ART OF INFINITY: New Horizon (CD on ATM Music)
This CD from 2006 is a reissue of the band’s debut album from 2000, it features 39 minutes of electronic music.
Art of Infinity is: Thorsten Sudler-Mainz (on keyboards, voice, guitar, percussion, and programming), and Thorsten Rentsch (on keyboards, bass, percussion, and programming), with guests: Eva Wolf and Ann Kareen Mainz (on vocals), Stefan Hollering (on saxophone), Matthias Krauss (on keyboards, guitar, and percussion), Alex Gunia (on guitar), and Daniel Klingen (on percussion).
This music blends dreamy electronics and percussion with saxophones and female chant-vocals to generate a comfortable dose of inspirational tuneage.
The first track is very brief and comprises a stately saxophone solo.
The band’s sonic components come together in the second piece to achieve an ascendant blend of uplifting electronics and saxophone drones laced with chanting fem voices. The melody has a Celtic hint to it as the harmonies march up a hill to bask in brilliant sunlight.
The next track dallies with ambient atmospherics providing an amiable foundation for optimistic saxophone and spoken words that aspire to urge the listener to cosmic definition.
The fourth piece begins with soothing ambience, progresses to a slightly agitated passage which slides into a hesitant miasma of earnest sax and pensive electronics flavored with pleasantly plucked guitar. Elegant percussion appears in tandem with melancholic sax for the finish.
The last song is a 21 minute epic that commences with a fragile ambient structure punctuated by crystalline keys. Gurgling waters and remote storm sounds catalyze into a temperate eruption of solid tuneage. Non-lyrical vocals create a fanfare that opens the floodgates for guitar, percussion and more melodic electronics to enter the mix. A spoken passage foreshadows the music’s descent into a darker stage, wherein nonrhythmic beats and bell-tones lead to a sun rise captured by fragile electronics. In turn, this blossoms into a flourish of keyboards, growling sounds and mounting percussion. For the finale, all of the elements emerge and collaborate to accomplish an ultimate expression of power...that gradually settles down for a tranquil conclusion.
These compositions display an evident evolution, moving from a basic intro riff through short tracks to a lush piece that displays the talents of the personnel and affords the melody the chance to unfold.
DEEP IMAGINATION : Gemstones (CD & DVD on Syngate)
This release from 2008 offers 60 minutes of dreamy electronic music on the CD.
Deep Imagination is: Thorsten Sudler-Mainz (on keyboards and programming), with Thorsten Rentsch (on guitar, bass, keyboards, and percussion), and Stefan Hollering (on saxophones).
The CD features a selection of unreleased tracks (from 2007), live performances (from 2005) and a pair of remixes (from 2005) of pieces from earlier albums.
The electronics are airy and buoyant over a foundation of moody atmospherics. Keyboard driven riffs flicker through a host of cyclic chords, establishing melodies that exhibit a smoldering strength laced with a dreamy appeal. A variety of moods are captured and distributed throughout the pieces, blending growling resonance and piercing tones with pacific textures, all conspiring to superbly convey an uplifting attitude of inspiring wonder.
Some of the tracks feature rhythms, guitar, and saxophones, tastefully fleshing out the sound into an alluring density. The percussion lends more of a background presence than any strident propulsion, flavoring the tunes with soft tempos that are immersed in the electronic flow. The guitar is well hidden in the mix, often confining itself to relaxed strumming. The mournful cries of the saxophone are devoid of any sadness, communicating an earnest yearning instead, a longing that is amply satiated by the rest of the music.
While steeped in soothing sensibilities, these compositions possess a dramatic flair that serves to invigorate without straying into hyperactive territory. A sense of wonder is imparted with each melody, as the tunes seep into the listeners’ flesh and then unfurl their commanding influences from an internal vantage.
The DVD (which appears to be in PAL format) offers 21 minutes of material. First, there’s a video of two of the tracks from the CD, live at Satzvey Castle in 2005; and then there’s an abstract video whose visuals are sourced from a live performance at EM-Breakfast in Dusseldorf in 2005.
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