Released
1998
Label
Projekt
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Contact
POBox 54
2600 Berchem 2
Belgium
POBox 166155
Chicago, IL 60616
USA
Visit
Last Edit/Update
30 juni, 1998
Vidna Obmana
CROSSING THE TRAIL
Track Listing
1. Encountering Terrain
2. Trail Dwelling
3. Forest Arrow
4. Mission Ground
5. The Esoteric Source
6. The Giant Traveler
7. This Splendid Place
With an already impressive body of work behind him, the Belgian
composer/multi-instrumentalist Vidna Obmana shows no sign of creative fatigue. In
recent years he has released a series of retrospective compilations, collaborative
projects and solo works on the Chicago-based Projekt label. Crossing
The Trail is the latest -- a sustained encounter with the sublime, as depicted in the
eternal and universal language of music.
The seventy minutes of music on Crossing
The Trail is essentially one long, continuous piece, with the seven tracks
representing nothing so much as movements in this aural voyage. Most of these individual
movements open with slow, subdued harmonies that linger in the borderland between melody
and pure ambiance, and gradually develop into huge, almost solid presences of sound. Rich
percussions of a warm and acoustic nature likewise feature prominently on all the tracks
aside from "The Esoteric Source," while flutes, bells and other instruments of
exotic origin add further texture to Obmana's organic arrangements.
As mentioned, the music on this CD
conjures up a sensation of wonder and astonishment; breathtaking qualities, which arise
out of Obmana's ability to depict the grandeur and beauty of the world in an
almost visual sense through his compositions. Crossing The Trail constantly takes
the listener down untrodden trails, and into landscapes of undisturbed and untouched
natural splendor.
"Encountering Terrain"
opens the CD with an extended fade-in, as if slowly descending from a mountain, the thin
veil of clouds lifting from the eyes to reveal a vast tropical jungle landscape. A
multitude of subtle rhythms, distant flutes, rattles and liquid sounds evoke the living,
breathing terrain. The hovering sheets of harmonic atmospheres briefly fall into a
slightly melancholy melodic flow, as if this celebratory movement also carries within it a
subdued elegy.
With "Forest Arrow" the
landscape changes. Strong acoustic percussions and shimmering harmonies combine to paint a
trek across the savannah. The sound is large and dynamic, allowing the listener to
experience the vast open landscape, and to feel the sweltering heat. Impressions of exotic
birds' cries and insects are audible beneath the pulse of the drums, and the atmospherics
that carry the piece forward, again speak of serenity, loneliness and the immensity of
nature. At the end of the piece the drums subside, and the thematics slowly ebb, as the
sun sets on the horizon.
If much of Crossing The Trail
carries with it an undercurrent of lamentation for the disappearing frontier, "This
Splendid Place," which closes the CD, is a true affirmation that the world is not yet
gone, and nothing is yet too late. The piece begins with waves of harmonics washing ashore
on a beach of rattling seashells. The rushing sound of the ocean, the brisk pull of the
wind, and the sharp rays of the sun biting the cheeks materialize out of the music. Obmana
sets sail on a ship headed for the open sea; the enormous steady flow of the music fills
the sails -- the euphoria of being alone upon the ocean, the world open and unobstructed
on all sides, courses through the blood. The water is heard licking the hull of the ship,
and the shimmering sunlight colors the crests of the waves golden. Thus ends the voyage,
as the music slowly fades, leaving behind a slipstream of images, and memories stirred.
The material on Crossing The
Trail was recorded between June 1996 and October 1997, and Obmana was
assisted musically on a couple of the tracks by long time collaborator Steve Roach,
as well as Jeff Pearce, and Martine Verhoeven -- who, aside from
chanting on "The Esoteric Source," also created the wonderful photographic
artwork that graces the cover of the CD.
