Tracklist
1. Setting Forth
2. A Noble Direction
3. Midnight Migration
4. The Magma Clan
5. Road From Here
6. Fire Sky Portal
7. Return of the Dragon Bone Tribe
8. In the Safety of Travel
“Tales From the Ultra Tribe”
Steve Roach & Byron Metcalf
After two years pushing the creative edges, Tales From the Ultra Tribe emerges as a fire-breathing life form. The deep trance-shamanic-atmospheric collaboration between Steve Roach and Byron Metcalf evokes the primordial caverns and aeon-blasted landscapes of their groundbreaking The Serpent's Lair (Projekt, 2000).
And yet on Tales From the Ultra Tribe, a new sound emerges.
It's a lucid trance-groove experience, a searing combination of acoustic percussion and hyper-dimensional electronic rhythms. The Ultra Tribe are the future primitives: the future-tech foundation wrapped by the organic. It's no longer clear where the human ends and the machine begins.
The elements of this sound are Steve's complex hybrid-grooves overlaid by Byron's primal, fluid and organic - yet precise - frame drums and percussion. It's an atmosphere of shifting soundworlds in which the forms of the Ultra Tribe exist. An alchemy of electronic sequencers, drum machines and percussion locks in the groove, while the human element jumps in and out of the steady pulse, giving the music a passionate intensity. The elements are deftly shaped to a point of complete integration where the final result is transformed into a living breathing body with an electro-organic soul.
As one the original architects of the tribal-ambient genre, Steve Roach's innovations are mapped out on the landmark albums Origins, Artifacts, and Dreamtime Return, along with releases from the Suspended Memories trio and the more recent Fever Dreams series. Similarly, Byron Metcalf’s tribal-shamanic albums Helpers, Guides & Allies, Not Without Risk, The Shaman’s Heart, and A Warning From the Elders, serve as a benchmark for deep journey exploration. In the late 90's, Steve teamed up with Byron, and over the span of a dozen years they've created an array of releases that explore and push the outer edges of shamanic-electronic tribalism.
The eight pieces on Tales From the Ultra Tribe are built into a seamless 74-minute deep-journey experience. Adding to the overall impact is a high resolution sound achieved through masterful recording and mixing techniques. With a multi-dimensional trance-groove trajectory, the sound is a tribal-electronic well of experience. A continuous kaleidoscope of visionary power, mystery and visceral awe envelops the listener. The synergistic alchemy of Steve’s and Byron’s work fuses to new levels of audio-induced, mind-expanding music.
