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The deep, beatless drifts of Aftermath rise and fall, cut through with wafting higher tones, all in a perpetual state of subtle change. This piece originally appeared on the Spanish version of 1992's Stormwarning. Rhythmic stirrings rumble behind the thick, hazy synth flows of The Majestic Void, a track from a 1994 Netherlandic comp. The only piece small enough to be considered a "shard" is the unfortunately brief, previously unreleased Fall of the Moai (1:53); tribal accents, beats and shakers mingle with ominous drones and choir-like chords.
That piece, and the following two are from 1993's Earth Island era. Atmospheric Earthman determinedly plods along, powered by swirling drones and primitive beats. Soft melodic passages blend with the resonant backdrop. Suzo Saiz joins in on this, and the next track. Not nearly as "tribal", the airy passages of Fate Awaits are disected by silvery slivers of ringing guitar strings, like shooting stars slicing through a starlit night.
Wailing humanity is heard Beyond the Blood, where Roger King's voice (circa 1998) soars over 1996's tribal rhythms from Roach's Artifacts phase.
Stormy weather occurs Before the Sacrifice where assorted primitive percussion patters, pops, plops and shakes. Tribalistic intonations are barely heard through a shimmering haze which alternately surges and recedes. A long fade-out becomes a long fade-in which takes us to The Unreachable Place (Again), an never released track recorded around 1987 about the the same time as Dreamtime Return. No percussion is added to the free-floating layers of synthesizer cloudswirl, though intermittent higher tones appear at rhythmic intervals.
More smooth (and quite effervescent) space is found in 1993's The Unbroken Promise; the softest of drifts fizz with tiny textural glints. Stronger gusts swoosh through the air with a calmly latent power. Another comp piece (from 1996), This and the Other (11:15) is built upon deep surges and vast, sweeping overtones like a celestial string section. The piece slowly morphs and rolls, a panoramic cloudscape of lush, interweaving chords.
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