CHAMBERS

Enter the pyramid of Giza, Nathaniel Davison, British Consul at Algiers in 1763 was the first to discover the lowest of the series of five spaces (called "Construction Chambers") over the King's Chamber. Imagine Davison exploring the pyramid and discoverying the Chamber. Whenever Senmuth makes ambient music it can't be fully appreciated without knowing what he had in mind while composing. Think to somebody hearing his voice strangely echoed and discoverying secret passages in the dark...

I think that "Davison's Chamber" even if not too dissimilar from the 80% of the Senmuth's huge production succeeds in giving the idea. The music is dark and powerful somewhat melodic, too, thanks to the "electronic flute".

The hashish and alcool addicted colonel Vyse, aka Daued, blasted gunpowder in the pyramid to discover the "Wellington's Chamber" up above Davison's one. The music tells the story of the attempts to break the granite...this is I think the meaning of the non-rhythmic heavy percussions in the track that's darker than the first.

"Nelson's Chamber" is above Wellington's. It's the one with the best conserved hieroglyphics. Each track is darker than the previous, but all the album has to be intended as the discovery of the 5 chambers, so it's like a single track split in parts. This one in particular has elements of Krautrock.

"Lady Abruthnot's Chamber" is above Nelson's. This is what Col. Vyne wrote in his book:

"The chamber above Nelson's (afterwards called Lady Arbuthnot's) was opened, and in the course of the afternoon I entered it with Mr. Raven. We found this apartment of the same description, and nearly of the same dimensions as the others below it, being thirty-seven feet four inches by sixteen feet four inches. Like the rest it was quite empty, and built in the same manner, but with less care, and with a greater proportion of calcareous stone on the northern and southern sides. The excavation was continued, in order to get above it. In the evening I returned to Cairo "

I think that after reading this you can like this ambient and lighter track.

The "Campbell's Chamber" was discovered by Giovan Battista Caviglia. It has bowl-shaped hollows in the beams that make up the floor. Nobody knows what they were for. This is the track of the mistery, the most experimental and spacey, at least for the first 3/4 minutes, then , even with a different melody, the "electronic flute" is back to close the circle with the first track. The journey into the pyramid is ending and we are going back to the desert's light.

Without searching for the meaning of the 5 chambers (thanks to wikipedia and the internet in general) I probably wouldn't have listened to the album in the right way. With this background it's an interesting experience. Really not bad.