Free System Projekt & Dweller at the Threshold
Passenger 4
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(Excerpt from track 'Departure')
CD / 6 tracks / 61.45 mins

Before I heard this CD I thought that these two acts would make an unlikely combination. The last album by FSP 'Atmospheric Conditions' was an all out Berlin School fest wonderfully overdosing on sequences and retro sounds but with DAT I expect a more measured and restrained approach. In fact the first track is just by DAT so I was anticipating some carefully crafted scene setter. Tinkling bell chimes and dark drones provide just the sort of start to 'Pre-Flight' I was expecting. A slow sequence starts up less than two minutes in however which is then replaced by a more rapid one backed by soft pads. As the track builds a nice lead line makes an entrance. The sequence mutates throughout keeping the interest high.

There are loads of little subtleties, a half heard rhythm here, some sonic colouring there but these are bonuses, in other words subtlety is not sacrificing excitement. Well, well, how wrong I was. Things become more atmospheric as we seamlessly move into 'Arrival'. Whooshes of windy sound lead into vast dark soundscapes which would have been very much at home on Tangerine Dream's 'Sorcerer'. However, the scorching ballsy sequence when it arrives sounded much more from 'Rubycon' or even 'Encore'. On this piece we just get FSP and what a wonderful track it is. It's difficult to believe that it wasn't recorded in the mid seventies- a classic example at that. On the rest of the tracks we get all five musicians from the two bands working together. The first 'Meeting' almost sounds alive as breathy effects mix with white noise and cosmic twitters. On paper it sounds rather eerie but it actually has a rather warm quality. It is also quite short.

A meandering lead line takes us to 'Passage'. Initially we get soft tranquil pads and melodies. It brought up images in my mind of looking over rolling moorland hills on a hot summers day. It is a long track at over twenty minutes and I was completely blissed out before the first sequence avalanched over my senses at the half way mark shaking me back to full consciousness. Again this is pure mid seventies magic. The sequence surges this way and that heaping excitement on excitement. After the maelstrom 'Departure' comes as a welcome catching of the breath. We are back to more windy pads but it is only about ninety seconds before the sequence emerges, a steady loping one around which soothing lead lines weave. 'Memory' is a short, almost melancholy track to round things off. Initially it again features breezy pads. A sequence emerges after just over a minute but then slowly fades away to finish. Another triumph. We know how expert FSP are at this style but DAT have to be congratulated in stepping into the more European approach so well. The blending of both bands in this instance worked superbly. (DL)

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