ARBORESCENCE

This space progressive rock record comes after the magnificent "Jurassic shift" album. The omnipresent electric guitar riffs here are at their best: they are quite loud, razor and flashy. The bassist has been replaced, and compared to "Erpland", the rhythm here is slightly faster, the tracks are more loaded, supported by a better bass. Many keyboards parts slightly sound techno, like the ones on "Yog-Bar-Og", "Myriapod" and "Shima koto". The keyboards are almost as atmospheric, spacy and refined as on "Jurassic shift"; there are many memorable keyboards arrangements like on the 3 mellow track "Arborescence", "Dance of the Loomi" and "There's a planet here". The techno New Age track "Arborescence" has miscellaneous birds sounds through VERY FRESH atmospheric & modern keyboards textures: this track also has a Gilmour-esque electric guitar solo. The rhythmic "Dance of the Loomi" has an OUTSTANDING texture made of atmospheric, techno & rhythmic keyboards and clean & brief guitar notes: it is VERY addictive! The record still contains some impressive exotic influences, especially some Middle Eastern ones, like on the "Al-Salooq" track. There are also, as always, many ethereal flute parts. The powerful & futuristic "Shima koto" has a VERY sustained bass, fitting very well with the incisive electric guitars and the percussive techno keyboards. With "Jurassic shift", this record is among the best ones from Ozric tentacles.

Rating: 4.5 stars