The Road Eternal (Projekt PRO00259, 2011)
The Road Eternal is the second intercontinental collaboration between renowned American synthesist Steve Roach and one of the finest musicians in the European electronic music scene, Norwegian guitarist Erik Wollo.
The album contains six lengthy pieces. While Roach develops his characteristic hypnotic electronic ambiance, percussion and creative sequences, Wollo contributes mesmerizing melodies and patterns with his processed electric guitars and guitar synthesizers.
Wollo and Roach bring their difference perspectives and environments to the music. Whereas Steve Roach lives in the expansive desert southwest of the United States, Wollo has his home in the land of majestic fjords and mountain rivers.
“We are both passionate about the observation of nature and the poetic character of natural surroundings,” says Wollo. “The ways in which we relate to this, as well as the awareness of the ongoing passage of time. These ideas have been a driving force behind our whole artistic careers, and it is strongly reflected in this collaboration.”
“In our music,” indicates Roach, “a central pulse and steady momentum is present. The sensation is a consistent feeling of travel. Whether you’re driving, flying, riding a train or some other form of transportation, the sound and vibration enters your body and becomes part of the meditation of the travel experience. Listening to these tracks while traveling allows the music to merge with the experience arriving at an integrated place where thoughts and imagination are unified as a soundtrack for one’s own road movie. The metaphor of ‘the road eternal in the creative process’ is the other element of the album title: the road the artist travels with the allure of discovering what is next around the corner.”
Erik Wollo and Steve Roach started to work on The Road Eternal at the beginning of 2010. The final sessions took place in the fall of the same year, when Wollo traveled to Tucson (Arizona) to play at the SoundQuest Fest. After the concert, the two musicians finalized their ideas in Steve Roach’s famed The Timeroom Studio. The sessions lasted several days. “This is the music I have wanted to create with Erik since I first heard his classic Traces release way back in the 80’s,” says Roach.
The Road Eternal exhibits the talent of two of electronic music’s most recognizable masters. It is another excellent ambient-trance album to add to your collection.
Listen to samples, buy MP3s or buy the CD The Road Eternal in North America.
Buy The Road Eternal in Europe.