Artimey Artemiev Point of Intersection

I first heard of this artist through his collaboration with Frank Klare on the Red & Black album but forgot about him until Peter Harrison of Direction Music kindly sent me some cassettes of his music (thanks Peter). The music on this album should be enjoyed by those people who like the kind of material released on the Fathom label as Artemiy is a master of Dark Soundscapes. The first track 'Under Cover of the Skies' is a perfect example of this using base drones and chords for the back drop on which are layered electronic shimmerings and textural effects that give the piece movement and interest. 'Mirage' is even more abstract, a bit like a cross between TD's 'Electronic Meditation' and Lightwave's 'Mundus'. The superbly titled 'Down by the Footsteps Leading to the Abyss' is the longest track on the album and is the best. At times the music is incredibly dense at others subtle sounds are used to create pictures, there is even a hint of melody from time to time and near the end vocal chants from some Syrian church are used in such a way as to get the imagination flying off in yet more directions. Next up we have the title track which sounds to me like a ship easing itself through a thick fog. They can hear other ships out there but they can't see them. This is picture music at its finest, just switch out the lights and let your imagination run free. Finally we have 'From & To'. After another very atmospheric start we hear the first true rhythm on the album, it is very deep, slow and slightly tribal. This beat continues for much of the track and becomes rather hypnotic. The mind paintings being created through the background instrumentation and sound effects are very vivid. Later on the rhythm dies away and the collage of sound becomes more dense and complex causing the imagination to shift one way and then the other - outstanding. (DL)

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