Steve Roach – Future Flows

According to promo material, the original title was supposed to be "Flow States", and this album is the second of a three CD series starting with "Soul Tones".

Steve Roach "Future Flows" CD

Long time on the waiting list in my reviewing schedule, now finally the right time has come. Released one year ago on Projekt, at the end of April, 2013, just few days before the legendary Ambicon 2013 gathering. The cover images feature breathtaking stone balance art by Michael Grab, known as Gravity Glue. Exciting visual beginning, so let's initiate the auralscaping part...

The journey reveals very silently with "An Omnipresent Sense Prevails", an 11-minute composition, but it takes only about minute and the free-floating drift spirals toweringly into grandiosely expansive panoramas, gracefully gliding and undulating with magmatic immenseness. These amorphously embracing and essentially contemplative soundwalls are holding an undeniable signature of the master. "Spectrum Of Change" safely dwells in the terrains of sheer atmospheric beauty, slightly less denser and more minimal on the first exploration, although multi-dimensional billows continuously emanate and then fade out into vaporously permeating stillness. "Air Meditation" paints infectiously mesmerizing circles guarded above by voice-like drone blankets. Rather shorter piece, but hauntingly mindscaping and precisely interacting with its title. "The Texture Of Remembering", which gets over 11 minutes, enters straightly into more aerial realms, warmly meandering through profoundly stimulating elevations and meticulously coalesced with assortment of cybernetic sparkles. What a journey!!! Make sure you have your headphones with you, immersion extraordinaire awaits here!!! "Rapt In Night" immediately dives into abyssal drone heaven, quite short, but utterly monolithic and expansive. This track masterfully captures all the essence of the nocturnal serenity!!! "Heart Of Light", another brief piece, keeps on the path of warmly traversing and deeply evocative sceneries, which are this time merged with piercing swirls. Magnificently immense!!! 17-minute epic "The Future Flows From Here" briskly spreads with floating, ebbing and twisting massive and intense layers of washes, while gently shimmering sequences excel on distant back. The transition in the middle of the track is absolutely embracing and shifts the whole composition into pure atmospheric splendor. A truly jaw-dropping!!! Certainly a creme de la creme of the whole album and another magnum opus since Hall of Fame compositions such as "Where Rasa Lives" or "Today". Bravo, Maestro!!! "Regeneration Revelation" closes this wonderful, 71 minutes long ride with ultra colossal dronescape, enriched with various, well-concealed rewards and cruising with intensely absorbing amorphousness and eternal grace that can only be Steve Roach. Wow, absolutely thrilling!!!

Sure, "Future Flows" album won't hit you sharply in your face, on the contrary, this is one of the recordings that will grow on the listener with each new listening session. It requires your deeply focused intention to every detail, but then amazing soundsculptings with constantly increasing potency unfold in front of you. No wonder Steve's visionary sonic meditations are impeccably displayed by Michael's stone balance artistry. Are you ready for this highly sophisticated and powerfully emotional journey? The future flows to you...

Richard Gürtler (Apr 20, 2014, Bratislava, Slovakia)