Album Review: Gnosis by Chronotope Project

Review by Candice Michelle

Gnosis is the 9th album from Chronotope Project, the recording alias of Oregonian ambient/electronic music composer and cellist, Jeffery Ericson Allen, as well as his 5th release on the Spotted Peccary Music label. Inspired by his love for Greek philosophy and passion for storytelling, Gnosis (meaning “knowledge” in Greek) came as a wonderful surprise to me given my own interest in ancient Greek culture and philosophy.

Spotted Peccary’s resident graphic designer Daniel Pipitone impressively illustrates the sonic essence of the album; his surreal artwork design beautifully adding tangibility to Chronotope Project’s otherworldly musical landscape.

Comprised of 6 compositions spanning approximately 53 minutes, Gnosis seemingly traverses interlaced boundaries of cosmic realms and watery underworlds, wherein the listener’s mind is drawn to philosophical musings about the nature of space and time while simultaneously becoming more deeply immersed in the sensuous, tangible world around.

Guiding our way along this metamorphic musical journey is Chronotope Project’s signature use of the Haken Continuum Fingerboard synthesizer, which the artist uses to create hauntingly emotive melodies that bend and wind with voice-like inflection.

The opening piece, "Higgs Field, Cauldron of Being", unfolds in a gradual succession of repeating sequences, echoing timbres and train-like rhythmic undercurrent, as if spiraling outward from a cosmic cauldron illuminating the heavens. 

 
Drawing inspiration from a Greek mythical river in the underworld of Hades, “Lethe, The River of Forgetfulness” paints a watery abode pierced by starlight with its fusion of fingerboard synthesizer, vintage space elements and pulsing melodic bassline.

Conveying both earthy and cosmic imagery, “Eidos, Realm of the Forms” incorporates crystalline and hollow-like timbres that drift upon a continuous hypnotic propulsion, as the fingerboard synthesizer melody seems to chart its course along the backdrop of a giant interstellar wavelength.

Turning to more heavenly aspirations, “The Still Small Voice” is a poignantly comforting piece that draws upon softly cinematic and minimalist classical influences, conveying a celestial warmth and peaceful melancholy.

I’m particularly drawn to “Entelechy, Emergent Order”, which seemingly transports us to the furthest reaches of space. Slowly emerging from a distance, the piece’s rhythmic figures, droning undercurrent and liquid-like bell tones are encompassed by voice-like shadows that create a hauntingly magnificent soundscape.

Inspired by Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, “Myth of the Cave” brilliantly closes the album with a foreboding sojourn into darkly cinematic minimalism, as if guiding us through a cavernous underworld. Subtle Eastern mystical touches evoke images of the mythical inner earth paradise of Shamballa, as the composition seemingly culminates with an ultimate unveiling of timeless mysteries.

Expanding further upon the impeccable brilliance of Lotus Rising (2018) and Ovum (2017), Jeffrey Ericson Allen’s Chronotope Project has delivered another masterwork with Gnosis that places him in top league among the greatest ambient/electronic music acts of all time!

~Candice Michelle for Journeyscapes Radio


 

Gnosis is available at Spotted Peccary Music, Bandcamp and Amazon.

Album Review: Lotus Rising by Chronotope Project

Review by Candice Michelle

Following-up the fantastic album Ovum released in 2017, Chronotope Project returns with another stunning release on Spotted Peccary Music titled Lotus Rising. An Oregonian-based electronic music composer and cellist, Jeffery Ericson Allen is the musical architect behind Chronotope Project, with the artist’s latest album drawing upon his thirty-year study and practice of Zen Buddhism. The most recognizable symbol in the Zen tradition, the lotus is a strikingly beautiful flower that only grows in mud, opening its flowers one-by-one in the light of the sun, only to sink back under the murky waters again at night. Comprised of eight compositions spanning nearly an hour, the music tells “the story of an aspirant’s journey of self-actualization on the Buddha Way” and stresses “the importance of the moment”. Likewise, Lotus Rising musically unfolds and transmutes along its captivating course, as if being artfully synchronized to the vivid imagery it evokes of this inspiring phenomenon beheld in nature.

Introducing the album is “Crossing the Great Water” with a rhythmically continuous stream of watery sequencers that are punctuated by extended arcs and tonal stretches of Haken Continuum Fingerboard. An integral component of Chronotope Project's signature sound, the hauntingly mesmerizing quality of this unique instrument often acts as the lead ‘voice’ on these lushly hypnotic soundscapes. Following next is the stunning title piece, “Lotus Rising”, in which the murky depths of the unknown seemingly blossom into an outward unfurling towards the light. Fluidly woven together, the piece gradually evolves with increasing layers in a spiraling motion, eventually culminating in a sound collage of multi-textured, electro-organic luminescence. Also noteworthy is the darker-hued and three-dimensional “Opening the Hand of Thought” with its churning sequenced rhythm, as the occasional dash of chimes seemingly pierce its veil of atmospheric density. Perfectly concluding the album is “Homage to the Three Jewels”, which effectively hybridizes sequenced patterns with subtle world percussion. Seemingly evoking a sense of having embarked on a long sojourn to a faraway hidden place, this subtly-driving piece is further mysteriously illuminated by the distant chants of Buddhist monks.

An avid fan of Chronotope Project ever since having heard the first of Jeffrey Ericson Allen’s four albums released on Spotted Peccary to date, Lotus Rising easily ascends to the top of this artist’s already impeccable body of work. Intensely enthralling and profoundly sensuous, Lotus Rising epitomizes a particular kind of affecting beauty and indescribable depth that can only be achieved via the inspiration and application of an authentic sacred tradition. Arguably one of Spotted Peccary’s finest on the label’s remarkable roster, Lotus Rising is a hypnotic masterpiece of tribal-esque ambient and electronic (inner) space music!

~Candice Michelle for Journeyscapes Radio


 

Lotus Rising is available at Spotted Peccary Music, Bandcamp and Amazon.

Album Review: Ovum by Chronotope Project

Review by Candice Michelle

Chronotope Project is the recording alias of Oregonian ambient/electronic music composer and cellist Jeffrey Ericson Allen. His seventh recording, titled Ovum, is likewise his third release on the prestigious Spotted Peccary Music label, following his excellent Passages and Dawn Treader albums. Comprised of seven compositions spanning fifty-one minutes of organic-electronic bliss, Allen creates deeply immersive, lushly ambient soundscapes that juxtapose synthetic tones and textures with natural instruments such as cello, flute and Irish whistle. Most notably, as with Chronotope Project’s previous albums, the Haken Continuum Fingerboard is frequently featured as a solo instrument where it often takes precedence as a key signature element. Conveyed by visually captivating artwork intended to represent a primordial state of being, each composition audibly illustrates a subtle emergence from either an earthly seed or cosmic source, which gradually unfolds into a continuously evolving and metamorphosing journey.

Inspired by our distant ancestors, the opening piece, “Olduvia Dreams”, effectively transports the listener to remote islands in the Pacific or Indian ocean. Guided along by churning textures and ethno-tribal percussion, the composition eventually blossoms into a luxuriantly flowing arrangement of sensual earthly delight. Exuding the essence of a tropical rainforest, Gamelan-like timbres, ethereal tones and fluttering flutes further paint a surreal and primeval paradise. Deeply meditative and supremely mesmerizing, the title track, “Ovum”, slowly unfurls into an all-encompassing environment permeated by haunting glissando throughout, as the piece effectively evokes subtle shapes and colors that seemingly morph into suspended liquid formations. Illustrating the transitional process of metamorphosis, “Mariposa” (Spanish for ‘butterfly’) ensues with soaring glissando and a drifty bassline amid lightly rhythmic Berlin-School sequencing. The particularly spellbinding, “Primordial”, seemingly evokes a biotic alien world of primeval oceanic lifeforms and nocturnal bioluminescence. In an ode to scientific discovery, “Starry Messenger” perfectly concludes the album with an encircling illuminated environment comprised of iridescent bell-timbres in tandem with prolonged arcs of cello and flute. An indescribably beautiful piece that perceptively alters one's state of mind, it seemingly leaves the listener with a feeling of elevated awareness and conscious expansion.

Destined to become one of this year’s favorite albums, Ovum is easily Chronotope Project’s most impressively cutting-edge work to date. Although distinct unto itself, stylistic and atmospheric parallels to artists such as Ishq and Robert Rich as well as the album Ambient 4: On Land by Brian Eno can be drawn. Feeling simultaneously rooted to earth yet linked with the cosmos, Ovum is certainly not to be missed, undoubtedly earning Jeffrey Ericson Allen a spot at the round table of ambient music’s finest!

~Candice Michelle for Journeyscapes Radio


 

Ovum is available at Spotted Peccary Music, Bandcamp and Amazon.