Sh'mantra - Formula Orange


Year of Release: 2001
Label: self-released
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 105:17:00

Looking at the bright and yellow cover, hardly anyone could imagine that this double CD, called Formula Orange, displays such a delicate world as the one that we find as soon as this album hits the stereo. But the first seconds of "Kiutl" rapidly give us a better idea, as the spatial intro of the song is gradually replaced by a monochromatic riff that leaves some room in the end for the fragile voice of Thorin, who is perfect in depicting emotional vocal lines that are clearly sung from the heart. And it's very difficult to make similarities about Formula Orange, but I think that Pink Floyd is one of the few bands that can be given as an example to give better guidance to the curious listener. Obviously I'm referring to early and gloomy Pink Floyd, as enigmatic songs like the beautiful "Pit And The Pendulum", with its primordial and minimalist melodies, draw a well-deserved matching to the most experimental years of the famous British ensemble. However these placid and dark atmospheres sometimes are a bit too redundant, and in fact some of the other tracks suffer slightly from this characteristic, especially the long "Absence_substance_quantity..." and "74.40s167.20e04:46:18", which in turn possess some of the strangest titles I have ever encountered. But all in all Formula Orange is still a very good record, which rediscovers the lost art of playing passionate psychedelic music and melt it with some mysterious sonic landscapes almost certainly inspired by the beautiful environment of Australia. So let Sh'mantra slowly grow on your skin, and in the meantime start making plans for the next journey ... the world "down under" eagerly awaits you!


Tracklisting:
Disc One: Kiutl (10:59) / Robots On The Beach (6:13) / Pit And The Pendulum (9:36) / 74040s 167.20e 04:46:18 (13:17) / Sweat Of The Sun, Tears Of The Moon (3:57) / Sunburst On The Cayman Trench (8:00) / Absence_substance_quantity_quality_relation_action_affection... (17:19)

Disc Two: Recurring Nocturnal Habit II (2:58) / Inanimate Articulate (8:11) / Tws (24:47)

Musicians:
Matt Seldon - bass
Michael Lenton - drums
Alex Hole - guitars
Thorin Kerr - keyboards, vocals

Discography:
Cornucopia (1998)
Formula Orange (2001)
Sub-floating (ep) (2002)
?A System Of Moments (2005)
Besides The Sub Bunker (2008)

Genre: Psychedelic-Space Rock

Origin AU

Added: June 2nd 2002
Reviewer: Igor Italiani

Artist website: www.myspace.com/shmantraweb
Hits: 2109
Language: english

  

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