The Serpent’s Lair (reviews)

“Steve Roach teams up with drummer/shamanic practitioner Byron Metcalf on this two-disc set to produce a vivid tone poem replete with serpentine rhythms and subterranean sounds.”

— Carol Wright
Barnes & Noble

“The Serpent's Lair is a masterpiece of surreal and futuristic electronic creations juxtaposed with ancient drums and vocal textures.”

— Ted Cox
Music of the Spheres

“Turn out the lights, tune in, close your eyes and prepare for altered states.”

— Darren Bergstein
Muze

“If you like drumming and percussion (as I do), then this large-scale, rhythm-filled double CD album is for you. The veteran electronic guru Steve Roach teams up with shamanic percussionist Byron Metcalf and numerous other instrumentalists and vocalists to create a sonic panorama of the shamanic experience.”

— Hannah M.G. Shapero
Ambient Visions

Over the past year, the collaboration between Roach and Metcalf on The Serpent's Lair evolved into an epic 2-CD set, augmented by the contributions of some very special guests, including one of my favorite violinists, Vicki Richards. Other musicians featured on the album are Vidna Obmana, Jeffrey Fayman, Momodou "Mohammad" Kah, Jorge Reyes, Jim Cole, Lena Stevens and Vir Unis. With a group of musicians such as this, you can readily sense that magic is afoot. The percussion on disk one is astonishing, in both the recording of the sound, and the actual music. You feel like Steve and Byron are sitting in your living room playing live. Kudos for superb engineering. Steve's expansive atmospherics, along with Byron's more acoustic/tribal tribal trance patterns create themes of shamanic initiation found throughout the world. As with the recent collaboration of Michael Stearns's and Ron Sunsinger on "Sorcerer", 'the initiatory energy of focused transformational ritual practice is integrated into the alchemical fire of psycho-spiritual death and rebirth. It is here that one is confronted with all the essential elements of danger and possibility.' The incredible energy of the percussion and synths emerge to hammer their authority home, effectively steeping the music in the grand traditions they evoke. Intensive soundscapes such as 'Big Medicine' eclipse the shamanic nadir most effectively, hypnotic electron tides summon spirit and soul in a fusion of ancestry and techno-tribalism. Roach and Metcalf create an insidious organic sonic plasma that doesn't so much instill meditative states as aspire you into them. For those weaned on Roach's glaciated formations and the continued evolution of ambient music, and Metcalf's ingenious percussion and shamanic studies, the album becomes required listening on the learning curve. The duo with the help of a very talented ensemble create sonic bits of flotsam and reintegrate them into an electrifying bold new entity.

— Ben Kettlewell

Ambient explorer Roach and percussionist Metcalf originally began this as an experiment into the effects of breathwork and the use of sound on a person "as a shamanic strategy for healing, personal growth, and transformation." The successful effects their music had in group settings were extended into these compositions. While billed as a collaboration between the two men, The Serpent's Lair also features contributions by (deep breath) violinist Vicki Richards, overtone vocalist Jim Cole, pre-Hispanic sound sorcerer Jorge Reyes, singer Lena Stevens, synthesist Vidna Obmana, "groove alchemist" Vir Unis, and djembe players Jeffrey Fayman and Momodu "Mohammad" Kah. The two discs in this package act as yin and yang--the eight parts of the first disc, "The Serpent's Lair," highlight intoxicatingly hypnotic drum rhythms slicing through churning ambient spaces, while the seven cuts that make up the second disc, "Offerings from the Underworld," travel down darker, spacier streams with subtle rhythms, reverberant vocals, and exotic aerophones caressing and riding the ethereal aural waves. This invigorating combination of musicians invents a dynamic new perspective on Roach's trademark deep-listening forays. It would be wonderful to hear more collaborations like this.

— Bryan Reesman
Amazon.com

Space music icon Steve Roach teams up with drummer/shamanic practitioner Byron Metcalf on this two-disc set to produce a vivid tone poem replete with serpentine rhythms and subterranean sounds. The serpent, which sheds its skin, is a common symbol in shamanic lore, and can be used as a focus in departing from the old self and transforming into the new. Clarion tones echo sharply between wet cave walls, get caught upon the wind, or ride the electric exhales of serpents. "Rite of Passage" features Middle Eastern drums, shakers, and tambourines that wind along a zigzagging rhythmic path, conjuring images of ceremonial processions and slithering serpents. On "Shedding the Skin," Roach sends doleful, breathy notes from his didgeridoo over a framedrum patter that mimics a snake's scales. Jim Cole's overtone chanting gives "Serpent Clan" and "Beating Heart of the Dragon Mother" a primordial dusting, while Lena Stevens's chant on "Ochua" adds the seductive mystery of a jungle siren. While it can be useful for serious visionary purposes, this space music does stay surprisingly serene throughout.

— Carol Wright
Barnes & Noble.com

Every 5 years or so a recording comes along that breaks all pre-conceived notions, establishing a paradigm against which future releases are considered. Despite the fact that many of Roach's initial recordings made quite a splash upon their release, most collectors following his output agree "Dreamtime Return" was a seminal release, an apex within his early career. While there were many landmark recordings to follow, Roach made yet another quantum leap forward by way of the neck-snapping "The Body Electric", a recording brimming with charged sonics that left hearts beating quickly and heads swimming. "Serpent" continues in a similar vein to "Body" with patterns and shimmering sounds that seem to emanate from all points of the sound field. For this recording Roach is partnered with Shaman-Drummer, Byron Metcalf amidst the convivial gathering of ambient¹s finest musicians which include Jorge Reyes, Vidna Obmana, and Vir Uris. "The Serpent's Lair" is yet another landmark recording ­ one that seems destined for our "CD of the Year" decoration. The symbolism of the serpent shedding skin ­ ridding itself of that which it has outgrown - is not lost on "Serpent" as Roach and Metcalf, among a bevy of ambient artists, forgo previous techniques to take on a completely new style. "The Serpent's Lair" forces the listener into immaculate, imaginative sound worlds the likes of which have heretofore remained in the recesses of the human mind. This radiant music, densely wrought with emotional impact; create an experience similar perhaps to the welding together of Reyes' "Mort Aux Vaches" coupled with "The Body Electric"- while managing to surpass both. Roach wrenches far-fetched new sounds from the synth ­which convey a mental cinemascope of bejewelled temples, swarming tryptamine patterns and foreign worlds, while Metcalf¹s accomplished Shamanistic drum patterns combine into a hypnotizing set of Sacred space music.

Disc 1 teems with throbbing, distended rhythms, diaphanous synth threads ­ delicate as a spider web ­ and Metcalf¹s polyrhythmic drumming. There are moments of contemplative moods, yet those are rare as the majority of hour one is that of upbeat, ritualistic soirees. Here, Metcalf, lays down percussive configurations of intense complexity offset by assorted shakers, rattles and other sundry implements while Roach injects waves on undulating synth, chugging sequences and the odd sonic embellishment.

Whereas disc one is a formative composition of ambient art, it is disc two that plumbs the depths of the Other; taking the listener into sound worlds of such mind-boggling proportions that it begs to be heard. Roach's vitreous sound patches gracefully adorn the works as facets on a Faberge egg ­ scrupulously detailed beyond one's usual acuity. Beginning unassumingly - the music similar to that of side one - there is nothing to prepare the listener for what will soon transpire. Track two sets in motion an eerie, unearthly descent into the void ­ a sound-world filled with shadowed reverberations, metallic clattering and smooth, oblique drones trailing off into infinite space. There is a feeling of immense space; simultaneously creating gelled-like parameters that pulse to the vibrations. Track three drops the listener into the unknown, a swirling mass wrapped in sonic wind, haunting, ethereal chanting and drum cycles that implode only to form new, more intricate configurations. The result is one of ambiguity, loneliness and self-reflection. A peace-filled atmosphere develops, only to lead the listener through yet another doorway ­ not quite as foreboding ­ filled with overtone chant, and stillness backed by an array of gently beating percussives. The cycle complete, "Serpent" ends on an affirmative note ­ one of emerging from a cave to witness a surreal sunrise of magnificent depth-of-colour. Phased instruments briefly swirl amidst water sounds, whisperings and gently chanting female voice.

There is, in "Serpent", so much to wholly assimilate that it requires many plays to suitably grasp just how essential this release really is. Once again, Roach amazes with his delft styles ­ forging ahead and carving new paths in sonic architecture. "The Serpent¹s Lair" is a stunningly beautiful, otherworldly and deeply satisfying listen.

There are recordings that are more readily reviewed than others, allowing readers to a glimpse of the music, while there remains that which language fails at doing justice. Shivkumar Sharma, Arvo Part and many other Classical, World and Sacred music falls into this category. It is when music slides beyond the written word and into the psyche¹s emotional area that all words become trite and nearly meaningless, able only to describe the sonic goings on. "Serpent" falls into this category with deep listening techniques a requirement to fully obtain all this recording has to proffer.

— Glenn Hammett
Raging Consciousness Desk

Byron so eloquently and masterfully brings rhythm and sound together in a way that speaks to the inner recesses of the soul. Each unique selection has a character of it own.

— Annie Compton-Schmidt, DJ, Earthbeat
KFCF 88.1 fm, Fresno, CA

The second solo effort by percussionist Byron Metcalf follows his collaboration with Steve Roach, "The Serpent's Lair". On this new CD, he lets out all the stops, and dives straight into the heart of percussive, juicy music, with deep rhythms, a bottom that won't quit, and high-caliber production of his own design. Guest artists include Steve Roach, Ron Oates, Lena Stevens, Rian McGonigal, Richard Blum, Jamie Keehan and Jack Coddington. Through the fusing of organiCDums and percussion, didgeridoo, soundworlds and sonic atmospheres, various indigenous instruments and voice, Byron invites and challenges the listener to push the boundaries of their own reality. The risk Byron takes is the journey of venturing into new depths and levels of one's self. Turn it up on a good stereo & hang on!

Lloyd Barde, Backroads Music, November, 2001