REVIEWS

Psychic Space Invasion
Transitions

Persepolis Records

Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
By: Matthew Johnson
Features Editor

Psychic Space Invasion is the alter ego of prolific ambient composer Ian Holloway, who now records under his own name. Featuring some of his most bleak and somber sonic ideas, Transitions makes for a suitable farewell to previous moniker, encapsulating both its playful spirit and its darker implications with a single drone composition that evolves gradually from cavernous dark ambient to horror film chanting to soothing piano motif, all in the span of 40 minutes or so. Beginning with deep extended drones, Transitions immediately establishes itself at the darker end of the ambient spectrum, a bit like early Lustmord without all of the ritualism, as softened and sustained gong-like washes fill out the sound, tones undulating a bit aimlessly but nonetheless deepening the eerie atmosphere. A two-note choral chant fades in to bring the album to its most explicitly dark places, recalling nothing so much as a quieter version of the scores from such '70s Satanic horror films as Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, but true to its title, this album does indeed make a distinct transition, shifting gradually but decisively from tension to calm, deep rhythmic hums that lull you to sleep like the rumble of a train (albeit without sounding particularly train-like). As the album nears its conclusion, the drones partially give way to recognizable instruments, here a buried snippet of piano lullaby, there a hint of something that sounds like woodwind, and a piece that started out in darkest depths ends as something quite different. Sure to appeal particularly to fans of Robert Rich and Vidna Obmana, Transitions is dark without being melodramatic and atmospheric without being boring.