Dreamship - Ancestral Voyage


Year of Release: 2002
Label: ProgRock Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 53:01:00

Technology has always been a part of progressive music, and as technology changed, the way music was created also changed. However, up until now that was mainly the technology of the instruments. Now two musicians have used a new form of technology to create music! Timothy Martin, living in Dallas (Texas) and Ed Schaum, living in New York City, have created a stunning and revolutionary album, using the modern technology of the Internet. That they made an album together may not be so special. But the fact they have never met is!! They wrote the album together and played all instruments, whilst sending huge files across the Internet to each other. The result is Ancestral Voyage, a concept album on finding your place in the grand scheme of things.

After listening to Ancestral Voyage, I am awed by the music, so much variety and changes in the songs. After the opening and title track, "Ancestral Voyage," an instrumental song, with mostly keyboards, the songs are brought in a concept form, "The Grand Machine" (4 tracks), "The Forest Suite" (4 tracks) and "The Scroll" (2 tracks) and with "Final Destination," the album reaches it's end. The atmosphere can be compared to the concept albums of Camel, even the vocals of Timothy Martin remind me of Andy Latimer. "Touching The Future" (The Grand Machine part III) is more up tempo and has a bit of a heavy guitar riff and great drums. With "Silent Echoes" (The Forest Suite part I), the melody changes and is more like a merry-go-round tune, a bit in the vein of Steve Hackett's latest album. And the songs keep having a bit of a medieval feeling about them.

"The Journey" (The Scroll part I) starts with lots of acoustic instruments and some (sampled) violins, a bit reminiscent of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" (the violins and the bells), but gets a bit more up-tempo after a minute or two. "The Letter" has a definite Alan Parsons sound, even the vocals sound a bit like Eric Woolfson. Closing track "Final Destination" (not related to the movie), is quite different again, with a strange atmosphere, but you should hear the album to feel that.

A very unusual way to record an album, but it worked here and Martin and Schaum have delivered a first class prog album, with original compositions, that only refer to other bands in atmosphere and sometimes in sound, but never copied. So, embark on the Ancestral Voyage with this Dreamship and let yourself be enchanted by this fantastic music.

[This review originally appeared November 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
Ancestral Voyage / The Grand Machine: i. The Young Man / ii. The Traveler The Wanderer / iii. Touching The Future / iv. My Machine Alive / The Forest Suite: Forest Heart: i. Silent Echoes / ii. Leaves Of Gold / iii. The Crystal Stream / iv. Forest Dream / The Scroll: i. The Journey / ii. The Letter / Final Destination

Musicians:
Timothy Martin - composer, keyboard master, vocalist
Ed Schaum - composer, guitars

Discography:
Ancestral Voyage (2002)

Genre: Other

Origin US

Added: December 12th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: dreamship.org
Hits: 2286
Language: english

  

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