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INCIDENTAL MUSIC, 2001 Cat. No.: Inc Oberon 24-4 Released: April 2001 Format: CD From the strong suggestive beat of the title track to the ominous towering atmospheres of Solaris; Anthem is a haunting dream journey - musical snapshots from the strange worlds inside. STARVOX While Oberon's 1998 "Mysteries" showed intensive care, craft and precision, his 2001 CD, "Anthem," was recorded as a "one-take" project. The music here is freer and looser than on "Mysteries," and gives us an idea of Oberon's improvisational skills. The opening track, "Anthem/Love-Light" features an electric guitar riff sampled and distorted until it sounds like a muzzein's call to prayer. The growling background synthesizers contribute to a creepy, unsettling feeling not found in Oberon's earlier work. It's good stuff, as beautiful as his 1998 work if not so pretty. The vocal arrangements on "Byzantine," the short but sweet second track, are particularly nice. The standout track for me, though was "When All Is Sorrow" This one has big Bruckner-esque organ chords rise from the depths, a mournful swirling threnody, ghostly samples of mournful sighs - what more could you want? I was reminded of the organ movement in Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Antarctica Symphony." Things close with "Solaris," a nice ambient track with some pretty sitar-sounding samples. It's a great piece of work, and one of the most interesting discs to cross my CD player in some time. Keep an eye on Oberon: you're going to be hearing a lot more from him in the near future. -Review by Kevin LEGENDS MAGAZINE Norway finds itself as home to indie label Incidental Music, a driving vehicle for the experimental music of Oberon. One of Oberon's latest releases, Anthem, is a seven track recording that explores the hypnotic effect of music, moving beyond mere "mood altering" into a much more eclectic realm. You'll find elements of horror movies, subtle chord lapses and haunting melodies throughout the body of work. Anthem, according to Oberon, takes influence from Ayn Rand, novelist, and Kenneth Anger (Lucifer Rising), while not being pure adaptations of such. You'd be hard pressed to find these influences, besides titles themselves, but I don't care where it comes from - the final product is nonetheless mesmerizing. Stepping about as close to "garage band style" as an electronic/experimental outfit can get, Oberon recorded the album in one simultaneous sweep. The result? The pure capturing of the hypnotic moods rather than just a rehearsed adaptation. Synthesizer melodies used in Anthem (track 1) are slidingly haunting. As more tracks play, it's apparent that Oberon wishes to retain this haunting quality throughout Anthem, although at times, such as during Byzantine (track 3), the static background chords can get repetitive. When All Is Sorrow also uses a similar static background from the get go. Much of Anthem relies only on subtle manipulations of pitches to drive you, wearing minimalism like a badge on its breast. Dreams of the Sun takes a new tack, utilizing what sounds like a hammered dulcimer. Some of the dulcimer strikes sound like it's being done with a two ton anvil, giving some of the notes a powerful arrival. Later it once again moves to a mostly static and growing, windy chorale. To the typical listener, Anthem is definitely bland. But those of us that appreciate the subtleties of nature with wonderment will find much to enjoy within Oberon's work as it takes you on a dream-inducing and hauntingly hypnotic journey. It's one of those albums that will have a different meaning for different people - and different meanings for one person sometimes I'm sure. And this is a testament to Oberon's "capturing" of a mood instead of a bad, rehearsed "rendition" of one. Says Oberon, "Keeping it pure." - Marcus Pan SATAN STOLE MY TEDDYBEAR The latest foray from Norway's Oberon is a bit of a surprising departure from his last two releases. The music has been dissolved down to a more ambient, soundscape oriented type of project, with nearly all the tracks being very quiet, atmospheric and ambient collages of sound, quite far away from the more standard music of his past. The very first track is probably the most fleshed in terms of achieving anything close to his previous music. From there, the short release takes one through a variety of quiet, contemplative passages often comprised of sparse keyboard playing and brooding sounds. "When All is Sorrow" is aptly titled, sounding like a funeral dirge on very sad sounding organ notes. This release is a good EP to pt on headphones late at night perhaps while reading or perhaps drifting with the lights off and your eyes closed. Fans of slightly musical soundscapes should definitely check this out. As a teaser for an upcoming full length, Anthem definitely is a good teaser. -John Chedsey