Review: Surya Kris Peters - The Hermit

Surya Kris Peters is the solo project of Christian Peters, main man of psychedelic travellers Samsara Blues Experiment. However, if you expecting more hard rocking, fuzzy stoner/psych then boy, are you in for a shock! “The Hermit” is a selection from previous download only albums 'Status Flux' and 'Moonstruck' and is an homage to Peters´ musical influences; from the early memories of Mike Oldfield and Bedrich Smetana to krautrock luminaries Popol Vuh and Klaus Schulze via synthesizer drone-minimalist Eliane Radigue and sounds from Far East by artists like Osamu Kitajima and Ananda Shankar. The product of this mixing and melding is a truly superb album; radiant, beautiful and highly informed.

Opening track 'Eremitage' has processed beats reminiscent of tabla, and they fluctuate in and out of the mix while a simple synth line accompanies...and then comes the drone, which covers and resonates through the whole track. The synths come straight from a kosmische album of the seventies, but the drone and the beats give it a more avantgarde feel. 'Ragamati' is next, and as the title would imply, it is tinged with eastern mysticism whilst still maintaining an Klaus Schulze electronica feel. The synths are bolstered by some electric piano in the distance and what sounds like a theremin, all underscored by a simple yet insistent rhythm. To say it conveys peace and tranquility is an understatement...one of the most blissed out tunes I've heard for a while. 'Winterbottom' transports us back to the seventies again with it's organ and guitar combo. It is a short track with a more melancholic beauty than a blissful one. 'Snow Feather' is all doleful drone under a sombre piano, conveying a snowy landscape in Scandenavia - it has the wintery bleakness of a Swedish crime show, but doesn't sound pessimistic or dystopian, rather the peaceful solitude of a lone walk through the woods. 'The Legend Of Raja Shakuu' is another Berlin school of electronica number, rich in drones and swirls of sound. An electronic beat is introduced giving it Tangerine Dream-like quality or Popol Vuh's soundtrack to Hertzog's 'Aquirre'. Probably the standout track of the album, it is firmly entrenched in the kosmische camp and yet has a transcendent quality all of its own. 'Moonstruck Serenade' is piano based, playing simple chords but backed with some atmospheric synths and drones, a short but deeply meditative track that leads nicely into 'Chandra Luna'. This disturbingly begins with what sounds like a phone's ringtone, but it soon morphs into another drone heavy, atmospheric track that hangs heavy with a sense of dread. There are vague glimmers of eastern influences under the oscillating drones and clattering snatches of percussion...it has a Vangelis circa 'Bladerunner' feel to it, albeit with some shamanic chanting. It is simply made for a film to go alongside it...the melancholic aura of dystopia is heavy and yet has a lightness of touch.....all pretty awesome stuff. The album is brought to close by 'La Morrina' - a more pastoral number with acoustic guitar and soft warbles of synth and a beautiful way in which to close a beautiful album.

This year has already thrown up some very fine releases, of all genres and styles, and will continue to do so. I'm pretty damned sure though that none will be as beautiful as this. I use the word beautiful with consideration, in the same way that people use it in conjunction with classical music. 'The Hermit' has a lot in common with the classical greats; the structures, skill and the thought that has gone into it will see this, hopefully, become one of 'those' albums that are spoken about in hushed, reverential tones. In case I haven't made it clear...I seriously love this album! It is tranquil and atmospheric, enough influence markers to make it recognisable and yet crafted in a way to make it unsurpassable and always evocative of other places and times...if psychedelia is the experience of altered consciousness then this is one highly psychedelic release...simply sublime. It will be released by Electric Magic Records on April 15th with distro handled by World In Sound. This first LP-edition is limited to 100 items of virgin-white vinyl with silkscreened artwork and handwritten labels.