Release Date: 29 July 2016
Song Count: 8
Duration: 54 minutes, 2 seconds
Rating: 5.9/10
Description:
Song Count: 8
Duration: 54 minutes, 2 seconds
Rating: 5.9/10
Description:
Back to the tranquil scapes of ambient music, today we're looking at Irish producer Brendon Gregoriy and a project from around a decade back he released under one of his many stage names over the time he's been active. As Merrin Karras, he seems to have specialised in making electronic music that flows together into one metaphorical stream and takes its listener out on a gliding journey, and Apex is no exception. It manages to create an entire sonical experience all without any sort of actual beats or samples as a personal challenge set by its creator, acquiring its music through the sheer power of digital sounds being weaved together into melodies.
The tracks follow a consistent pattern of setting up a musical line to follow throughout their duration, layering harmonies on top of it and introducing new elements over time, and letting things flow from there organically, leading to a true effect of ambience. It is akin to a sailboat using nothing but gentle winds and breezes to move along on its way in a slow yet natural pace; there is no force breaking through or pushing things forward here, especially with the lack of percussion, so the music instead lets its witness thoroughly sink into the atmosphere curated. These glides that takes place aren't short in length either, as the songs make one truly sit on their harmonics for over 5 minutes or longer in runtime each.
Not too dissimilar to yesterday's entry, there are glimpses of influences from other electronic music genres such as house to notice if one listens carefully enough, and the limits it confines itself to by only using very specific types of sounds to construct itself are quite interesting. With that said, the hinting at other subgenres is so subtle that it barely has an actual impact on the sound of Apex in the grand scheme of things, and there is overall not much to observe in terms of stimulating melodicism, bar for a few tracks like the titular "Apex" and "Liberant" that give the best shot at providing something of worth in this album. Not a bad or unpleasant time by any means, but not one that particularly means much to yours truly or even seems like it has something to say, either.