Androctonyx — Respawning As A Pearl

Androctonyx's Respawning as a Pearl is a work of space ambient or drone, created with layers of synthesizer, not unlike Steve Roach's Immersion series, or Mathias Grassow's longform drone works. It is divided into four tracks, 12-20 minutes each, but is actually a continuous play, with no breaks between parts.

Occasionally, the tone brightens, rattles and seems to bristle. At first, there is a metallic, futuristic sheen to the cascading, endless tones, possibly the result of a digital wavetable oscillator with heavy processing. As time goes on, the current takes on a brighter and more vivid shine, and becomes pure and clear like an organ, peaking in the vivid bright white of parts 2 and 3, which seems to gradually recede in "part 4".

It's smooth and unalarming enough for sleeping, yet enough constant change to the ebb and flow to feel as if new locations are consistently arriving in the mind's eye. The title fits, as the sound is truly imbued with light; at times, the high frequencies are perhaps overly penetrating, yet this brightness is exhilarating in a sense, as well. It is celestial like the works of Iasos. Perhaps it is a bit single-minded, but it serves its function. For more