Battle Trance
Palace of Wind



Release Date: 2014 | Tracklist

Review Summary: sound majestic in its bareness

Wind instruments usually work like this: you blow air through a piece of something (skin, muscle, plastic, wood, whatever) that makes the air that goes through it vibrate in a specific way to create a tone. This makes wind instruments sound way closer to animal and human voices than, let’s say, a guitar.

Wind instruments, therefore, can provoke or bring to the surface a range of emotions in ways practically impossible to achieve for other instruments. They can be as sweet and peaceful as birds singing after a summer storm, or as brutal as to mimic a man’s screams of agony (see: Death Whistles).
This ‘almost like it’s alive-but not quite’ vibe gives them quite the eerieness to them but also a certain majesty, like an otherworldly origin. They are not bounded to earth. they, like the birds, come from above.

So when I first listened to Palace of Wind, first album from New York band Battle Trance, i felt this otherworldly-ness in the form of majesty… A sense of cosmic drama, like a ritual about to be performed.

The various sections that compose the 3 main movements of the piece all fall into very short and simple structures of variation and repetition that derive into complex micro-patterns which create this very architectural soundscape, like something from Steve Reicht or late-era Coltrane.

The 4 tenor saxophones, constantly going up and down and playing fractal games off each other in a continuous upward movement, reminiscence the ominous humming of an orchestra tuning up before a concert or, more symbolically, a celestial army getting ready for battle.

With few hard-hitting solo moments strategically emplaced, the tones, textures and timbres of the 4 tenor saxophones are the simple but solid building materials with which the band creates this complex, grand, mantra-like Palace of Wind.



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user ratings (9)
3.8
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
MotokoKusanagi
August 2nd 2017


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

this is really good, thanks

rabidfish
August 2nd 2017


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

you're welcome, i guess?



This album needs love, that's for sure... thrilling experience.

TheWrenKing
August 3rd 2017


1719 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

omg yes

rabidfish
August 3rd 2017


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

fuck yea duuuuude

Neatoo
August 24th 2017


132 Comments


bump cuz this album needs more love, gosh darn it

MotokoKusanagi
August 28th 2017


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

first track is too dope when it all comes together

also love the album art. keep forgetting to d/l this when at home, thanks for the reminder neatoo

GhandhiLion
April 29th 2018


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This is a sound I've been looking for

MotokoKusanagi
April 29th 2018


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

good bump my friend

rabidfish
April 29th 2018


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

amazing bump indeed, m'lord.

GhandhiLion
April 29th 2018


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Track 3 was a bit weak on first listening. But the combination of Terry Riley and jazz in the first track was so refreshing to hear.

GhandhiLion
April 29th 2018


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

How is the 2nd album?

rabidfish
April 29th 2018


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Dude yes... Tape loops and jazz are so good for each other, it's like almonds and chocolate.



The 2nd album was a lot more boring, imo. It's more of the same, but with less variety and sense of progression (imo, of course).

MotokoKusanagi
April 30th 2020


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

anyone else still fuck with this

rabidfish
April 30th 2020


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

always

GhandhiLion
April 30th 2020


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

yee this is cool

MotokoKusanagi
April 30th 2020


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

my doods

GhandhiLion
April 30th 2020


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I recommend "The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner" by Dave Liebman if you love this. It's on spotify.

rabidfish
April 30th 2020


8781 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

noice, this dude got a big ass discog, huh.

OmairSh
July 3rd 2020


17733 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I think "tense" is a decent description of the music here

MotokoKusanagi
December 7th 2021


4290 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

tfw you're in a palace of wind



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