Much of the progressiveness is in the form of sudden changes in speed or instrumentation: string sounds in the overture-like opening of "Trails of the Untold" followed by simple piano; the atmospheric sounds of gushing water and a tolling bell to start "Drowning In," switching to guitars and percussion; guitar near the end of "Feelings of Sorrow" changing to piano edged by an electronic buzz, one of the more startling shifts due to a preceding brief silence. Somewhat masking the degree of variation on From Emptiness to Beyond is the fact that many of the changes involve going from one repetitious part to another, giving more of an impression of monotony than the album perhaps has. This is especially noticeable in "The Essence of Perception," whose last 3 - 4 minutes are a series of similar-sounding segments, each lasting approximately 30 seconds, with an especially repetitious concluding section that goes on for about one minute.

Some of the patterns do remind me of the small amount of Anekdoten I've heard, but too often Subject to Thoughts crosses that delicate boundary between hypnotic and boring or annoying, especially when the music is too fast and "busy," as in the middle part of "Feelings of Sorrow and/or when the piano and certain of the drum sounds are featured prominently. The piano does, indeed, dominate the album, and I find the string sounds, like those heard in the aforementioned beginning of "Trails of the Untold" and in "Transition," and some of the guitar parts more enjoyable, all adding to the album's dark tones and mounfulness. In general, the keyboards work better for me as accents in the guitar-oriented passages, but this is, of course, a matter of personal taste. The drum machine, with all the attendant drawbacks, is less likely to find favor with most listeners. Although some of the sounds, like the double bass, are not bad, the synthetic cymbals and a clip-clop tone--both used incessantly at certain points on this album, often simultaneously--are rather irritating, extremely so in that final minute of "The Essence of Perception" and at the end of "Words of Meaning," where the cymbals are especially loud.

Representing a greater detraction are the vocals, which are, I'm sorry to say, feeble in both senses of the word: lacking in vigor--intentionally, perhaps, so as to convey pain and despair--and inadequate. The voice is like that of a more wavery, underwater or mortally wounded version of Cat Stevens. While it is understandable that Subject to Thoughts would want to express the album's theme lyrically, he might have been better off restricting himself to spoken parts (which crop up here and there), importing another singer, or else letting the music do the talking. It is, in fact, difficult to understand quite a lot of the lines due to the mewling quality of the voice, which kind of defeats the purpose, besides challenging the tolerance even of those who favor light, gentle vocals.

Between the singing and some of the drum machine sounds, the pleasure factor becomes strained over the quite lengthy duration of this album, while the music's limited imaginativeness and inventiveness aren't enough to sustain interest for that period. I applaud anyone ambitious enough to create a totally solo recording, and have heard many impressive, low-budget efforts, especially of the ambient variety. But the key to doing it successfully is, of course, to go with your strengths, and I hope Subject to Thoughts will explore the creative possibilities with his.

written by Maud

Playing time: 75.05