Entheogenic – Gaia Sophia

English / Polish version

Entheogenic - Gaia Sophia

    Entheogenic
    Gaia Sophia
    2011

      1. Love Letters To The Soul
      2. Body Of Light (Sophia Mix)
      3. Badbury Rings
      4. Multiverse
      5. Fire Horse & Storm

______________________________

I will not conceal that Entheogenic is one of my favourite projects. Since 2002, when their debut album bearing an original title fell into my hands, I just fell in love with their original, organic sound. Over time, perhaps I had to convince myself a little longer only to one of their albums (I mean FLIGHT OF THE URUBUS released in 2008 – somehow these jazzy themes are not quite in my taste). However when I take into account all previous releases of this project, I am still quite enchanted by them. Some Delphi thoughts that overlap me when I learned that Entheogenic plan to release a new album, said that it would be something really special. As it has turned out lately, my premonitions were true.

Piers Oak-Rhind and Helmut Glavar definitely complied with a task entrusted to them, giving us an organic and ethnic feast in the form of an album called GAIA SOPHIA. Once again, I can be accused of lacking any form of criticism in my review, but taking a full responsibility for my words, I will write all and sundry about a bucolic nature of the work committed by the project Entheogenic. The album contains five perfectly sounding tracks, but it is worth noting that the track starting a whole entitled LOVE LETTERS TO THE SOUL requires from us a dedication of almost half an hour just to listen to it in its entirety. It varies not only in terms of pace, or pads used here, but mainly it is difficult to find a stagnation; despite the fact that this track lasts nearly thirty minutes, there is something happening here all the time. Some clearly intertwined elements of nature mix with some ethnic instruments sounding rhythmically, which give a true energy boost to this track. The next in turn is BODY OF LIGHT, and again there appears this style which I love so much, so characteristic for this group – some sounds of a forest, the pouring water, a walk through the swamp, in the background a woman quietly and unintelligible whispers a spell, or maybe it is just the sound of some old boughs of trees creaking in the wind? It is hard to find yourself and understand something in all this, but I do not want to come back from this place. It is one of those places where one is tempted to be forever, regardless of the consequences. BADBURY RINGS – this time again there is a fifteen-minute journey into the unknown, or perhaps less known. It is a little slower and a little deeper – it is probably not a coincidence that this track was placed in the middle of the album. Stuck in a hypnotic trance, I slowly walk into MULTIVERSE. An amazing start, in the distance once again we hear some owl’s hooting accompanying us in all the tracks or some croaking of frogs, which so often makes us think of some warm, summer evenings. However the most interesting seems to be the center of the track, just like it was taken out from a Gregorian chant, and the most astute perhaps will find here also something similar to Hallucinogen’s GAMMA GOBLINS. At the end there is the track FIRE HORSE AND STORM (from where do they take these titles?) in a true Celtic style – some flutes, bagpipes, harps along with other unspecified instruments set up a perfect epilogue.

And thus we have reached the end. I will just say that it was definitely worth it. I am personally very pleased that Entheogenic resigned from the jazzy style, to which they tried to convince us in their previous album. Praise them for that! Fortunately, they have returned to the old school (of course, the reviewers certainly will use this as a complaint and will write something about returning to the old stuff, but for me it is certainly an asset). The album certainly deserves an attention, though immediately I warn that it is not easy – it is not that kind of music to which you can listen while preparing a breakfast. It requires more concentration and dedication of time and attention, and the effects (I assure) will be amazing.

______________________________

9 / 10
Marion