Mansuria, Planet of the Gods By Steve Sheppard ft. David de Michelle

 

Mansuria, Planet of the Gods

 By

Steve Sheppard ft. David de Michelle

Written by

Andy Rogers

It’s always wonderful when an artist comes up with something that takes their music to a new dimension. This remarkable new album from Steve Sheppard does precisely that. Recorded during a particularly turbulent time in his life, Steve felt the need to create a better, more restful place to escape the waking world with all its problems and troubles. He invented a veritable Nirvana of sorts; a mental fantasy about a planet called Mansuria in an unknown region of space. From that comes this new album, “Mansuria, Planet of the Gods”.

As good as Steve’s previous releases have been, this latest album is a giant leap forward in both musical content and production values. For the album Steve has sought the musical assistance and collaboration of David De Michele on synths and vocalisations plus, on a couple of tracks, some very atmospheric flute and vocalisations courtesy of Steve’s wife Chrissie Sheppard.

The album starts with “Journey to Mansuria” – A tense sounding beginning as we depart on the long flight, this leads to a more tranquil middle section before a dramatic jolt in the music tells us we approaching Mansuria.. Nice use of dramatic synths on this track which reminded me at times of early Vangelis.

“Arrival at Mansuria” opens with a calm pastoral theme as we slowly approach the planet. A gentle rolling piano line leads us further on before a pulsing synth and vocalisations take us down to the planet surface.

Track 3 is “Twin Moons”. There is a darker more mysterious feel here. The synths have a sharper edge, rhythms come and go, mystical voices drift through the mix and there is an occasional haunting flute. In all a very edgy and intriguing piece of music that evokes the light of the two moons beautifully.

Next is “The Living Lake”. Natural sounds of water combine with synths playing gently undulating chords that mirror the ripples on the lake surface. Chrissie’s flute enhances the mood of the piece as the music fills your head with visions of the huge lake surrounded by a deep dark forest…

Track 5 is indeed “The Forest of Darkness”. The music is now eerie and mysterious. The synths are more intense and are joined by nature sounds and more of those slightly unsettling vocalisations. Eventually the music changes to a more positive mood as we reach the centre of the forest, “the Tree of Love”.

Leaving the forest we arrive at “The Marsh of Forgetfulness”, starting with the sounds of wind and water it becomes a chilled almost ambient track encouraging you to stop and rest. It reminded me very much of the Deep Skies series from Steve’s friend, synth maestro Kevin Kendle – high praise indeed.

The penultimate track is “Tyrian Uplands”. The music here has a sense of awe at the sheer size of the vast mountain ranges of Mansuria. Epic sweeping synths and soaring vocals depict something deeply moving, proud and vast, demanding respect yet being utterly beautiful at the same time.

So we arrive at the last track on the album, “A Brave New World”. This is a fitting end to a superb album. It has a truly cinematic feel, like a soundtrack to a film yet to be made. Opening quietly it expands into an orchestral theme that is truly lovely. It gives a sense of rebirth and hope that maybe the true spirit of man will prevail and we will, one day, build a better life on a brave new world. 

In summary, I loved this album. Steve Sheppard, along with David De Michele and Chrissie Sheppard have created something really rather special. Whether your choice of music is electronica, new age or even neo-classical there is something here for everybody and it deserves to do really well.  As Steve himself says: “Welcome to my memory palace, just push open the door and step inside, there are more worlds than this, but today we land on a world filled with limitless possibilities, a planet that crosses the boundaries of probability: Welcome to Mansuria, The Planet of the Gods!”