Between the Worlds By David De Michele

 

Between the Worlds

By

David De Michele

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

The music of David De Michele has gone through a change in recent years swapping galactic journeys for voyages into a middle earth realm, at times we all have to evolve as musicians and get inspiration from one thing or another, to constantly reignite the spark of creativity inside us all, listening to this and reviewing a previous album, is indeed changing my course as well, but for this album from David, he seems to have captured one of the most ambient constructs of his illustrious career thus far on this new manifestation Between the Worlds.

Now there are 11 perfect tracks on this release that demand to be listened to, the opening offering uses perfect synths and an ethereal vocalisations to manifest a mysterious dream like environment, and this starting gem is called Midnight Moon.

Then gifting us one of the most wondrous moments ever, the artist steps passed the Rubicon of previous endeavours with a remarkable offering entitled Between the Worlds, which of course is the title track, this powerful opus has all the usual hallmarks of David De Michele Vangelis styled passions, but also some of the most beautifully layered electronic vibrations I think I have ever heard from the artist, and brings us a true anthem of a composition.

The fairy like Equinox floats into view; its energies remind me of early Kevin Kendle and the vocalisations 21^st century Andy Pickford, in a piece that is supremely powerful and moving, this is followed by the more complex arrangement of Mystic Dawn, combining electronic percussion sound effects, with the vocals, and under pinned with pin point keyboards from the artist.

One of my favourite times of the year is upon us and called Solstice, the repeating keyboard motif has an element of Mike Oldfield within the arrangement, whilst the crescendo and main body of the track manifests a cinematic offering of great quality too.

Across the borderlands of time and tide we find a total gem called The Circle, again a mixture of beautifully slow keyboard measures can be found here with some of the most delicate synth work you would ever wish to find, reminding me in musical context of Brian Carters 2004 classic the Heart of the Circle.

The entire album is a pastiche of textures and colours like you have never seen before, and fans of Celtic music will adore this next piece called The Hidden; here the artist gets deep into the weave of the story, and captures images of lost and mysterious warriors of the lands of mists, manifesting a similar vibration with which Medwyn Goodall did with his release of his Clan albums back in the day.

There is always time for a gentle narrative, but one that grows, changes and breathes love and light into the situation, this tapestry of enchantment is called Crystal Vision, a timeless classic is birthed here, one that has a lightness of touch and a sweet tonal delight, mixed into its overall narrative.

Once more that Celtic vibe is captured on Mystical Isle, but this time to an almost Arthurian manifestation, one could easily imagine standing on the rocks of Cornwall as the mind listens to the glory of this piece, whilst gazing down at Tintagel perhaps, note the progressive keyboard work on this track.

The penultimate offering gifts us a thunderstorm to start us on our way, incredible haunting vocalisations gather the energies of the journey up into a whirlwind of power and passion, on one of the most impactful and inspiring pieces from the release, this golden nugget of tone is called In the Balance, its centre point reminds me of a symphonic classical voyage, touching the hem of Isao Tomita at times as well.

Our concluding musical arrangement is called The Awakening; this dream like offering concludes our voyage of plenty, and in doing so manifests one of the most mesmeric tracks from the release, from keyboards to synths, to vocalisations, this is without doubt a track of perfection for us to bid farewell to.

Between the Worlds by David De Michele is another album in his series of middle earth styled narratives, but dare I now stick my neck out and say that I believe this to be one of his finest works of all time, possibly, but most certainly it is from this series of albums, he has the depth perfect, the pitch correct, and now that level of ambience is balanced sublimely with the elevated segments and crescendos, I would also say that the emotive moments were stunning on this pretty perfect release, and as such, how can this album not fail to grace the higher echelons of the chart for Between the Worlds by David De Michele.