Lunar Miasma – Crystal Covered
Lunar Miasma – Crystal Covered (Basses Frequences)
These days Panos Alexiadis keeps us vigilant. After a successful introduction with “Mala Aria”, the split release with Gnaw Their Tongues, Mrtyu!, Xela at his own Insult Recordings, “Monophonic Ritual” at Ruralfaune, the majestic “Blackest Haze” at Small Doses and the split with Ondo, the time has finally come for the first full release at Basses Frequences! This huge attempt is most praiseworthy, as the labels I mentioned above have their own importance, regarding the musical space where Lunar Miasma is heading. The most surprising thing though, isn’t that he released his work at those labels, but mainly the fact that with each release there is something transpiring; something really beautiful and balancing.
“Crystal Covered” has really nice artwork made by the artist himself, while the logo (at the professionally printed this time cd) was done by Viral Graphics. Generally the aesthetics of this release are by far the best so far for Lunar Miasma. Now regarding the musical aspects of the album, as I‘ve said before, we find Panos in his most balanced moment. His perseverance in building layers and layers of space, sounds and atmosphere with his analogue synthesizers and pedals might bring in mind the mighty Klaus Schulze for example but in the meantime, it approaches at moments the character of modern
synth-based work such as Oneohtrix Point Never or even Emeralds. That said, despite the 70’s electronic music influence, the tracks are embellished with modern perception and this is something to be noted.
The record starts ideally with the first track building the base for what is about to evolve. Substantially, it seems like a conceptual work, musically speaking. Like a huge track divided in six chapters. From the beginning till the end of the album, the tracks succeed in maintaining an unparalleled mood/ecstasy. The rotations are simply effective and help intensely in changing the frame and the atmosphere each time. The job he has done in music engineering is marvelous, with the high frequencies playing a big role to the final result. There is no earache or whatever, so it’s a pleasant hearing. Most exciting though, is the fact that “Crystal Covered” represents a unique travel in space, the sounds of the universe and cosmic atmosphere. And it pleases me even more to listen to such a good drone/ambient release from a Greek artist, which has the courage and the persistence to follow his dream. We wait for more. It’s just the beginning.
stealing the light 