2350.org - Shades of Orion 3

I'm not sure what to make of this and I'm prejudiced cos I'm beginning to tire of 30 min tracks when there isn't a huge amount of effort and inventiveness that goes into it. I was hoping for something more upbeat but that is not what this is about, the first track whets your appetite for some good ambient/techno but then the tempo is all downhill from there with the emphasis on darker tones. It seems the series has run out of steam?

(review by Rowland Atkinson)

I noticed that there's a not very flattering review of this wonderful disc, so I decided to give a different view. First of all to get the idea of this disc you need both space and time - a big room with smooth lighting, nice decorations (maybe something like a mirrorball with red spotlight pointed on it as we had), good soundsystem (naturally), some nice friends who know when to be silent and TIME to just be there and enjoy the unique atmosphere this music creates.

An interesting and energizing 'Betelgeuzian Ritual' is performed before the journey and it leaves our minds to expect the unexpected for the trip ahead of us.

'Stranded on Rigel 3' is a beautiful discovery of some unexplored planet. First we prepare for take off for couple of minutes and set the course for some already known destination around Orion Nebula. We start the engines and for some time everything seems to go as it should. Then something happens, maybe an engine malfunction and an encounter with an ancient alien race which exists only in form of light. Well, whatever happened is irrelevant for us now, since we can't remember anymore where we we're going to. We are just left floating with no thoughts or worries, thrilled with the new things we constantly experience yet remaining deeply relaxed. By and by we start approaching a planet which shouldn't be there, none of our starmaps has it on it. Looks like we've entered a new dimension parallel to our former one, and this most beautiful planet exists only there. The whole planet consists of soothing bright light and it's radiating love and peace to us. We feel at home and forget ourselves completely. Rigel 3 has connected us with the whole.

'Inouecent and Sirius'. With this deep connection we start to explore the new dimension further. Seems like time doesn't exist anymore, and that the true nature of time has always been beyond our conception. Feels like we've always been here, and that this is our true state of being. But unfortunately something has decided that we're not yet ready to live like this and after an unmeasured amount of time we suddenly found ourselves back in the dimension we came from. And only now we start wondering 'what happened?'.

So if you give this masterpiece a chance, it can really help you to get in touch with eternity. And when you feel it, you'll love it!

(review by Aqua Mental)