1 Through The Void (6:03)
2 Twilight Garden (4:51)
3 From Behind The Shadows (4:45)
4 Soham (11:38)
5 The Fragrance Of Eternal Roses (42:19)
6 Evening Afterglow (4:11)
Your ears will deeply inhale the long, lingering tones and drones of The Fragrance of Eternal Roses. Mathias Grassow cultivates florals of a sonic variety, carefully placing them in a bouquet of slow-motion arrangements which glimmer with subtle shifts of aroma and color.
With a minimum of activity, extended sonic strands softly flow Through the Void, simply radiating with slight pulsations. Lovely serenity fills Twilight Garden with just a hint of motion, though it's still a very tranquil setting; occasional bells and faint breezes are heard in this sweet-scented hideaway. An almost-still-life sound painting, From Behind the Shadows continues in a similar vein, with a few more-choral strands showing through the gleam.
For more than 11 minutes Soham wafts in an impenetrable droning fogbank from which mutedly wailing vocal streams (and perhaps processed bird sounds?) seem to emerge. Broken into three sections, The Fragrance of Eternal Roses (42:19) flatly surges forward with faint movements happening deep within the thrumming strands. Continually streaming, almost imperceptibly evolving drones are eventually infused with more-instrumental tones, keening with organ-like highs and belltone twinkles. Those influences decay into a darker period of rhythmic clatters and ominous-but-beautiful clouds. By the 30-minute mark, the piece is awash in a minor chaos, with fuzzy orchestral waves adding a certain cinematic presence and feelings of isolation. Everything smooooths out again into a warmly humming slur of sound, thinning toward its conclusion.
The synth-symphonic currents of Evening Afterglow (4:11) are underscored by deep, sinuously twisting chords. For a look at the colder and grittier side of Mathias Grassow, take a listen to the frozen otherworlds of True North (with Amir Baghiri).
A drone by any other name would smell just as sweet... at least when it's rendered by sonic artist Mathias Grassow. If you need to have something overtly "happening" in your listening material, you might turn your nose from The Fragrance of Eternal Roses; but those who appreciate the subtleties of finely wrought soundstreams will gladly pluck these thornless 8.6 beauties.
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