Brent A. Reiland & John Lyell Wormholes

One of my greatest joys as a reviewer is discovering new music and artists. I know nothing of Reiland & Lyell, but they open this disc with a great title track. Firmly planted in the realm of dark drones and things that go bump in the night, ‘Wormholes’ is a testament to formless dark sound, like some of the more nocturnal efforts of Robert Rich or Steve Roach. Reiland & Lyell succeed when they blend these smooth sound collages, ranging from the dark and sinister tones of the appropriately titled ‘Abandon Soul’, to more ethereal passages of space music like ‘Star Child’, a strong track to close out the disc. ‘Traveler’ is another beautiful abstract swirling of sounds that is thoroughly enjoyable. A repeating trance-like pulse is surrounded by all sorts of cool synths and effects. ‘Quasar Planes’ is a little more upbeat, intricately blending loops, synths, and guitars in a relaxed, pleasant way. The guitar is very reminiscent of Tony Gerber on his ‘Blue Western Sky’ CD.

Unfortunately, in between there are a lot of ups and downs. In particular, the drum-based tracks suffer from pedestrian rock-tempo rhythms and sensibilities. Numbers like ‘New Worlds’, with its pounding beat, deep synth pads, and guitar sound decent enough, but they seem they belong on a different album. ‘Remember’ sounds like a melodramatic conclusion to a movie soundtrack. If you like more melody, you may like this pieces better, but I found them out of place. On the whole, it's hard to classify ‘Wormholes’. Of the ten tracks, five are good to excellent, especially for fans of ambient, and the other five are not as strong. Properly focused, future efforts could be outstanding, but they need to settle on a musical direction and stick with it. (PD)

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