MEMOIRS OF ONCE

One of Prog's masters of storytelling through cinematic instrumental soundscapes is back with yet another illustration of his mastery of his craft.

1. "Aggravation" (5:15) Vangelis-like contemplative, cinematic beauty provided by reverb-bathed notes from a piano. (9/10)

2. "The disappeared" (3:40) treated wordless vocals over slowly progressing synth washes. (8.875/10)

3. "Malaise" (3:43) industrial rebellion. I like the arrival of layer upon layer as if the MATRIX revolution is mounting and ultimate. (8.875/10)

4. "Failing systems" (2:54) gorgeous chord progression of nebulous cloud synth chords (9.5//10)

5. "Quietus" (2:46) more cinematic chord progressions--this time coming from a youthful Ryuichi Sakamoto perspective. (4.5/5)

6. "Poisoned Ground" (3:26) much more on the subtle grounds of ubiquity and stagnation. (8.75/10) 7. "RSYT" (4:45) Satie-like piano (and synth) as if emerging from within thick fog. Spoken voices in the background add great mystery and confusion to the scene: It's like walking the streets of Ghent late at night while the fog of Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog wafts through the streets and alleys. Very cool. (9/10)

8. "The force of loss" (4:11) another song that could have come from a Vangelis soundtrack--perhaps even Blade Runner. The operatic voice sampled and used reminds me of the wonderful music of Wim Mertens. (8.875/10)

9. "Folded time" (4:44) two progressions of distorted, pitch-bent harp-like chord strokes repeat within a matrix of gelatinous-yet-crystalline, billowing musical walls. It's like walking through the hall of mirrors while drunk or high: nothing is steady or dependable, everything is fluid and amorphous. Genius! (9.25/10)

10. "The ghost of Lady Farewell" (5:51) with the twang of a stringed instrument involved within the nebulous mix from the start, I am reminded of older Battlestations pieces. But then the song shifts into a completely different form and set of textures with a pace and rhythm base to it while heavily treated electric guitar wails away in the not-too-distant background. At 3:08 the rhythm section actually solidifies and marches forward in a way that is quite reminiscent of the band's first three albums. It's nice, but it's been done before. The highlight is the fresh layers of synth-strings chords over the top. (8.875/10)

Total Time 41:18

While the music collected here sounds less conceptually organized, more like a collection of individually independent songs, the crafting is of the highest quality and caliber; the composer/musician we know only as "Battlestations" continues to grow and progress.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of cinematic progressive electronic music that every prog--and music--lover would, I think, be quite happy to hear (and own).

Battlestation's 2023 offering gives us very profound and atmospheric electronic music evoking vast spaces. Mostly it is slow and minimal, but they really invested into the sounds, which always have life and depth, so that even droney parts breath and keep the attention up; you do need to be in meditative mood though. Some parts are mysterious, dark, and harmonically undefined, some others very harmonic and friendly. The third track Malaise is the only one that centrally features powerful percussive sounds (a little bit more of that toward the end of the album). Some others still have a clear rhythmic structure, for example RSYT driven by a piano motif, actually pretty much the only non-electronic element on the whole album. The two mentioned tracks are certainly highlights, the first one shaking the atmosphere of the album up a bit, the second one with a masterfully composed and developed chord sequence and moving development from beginning to end. Most other tracks rather have this meditative coming out of nowhere - going into nowhere feel to it. Another exception is the dramatic final track The Ghost of Lady Farewell.

Battlestation's electronic albums are all on top of what the genre has to offer, with great musicality and sense for atmosphere. I have to admit though that I often find the long form more appropriate for this kind of music. Battlestations used this on the previous 2021 Splinter albums. On Memoirs of Once, the tracks are maximum 6 minutes, often just around 3. Sometimes there may be a bit of disappointment that we're already done with one track and have to leave, and the next one will open up a different landscape of sound. The advantage is that the album, despite its meditative appeal, is richer in ideas and mood changes than other work of this kind. It took me some time to get into this, but ultimately the "vast spaces in short format" concept still keeps me on board, and kudos to the artist for developing their approach and not standing still, while still delivering to those like me who loved their previous offerings. 4.1 stars.