendo while mixed with background noises and field recordings. The deep, vibrating sound waves are literally resonating in your stomach. It’s an icy and frightening sensation, but still a truly reference to speak about a successful experience. The album features a few masterpieces such as “Ultima” and “Continuum”.
– – – : This album is a great exposure of Frederic Arbour’s musical taste. It’s just a pity we had to wait such a long time for such a masterpiece!
Conclusion: “Temples” is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best Cyclic Law releases from the year! This is how dark-ambient music has to feel: cold, scary and poignant!
Best songs: “Ultima”, “Continuum”, “Murmur”, “Temples”.
Rate: (9).
Artist: www.facebook.com/visionsambient
Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw
About Visions
Visions is the solo project of Frederic Arbour, the Canadian musician who founded Cyclic Law in 2002. Arbour started Visions in 2004 as an outlet for drones and soundscapes, apart from his other projects such as Instincts, Havan and Skorneg.
The full-lengths “Lapse” (2005) and “Summoning The Void” followed, before Visions returned in 2018 with “Monad”, a collaboration with the Russian project Phurpa that also marked Cyclic Law’s 100th release. “Temples” arrived in November 2019 as Arbour’s first Visions solo album in nine years. Asked about the project in a 2020 Side-Line interview, Arbour said it “came about in 2004 as a way to work with sounds in a less structured way, an assemblage of drones and soundscapes with a deep expansive spiritual backbone.”
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
