Tribal ambient is a hard thing to do. With tribal ambient, the artist necessarily toes the line between a “true” ethnic tribal music, and a modern society's watered-down vision of what tribal music should sound like. There are some listeners who consider tribal ambient a little too close to new age, as if the presence of shakers and visceral percussion somehow cheapens the electronic atmospheres. I've always felt this sweeping judgment of the tribal sub-genre to be an unfair and uninformed opinion, because tribal--when done right--can be some of the most psychoactive and vibrant forms of atmospheric ambient music created. A subtle distinction should be made, however. In my experience, tribal can go one of the two paths I described above. You can have a "coffee-colored" (as Jon Hassell described) type of tribal music that contains inflections of antiquated musical forms, but is mostly infused with a modern "lighter" sensibility. An example of this is certainly Steve Roach's Dreamtime Return, which contains that balance of neo-tribalism juxtaposed with a modern synth-spirituality. The other type of tribal is dark, and frighteningly exotic. It bespeaks a troubled undercurrent--there are powers at work beyond modern minds' comprehension. The tribal-mind is connected to otherworldly things that have been lost to the modern psyche--the utmost expression of ancient spirituality can seem a terrible, bright, and uncaring god.

This brings me to Dolmen, whose Ritual Awakening is the work of two artists, Steven K. Smith and Jason Sloan (whose Still was reviewed here previously). Impossibly, Ritual Awakening attempts to inhabit both sides of the tribal coin. It's an album rife with tension and mystery, though it still remains modern and relevant when taken with recent forays into dark atmospheric synthwork (by way of Zoviet France)--and it thankfully lacks the preciousness of many world-music inspired ambient efforts. To some degree, we find Dolmen exploring the idea of music created by a non-existent culture. To other degrees we find Dolmen constrained within walls of roaring synth ambience and meandering synthetic textures--as if the artists are reticent to completely give way to a fully tribal resonance. When Dolmen get the balance between these two aspects right, as on the track "Ritual Awakening," the results are quite sublime--a distinctive mixture of strange foreign chanting, harrowing synth ambience, and percussive textures. Often, however, the effect is somehow lessened by the overwhelming synth walls, which often descend into a sonic morass, as with the album's opener "In the Heat."

The overall feeling of Ritual Awakening is that of being present during a strange and exotic ceremony, but not, as might be assumed, as a participant. One feels that he has been drugged by the natives, placed in the center of their temple, and is fluctuating between hazy awareness and complete sensory overload. This involvement in the "ritual," for me, is somehow muted by this effect--creating a casual observance of events, but with no lasting visceral experience. This is not to say that Ritual Awakening is without pleasures. "White Mornings" is a resonant track with deep vocalizations and haunting synth breaths; a satisfying mixture of dark and light. The album closer "Efland::Cuairteach" is also stunning, dwelling in more translucent territories. A processed whistle gradually gives way to Mathias Grassow-styled synth drones, which are very well done.

At Ritual Awakening's end, we come to something of a Pyrrhic victory. It seems that in trying to instill Ritual with a vast amount of mystery and nuance, Sloan and Smith have somehow drowned out much of the flavor that was intended in the first place. Too many spices are added to the stew, which then summarily cancel each other out. It’s as if by treading the line between the two aspects of tribalism, Dolmen are unable to submit to either muse. The result is an often fascinating, but just as often confounding, sonic experience. There is often simply too much going on at once, as if Dolmen could not concentrate their ideas effectively enough to get their intent across. What results is an album that is too broad for its scope, consequently missing the mark more often than it hits. Ritual Awakening is a promising start for this duo, however, and it remains to be seen if Dolmen can more effectively channel their forces for their next effort.

From Skean Dhu Records.

since July 15, 2003