Shalabi Effect - Pink Abyss
[Alien 8]

"Bizarre". There's no easier way to describe this confusing piece of music, it's either disturbingly crafted genius or simply an hour of self-arrogance - the latter of which doesn't seem quite so fitting.

Primarily consisting of cinematic music, the dark shadows & prog sensibilities of Goblin's 'Suspiria' are instantly present. Next there's post ambience, consisting of mysterious sounds, improvised jazz and unearthly chanting.

The second half on the other hand, takes an obvious Eastern influence with instruments such as the tabla making frequent appearances. Yet more improvisation makes excellent use of well placed clarinets & strings, even the occurrence of a violin becomes almost unrecognisable in its new fractured, reverbed state.

However, it's not just incidental pieces. There's even the opium induced tendencies of early Velvet's track 'Heroin', on the intro of 'We'll Never Make It', before launching into full-scale prog heaven.

A perfect film score - now someone just needs to make the actual film. But for an album on it's own strength, Shalabi are capable of some pretty baffling things, give it time to develop and look a bit closer, then the rewards will come.