Originally released as a DVD in 2005, this CD from 2008 offers 48 minutes of gentle electronic tuneage.
Textural and keyboard electronics establish a pastoral realm that stirs the soul with its majesty.
An impressive array of ethereal tonalities is utilized to produce a soothing foundation of harmonic nature. Then keyboard sighs and endearing chords are introduced to give the vaporous flow definition and character.
Stately piano accompanies other keyboards, generating a lavish panorama of expressive disposition. Instead of relying on auxiliary loops to create additional layers, Kyryluk uses tonal sweeps to flesh out his central themes, while gentle harmonic set an atmospheric backdrop.
The nucleus of each tune, however, lies in Kyryluk?s skillful command of serene chords. His riffs cascade with pleasant mien, blending and conspiring to evoke an organic calm that seeps into the skin as easily as it traverses the ear canals. Delicate chords drift with a congenial grandeur that expertly matches the textural background. There are some instances in which the sounds achieve a piercing volume in their efforts to express the euphoric definition of nature?s beauty.
Percussion is wholly unnecessary to this tuneage. In one track, notes are reiterated in swift velocity to approximate an amiable rhythmic presence to propel the music?s aerial consistency.
While seemingly moody in demeanor, the mood is more pensive than brooding. Instead of introspection, the music goads the listener into an attuned state with their environment--which on this release is targeted to include the entire planet. Landscapes and cloud structures and the patterns of air currents are captured with each song and transformed into melodic structures rich with coexistent emotion.
One new track has been added to the DVDs soundtrack. While excellently mirroring the temperament of the rest of the music, this piece exhibits a refined delivery that sparkles with mature luster.
Reviewed by Matt Howarth, Sonic Curiosity
Gregory Kyryluk, whose predominant recording locus has been as Alpha Wave Movement, remains something of a under-recognized figure on the scene despite a career dating back to the mid 90s and an impressive (if smaller when measured against other Berlin school graduates) catalog. In fact, Kyryluk is one of the few odd men outÑmany of his recordings do indeed adopt the Teutonic syntax, but heÕs equally limber at creating broadbased cinematic ambient that coordinate more than a few substantially arresting textures and motifs.
Terra originally soundtracked a DVD sporting its name, though Kyryluk came to his senses and gave the audio portion a proper unveiling. ItÕs one of his most varied, and by dearth thereof, one of his most inviting works, alternately quiet and serene one moment, kinetic the next, yet of a well-considered piece (and pace) that thwarts charges of ideaistic schizophrenia. Emerald Passage in fact makes use of gorgeously exulted piano amidst curtains of synthetic strings, melancholic sans triteness, and most definitely not a barometer for what follows. Liquid Garden partakes of the kind of interspatial starshine that Patrick OÕHearn first dabbled with on his earliest Private Music recordings, synths bright and airy, augmented by gently swelling flurries of effects. Tracks such as the pregnant, deep-sky pulses of Cloudmaker demonstrate KyrylukÕs unabashed passion for landscape, while Surrender & Flow finally introduces softly ebbing sequencers into the Alpha Wave mainframe, a series of wonderfully throbbing patterns that recall Jonn SerrieÕs more lucid moments. Kyryluk is nothing if not versatile, however: the laminate binding Terra Infinitus proffers moods that probe as they darken, dusky wafts of sound that give way to a beautifully spoked sequencer array of moogy goodness. Alpha-betize onto your shelves, pronto.
Review by DARREN BERGSTEIN, www.eiaudioverite.blogspot.com
Expansive, atmospheric, melodic ambient electronica. Terra is a delicate album of graceful synth music that features elegant piano lines, bright wispy electro chimes, bowl-like phrases and broad tonal swells as the main voices, supported by fine washes and twinkling textures. Synthetic strings keen and swell, fine gossamer threads and films of sound run one into another whilst melodic arpeggios and meandering scales wander over the surface. The depth and intensity of the music ranges from silken stratospheric strains and airstreams to crepuscular drone banks and glimmering twilight ripples. In places simple bass phrases pulse indolently beneath the gently heaving liquid of the drones and breezy sequential structures, but not for long - much of the music too skyward looking and gliding to be bound and grounded by such low frequencies.
The strictly electronic sonic sources for Terra make for a clean, spacious sound that suggests the clarity and tranquillity of dawn, the subtle shifting hues of early evening. Alpha Wave Movement builds tracks around digital synthesizers and MIDI equipment influenced by natural landscapes and scenic photography - here, more than ever I've felt that connection with the earth from Gregory's compositions. A sense of comfortable solitude pervades much of the album, almost plaintive in places, but more generally reflective, calm - enjoying the mental vistas conjured up by this delightfully understated soundscaping.
Reviewed by Paul Jury, Morpheus Music UK
