Dryad Tassi has released his latest album titled, Northland III, back onMarch, 18th , 2022. It is a wonderful, mystical story, of the character Bliss Illusion, on his esoteric journey to find his lover, Uni.
The album and journey explore the relationship between the concepts of Heaven and Man. As Tassi states, “The inspiration of Northland, is spiritually connected to the background of my own long prose collection “Caelum·Deva” and the song “Leave·Abhassara Deva” of Bliss-Illusion. He travels through various mysterious dimensions, witnessing the whole from the beginning to final perishing process of divinity. He at last comprehends the path of wisdom.
Uni has surpassed the embodiment of mankind in Tassi’s heart. She is his indestructible belief. They will meet on a farther and better journey. In this chapter, Northland III, the bard Tassi returned to his world from mysterious ancient books and woke up to find himself at the foot of Mount Pulaka. He looked at the stars overhead and listened to the song of the sea breeze. He knew that all this was just a start. It was a long way to continue until he saw his Uni”.
Dryad Tassi, plays all instruments. Tassi’s discography includes: Northland III 2021, Northland I + II 2020; and Like Dust, A Light of Eternal Darkness.
The music is ethereal, and at times the guitar work reminds me of early Smashing Pumpkins. The soft electric and acoustic guitar parts are wonderful. The dream-state keyboards and atmospherics blend well with the electric guitar, drums and bass to provide the perfect reflection pool to contemplate such high ideals and a journey to find your compatible mate. The lyrics are poetic and add to the beauty of the music being played.
This is not for everyone, but if you like new, well-conceived and played music, that at times is so soothing you may dose off, well then, this is for you. This is definitely a headphones album, that you really should devote time and space to truly appreciate. Overall, I enjoyed most of the album.
My favorite tracks were: “Star palace”, “Fog of the Black Sea’, which really made you feel the fog surrounding you. “Nostalgia”, with female vocals joining in late in the track. “Lake of Fire”, with its bubbling that took away the foreboding feeling most of us think of when we think of such a place. “Memoir of Eerie Fantasies II”, which has some of the best acoustic and electric guitar work on the album, mixed well with wind and what sounds like, maybe waves from the ocean. It also includes some wonderful piano music. The closing track “The Voice of Luna”, which again took me back to the early Pumpkins track, “Luna”, is full of fireside sounds and great piano, interspersed with spacey feedback and atmospherics.
This is different, which is wonderful. Everyone needs a change of pace, every now and again, and this album is the ticket for that experience.
Track List
- Star Palace – 7:07
- Fog of the Bleak Sea – 6:16
- Equilibrium Reincarnation – 5:28
- Fairy – 6:18
- Nostalgia – 4:29
- Merkabah – 7:57
- Lake of Fire – 7:10
- Memoir of Eerie Fantasies II – 6:53
- The Adventures of Ethernet – 8:09
- The Voice of Luna – 6:21