ASTRAL MAGIC

'The Last Survivors on Planet Earth' with psych vibes from the start; it squirts everywhere, it sparkles, it can even make you go into a trance. melodic 'Monsters from the Id', with drums that keep you moving even if you're deaf; psyche 70 rock-hippie. 'Dawn of a New Age' on an ambient-oriental air where the voice mixes with the synthetic sitar slide, that's it, I took too many mushrooms but there is a lot of ORESOUND SPACE COLLECTIVE in this crazy title. 'Message from Within' warm air with cottony voice, fruity Mike OLFIELD, thundering synths like in the old days; it's beautiful but redundant. 'The Color of Adoration' oriental, S-F, bewitching, dark, monolithic and litany.

'Only in My Dreams' 70's hippie western rock ballad, latent vibe; the more symphonic second part brings a real guitar solo on dripping synths. 'Autumnal Equinox' well the equinox sends you back to Jarre but just a few seconds later it's ORESOUND SPACE COLLECTIVE in a softer way, OZRIC TENTACLES with a heady monolithic rhythm. 'Shimmer' goes a bit of OMD in the background, OLFIELD and a flowing air, the first almost pop title. 'The Inner Light' for the end trip with Shane's paraphrased vocal, the concept of time no longer exists, the psyche as dreamed, Santtu made it.

ASTRAL MAGIC composed this opus of great haunting pop-dark-wave melodies, hypnotic, experimental rock; a new musical genre where sounds pile up and collide. Jonathan Segel of the Oresound Space Collective, Alisa Coral for her synths and Shane Beck for her poetry help Santtu create psychic music for 'world that liquefies'; the art of channeling sounds from another dimension. (3.5)

'We Are Stardust' on a psych prog pop sound with a touch of Bowie for the phrasing; it even goes on pop-synth- electro, in short very diversified, the hit of the album. 'The Simulacra' colorful oriental atmosphere with the creativity of a son of the Sparks stuffed with synths, catchy voice-overs; there's Kraftwerk, Gary Numan with Devo sauce. 'Drop It' soaring atmo mid-tempo title highlighting the instruments; solemn break that twirls, reminding me of the sound of the great epic of Tangerine Dream. 'Virtual Fixtures' sets out again on a thunderous atmosphere of the 60-70's, fast and syncopated. 'Bottled Up Inside' with a beautiful guitar space, ideal for resting the ears, vocals posed for one of the most beautiful melodies. 'Ghost In DNA' intro flute-synths that squirts and again the guitar that gives the rhythm. 'Out In The Wild' felted and psychedelic 60's atmosphere before 'They Walk Among Us' for an improvisation with Numan and Hawkwind mixed and a darker phrasing sticking to new wave synths. 'Out In The Cold' for the space- country ballad with slide guitar for the relaxing interlude. 'Lost Planet' returns to a catchy psychedelic sound that surfs on the previous titles, vintage sound effects in addition. 'Violet Sky' comes too fast, I got used to the intro; always in the same vein with synths, keyboards and twirling guitar to take you very far, where the covid does no harm.

Astral Magic launches a new musical genre with this hovering psych sound coming from covid-pandemic expectations, 300 titles released in less than 2 years for dynamic ambient, colorful psych, pop-dark-wave bordering on trance hypnotic. Not to be used on certain evenings in front of the fireplace while munching on a mushroom or a devil's herb for fear of flying away irretrievably towards too distant lands. ( 2.75)