BEAM-SCAPE

First official release by the Peter Mergener and Michael Weisser duo, "Beam-Scape" can be considered as a draft for the SOFTWARE albums that will follow. The ambient/electronic/new-age style of the band is already present, however the inspiration and ideas are still lacking. The compositions are mostly slow and do not feature enough changes to keep the listener's attention. The cold electronic sound is quite reminiscent of TANGERINE DREAM's "White Eagle" album.

The opener "RainBow" is rather average. Its first half is ambient with various bizarre sounds, while a small sequence appears on the second half. "SunBeam" contains nice synthetic electronic loops and similitudes with KLAUS SCHULZE's 80's material. A bit monotonous, but enjoyable. Not much to say about the 15 minutes "Shooting-Star", rather lengthy and boring, and "Small-Spark", which mainly consists in a repetitive sequence.

"Timber-Wave-Reflections" is a new age track, whereas the pulsing "Roots-In-Abeyance" is more lively and not bad, although it does not feature many variations. "Double-Binded-Sax" is a little messy. As its title suggests, it incorporates a saxophone but this instrument does not really add something to the ambiance. On the contrary, the ender, "Power-Of-Independence", truly stands apart the other tunes. Best track of the record, this good surprise is a nice punchy trippy tune. It proves that the band has an identity to develop.

This record has not been released under the SOFTWARE name, and for reason. Not very innovative, "Beam-Scape" only gives the listener a glimpse of what the German duo has to offer. There are some pleasant moments though, but unfortunately too rare. These ideas still require some maturation, that will arrive just one year later...