Instrumental New Age Review: Crystalline Dream-Threshold

Release Date: July 10, 2006

Label: Solovey Music

Website

Crystalline Dream is a band with the intent to craft a vision with every album they perform. Threshold is the entryway to a journey of enlightenment, with each album gaining the listener increased wisdom.  The main band members for Crystalline Dream include Richard Ross, Korey Ross and guest artist Peter Phippen.

The first track on the album is "Threshold." Ethereal and drifting with flutes and an electronica based backdrop, the music brought me to a place of introspection far away from the swirling chaos that makes up most of my days. It was as if I were perched on a threshold to another place…a place of peace and tranquility that if I just took another step, it could be mine. The flute urges you forward even as the cosmic wave of the electronica pushes and whispers you to a dwelling where that elusive joy is hiding. Voices break over you and the music funnels you down a new rabbit hole…the journey is just beginning.

"Inner Peace" is another song that captured my attention at the onset. Harp sounds and chirping insects make it seem as if you, the listener, are in the middle of a forest, being lulled forward toward an enchanted paradise. Just one step closer toward the pool…just one more. The ethereal music drifts in the background like a hidden current pushing you along toward your destination. This is what happiness sounds like and if sound could be painted in color, it would be a spiraling ribbon of shimmering blue, wrapping around and around in layers of gossamer silk, one delicate note at a time.

"Borealis" urges you toward the end of your comfort zone. Icy and grinding, you mark your passage with effort and are ever working toward your next destination. The price of enlightenment comes with great perseverance. The sound of flutes and the bitter winter wind skitter along the top of the ice as you reach for the next fork in the road…the next vision of flickering lights to direct your path forward. Beautiful and treacherous, the way ahead will not be an easy one. Growling and grinding electronica and percussive elements mark your progress and the undying urge to find enlightenment at any cost.

Crystalline Dream have begun a journey of sorts with Threshold. Using the ethereal and at times sparse elements of electronic music, it is blended with percussive elements, flute, harp and other sounds such as whispered chants or insects. This instrumental New Age experience focuses on enlightenment and is the beginning of what so far is a five album progression toward grace. It is a pleasant sounding album that any fan of New Age music will vastly enjoy.

4/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Threshold, Borealis, Inner Peace

Tracks: 
01. Threshold
02. Ethereal Gauze
03. Solar Flight
04. Evensong
05. Inner Peace
06. West Wind
07. Crystalline Dream 1
08. Crystalline Dream 2
09. Crystalline Dream 3
10. Borealis
11. Threshold (Reprise)
 

Dana Wright, Sr. Staff Writer

July 9, 2016

Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews