Sky Burial is essentially one musician – Michael Page – that looks to have at least a half a dozen other CD titles out, and after experiencing Aegri Somnia I realize that I will likely want to seek out more of his work. Movement I – The Synaesthete’s Lament (40:15) is a lengthy journey of post-industrial deep-space ambient that only improves as it progresses and Nik Turner shows up twice throughout this epic playing the sax as only the co-founder of Hawkwind can do. Movement II – Within And Without (16:01) is a good electronic/ambient track that fully evolves into some quite enjoyable experimental sound. Page is a true visual and sound artist (in every sense of the word) who is currently living on Cape Cod. What initially drew me to this CD was the fact that Nik Turner does step in to give Michael Page a hand in creating this wonderful piece of music. But what made me want to play this disc a couple of times before I penned out this review was the masterful talent as well as the majestic playing of Sky Burial – aka Michael Page. Call it ambient, industrial experimental, indie, electronic ambient – call it whatever you like but this genre definitely manages to fully captivate you.
The CD comes housed in a four-way fold-out and that is enclosed in a two-way fold-over piece of artwork. If you want to seek out a physical copy of this CD, simply remember what its cover looks like from the provided image in this review. Should appeal to fans of Tangerine Dream, Nik Turner solo, Liquid Visions, Amon Duul, Cluster, SubArachnoid Space, Kinski and possibly Throbbing Gristle.
For more info, visit: http://www.collectivexxiii.com/sky, http://www.myspace.com/skyburial23, and http://www.utechrecords.com
Reviewed by Mike Reed