DOL AMMAD – DOL THEETA // electronicARTmetal

This 5 tracks EP comes in digital format only and it mainly showcases another round of collaboration between DC Cooper of Royal Hunt fame and Thanasis Lightbridge. And I say mainly, because from the 4 remaining tracks only “Birth Of A Dream” (a Jarre and Vangelis heavily influenced melody) is brand new, as “Black Winter Day” is a very reviving cover on that Amporhis’ classic cut, “Theeta Dominion” is a special take on a past Dol Ammad tune, as well as “Aquatic Majesty”, a choir only remix; both songs revisited from the “Ocean Dynamics” album and both laboured at best. So, let us focus on the eponymous song. Dol Ammad (means Castle Pillars in some bizarre Tolkien/Asian language) lyrically pay tribute to Carl Sagan, just as Daniele Liverani did a couple years back with his Cosmics project. Great minds think alike etc. Musically it leans towards the sound of electronica with keys playing a huge part. New age metal? Most likely. Certainly an epically dreamy and spacey melody, which simply sits in your head. But the real star is of course DC Cooper. The vocal power he displays can put to shame many (real many) of nowadays highly regarded singers. Though electronic driven music often sounds emotionless to the majority of hard rock/metal listeners, this is not the case here. Music full, lush and occasionally spectacular is what you get. Buy.

By Stefanos Lountzis

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One of the pioneers in computer music, Max Mathews died last week in the age of 84. Max is considered the father of digital synthesis and a great explorer in computer innovations. He developed “MUSIC” the first computer program for sound synthesis, he arranged the first synthesized voice with “DAISY BELL” making computers talk for the first time and also experimented with gestural controllers way before Wiis and Kinects were mainstream devices. Rest in peace mr Mathews, your ideas and work will live forever.

Check out more about Max Mathews in Wikipedia.

Photo by Rainer Kohlberger (CC-BY-NC-SA)

The social-economic state that we experience here in Greece the last months led my girlfriend and I to dye our easter eggs as “Angry Birds”. I for one feel like an “angry bird” all the time in my everyday life in Greece having to fight for even the simplest thing, witnessing amazing injustice and inequalities, worrying what the future will bring…

Let’s hope that we all get angry, wake up from the slumber that they enforce us and break the constructions of economic slavery that is upon us. Create, don’t consume. Happy Easter.

I recently re-discovered my love for vinyl records! I bought a shinny new limited edition ceramic white turntable and after a 3000 CD collection I am starting to buy vinyl again. My last time was somewhere in the early 90′s I think. Boy! what an amazing experience vinyl records are… Huge artwork, full sound spectrum, the fact that you have to turn the sides (so pay attention to the music, it’s not just for background use ) and also the amazing visual feedback that you have with the spinning record in front of you. It’s like you can “see” the music sing for you!

And when you add a little E-va (from Wall-e) on top of the spinning record, the experience of watching my cat’s Batman eyes amazed by this marvelous spinning music thing is priceless! Hmmm… anybody out there interested for Dol Ammad / Dol Theeta vinyl releases?