As Prog magazine have already covered the release of Gentō by Bioscope with a fascinating interview and an extended review most visitors to TPA will probably know all about the background to this album. For the non-subscribers amongst you, in this instance, I can assure you that the context, whilst interesting, is insignificantly peripheral to the main event, so I’ll dive straight into offering up an opinion.
After all, we know what to expect. An instrumental, prog-ish album lovingly put together over several years by two of the most highly respected musicians of the current era, two masters of atmospheric, haunting, enchanting and cinematic soundscapes, one keyboardist and one guitarist? You can almost hear the twinkly-noodling starting to form in your head before the metaphorical needle finds its way into the groove.
Yes, we know what to expect, but, and it’s a very big but, we also know we are highly likely to get so much more than the sum of these musician’s parts. Yes, this is a wonderfully absorbing album full of instrumental electronic ambient soundscapes, but what, if anything, is there that marks this out as special? To paraphrase Monty Python, what have ‘Bioscope’ done for us?
The drums. They gave us ambient music supplemented with Alex Reeves’s drums that lift the beats and rhythms to another level. Sometimes subtle and sometimes the driving heartbeat, they are equally important to the feel of the music as any of the other instrumentation Yes, it’s true, they did give us that.
And light and shadow, stirring our emotions, they gave us that too. And the sheer outrageous originality that provides the energy and the mystery. Apart from the extraordinary intensity of the electronic rhythms and the effortless beauty of the guitar sounds, apart from those, which are a plus, what have Bioscope done for us?
The depth of the artistry. What? The depth of the artistry. Oh, yes. The way the sound engages the heart and soul as well as the ears is a great delight, and how you get drawn into and absorbed by the storylines. The joy of escaping into a world created out of pure passion and the pursuit of aural perfection. How the simplicity of the waves of sounds are developed into multiple layers of complexity. The theatre of it all and the cinematic experience it begets.
Well, apart from the beats and rhythms, the light and shadow, the outrageous originality, the extraordinary intensity, the effortless beauty, the depth of the artistry, and the cinematic experience it begets, what have Bioscope done for us?
Made the most beautiful collection of music that I have heard in 2025, that’s for certain.
Time to shut up and let the music speak for itself.
TRACK LISTING
01. Vanishing Point (Pt. 1, 2 & 3) (19:59)
02. Gentō (7:36)
03. Kinetoscope (Pt. 1 & 2) (12:46)
04. Bioscope (Pt. 1, 2 & 3) (13:05)
05. Kaleidoscope (5:06)
Total Time – 59:32
MUSICIANS
Steve Rothery – Electronics [Neural DSP Quad Cortex], Effects [Eventide H90, Meris Enzo, Hologram Microcosm, TC Infinite Sustainer, Strymon Big Sky MX, Free The Tune Future Factory, EHX Pitch Fork, Roger Linn Adrenalinn, Analogman Mini Chorus, Analogman Prince Of Tone], Electronics [JC 120, Pitcher Shadow Amplifier, Groove Tubes Trio, Fryette Power Amplifier, Kingsley Juggler, Hughes And Kettner], Effects [Rotosphere], E-Bow, Guitar [Blade And Reverend Guitars]
Thorsten Quaeschning – Software Instrument [Ableton Live, Steinberg Cubase, Softube Console 1 + Fader], Synth [Arp: Odyssey, Solina, 2600; Dave Smith: Prophet 08; Doepfer: Modular Synthesizer; Korg: MS20, Wavestation; Manikin Electronic: Memotron], Sequencer [Manikin Electronic: Schrittmacher], Synth [Marienberg: Modular Synthesizer; Modal: Argon 8M; Moog: Minitaur, Sirin, Voyager; Mutable Instruments: Modular Synthesizer; Novation: Peak; Roland: JD800, Jupiter 8, System 8, V-Synth], Drum Machine [Soma: Pulsar 23], Synth [Tasty Chips: GR01; Vermona: Modular Synthesizer; Waldorf: Microwave, Quantum], Effects [Hologram: Microcosm; Stryman: Big Sky, Magneto, Mobius, NightSky, Starlab, Timeline; Z Vex Effects: Lo-Fi Junky]
Alex Reeves – Drums
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: earMUSIC
Country of Origin: Germany/UK
Date of Release: 22nd August 2024
