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Radio Massacre International — Galactic Furnace
(Cuneiform Rune 537/538, 2024, 2CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-12-16

Galactic Furnace Cover art

Well, this is unexpected. It’s been a long time since the last Radio Massacre International album, and I’d pretty much forgotten about them. Not that there was anything wrong with Time and Motion (2010) — it’s a fine album in that realm that crosses between electronic music and space rock. Galactic Furnace is another marathon outing, two hours of music divided into three tracks (plus a nine-minute edit of one). The three parts of “Galactic Furnace” run 24, 36, and 60 minutes, and as with their previous releases, the line between what’s planned and what’s improvised is completely obscure. Throughout much of the album, I can’t help thinking of Stratosfear, as the mood and many of the sounds are quite similar. Without any help from guest musicians, the original trio of Steve Dinsdale (keyboards, electronics, drums), Duncan Goddard (keyboards, electronics, bass), and Gary Houghton (guitar, keyboards) ventures into the depths of space, both inner and outer. While some of their previous music has included the occasional guitar / bass / drums section, Galactic Furnace avoids that entirely, and in fact I don’t really hear drums anywhere. There are electronic percussive noises in some sections, but not really anything like a drum set or even drum machine. There is a lot of guitar, but it is obscured by heavy use of effects, providing more of a textural than melodic contribution. As for the bass, in most cases where it might be present, it’s hard to distinguish from a synth of some kind. Dreamy sequences show up in many places along the journey, providing energy, but those are always passing phases that drift off into washes of synth chords and floating ambience. Existing RMI fans will no doubt be happy about the group’s return, and Tangerine Dream fans, especially those who find the original tunes just too darn short, should be ecstatic.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Radio Massacre International

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/galactic-furnace

 

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