Shamall This Island Earth

This, the latest Shamall album, is probably my favourite of the six and it seems to be more varied in style. The title track opens and leans more towards his typical style with uptempo piano, lots of squelchy sequences and some amazing synth sounds. This is a captivating start reminding me of Yanni from his ‘Opimystique’ period. ‘Living World’ follows and is more rhythm based, having a dense mass of percussion and multi-sequences. Less emphasis is placed on lead lines but with such an enthralling backdrop they would be superfluous. ‘Terramagna’ sees quite a change in style, best described as “majestic techno”? Not one for New age fans this. ‘Faithchild’ is the first of 4 shorter, melodic tracks - this one is sequential music very similar to the style of Brainwork. ‘Natural Balance’ is trademark Shamall with big piano melodies and stacks of majestic synths. ‘Crystal Rain’ is a really catchy track with a gorgeous piano line being by a clever flute-like sequence which jumps from speaker to speaker. Glorious symphonic chords join and we have a real winner of a track. ‘Human’ is one of my favourites, for all the world like Yanni in romantic mode with wonderfully complex and uplifting piano melodies. However, you can’t keep Shamall restrained for long - enter majestic synths, blended with the piano and it’s a sensational experience. ‘Marching Time’ returns to the longer formula and to a more typical style. Great drumming here with all sorts of incredible synth sounds and sequences flying about. What a climax too! A clever brassy lead line, lots of filtered sequences, drums, then more sequences - get the picture? I wish it would have continued even longer! ‘Desert Song’ is my favourite track. It starts with a marvellous eastern flavoured build-up featuring truly gorgeous chords and synth lines. Suddenly it rears into life with a chunky bass sequence bursting onto the scene, drums start then wow! everything is thrown in, lead synth and guitar lines come and go all over the place. Fascinating and enthralling music. The last track ‘One Step Back to the Roots’ is totally out of place here, being mainly guitar based. It’s well played though in a Strange inside style. This is a top notch EM album and is highly recommended. (Trevor Newman)

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