Alpha Flight Ring of Worlds

This album, described as Ambient/Space-Music/Meditation, is composed and arranged by Chris Höppner, with a little help from Peter Mergener and has been re-released since I first reviewed it in E.M.MAgazine 95/5. 'The Ring' sets an ethereal scene effectively before 'Start to the Worlds' carries on in he same vein. Sweeping synthscapes, weird effects, cosmic callings. The expected elements but well put together. 'World of Caves' opens with more spacey sounds which, if anything, are even better than those featured in the opening two tracks. Three minutes in and the track switches to a sequencer & improvised lead outing which to be truthful is not that brilliant, but it only lasts a couple of minutes and the track ends as it started with more ethereal synth. Sequences emerge from weird effects on 'World of Green Clouds', while 'World of Monks' does indeed contain monkish sounds and rudimentary note droplets. 'World of Liquid Metal' is an excellent spacey offering with sweeping synth chords and some well constructed background sequences and liquid effects, while 'World of Endless Forests' adopts a careful approach and even features samples of leaves crunching underfoot. 'The Space Between Worlds' is a very grandiose interlude, while 'World of Crystals' takes a while to get going but does contain some good moments. 'Lost World' contains some excellent sequences which deserve a more prominent place in the mix, leaving 'Epilog' to close on a surprisingly optimistic note. I've heard better examples of "Space Music" than this, however if you do particularly like this style of music then there's more than enough on offer here to warrant investigation. (GG)

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