Ze-Ka - Ghost Planet [Opa Loka Records]

Released via Opa Loka Records in late 2017 is "Ghost Planet", the latest - and first ever - album created by the French cellist and composer Jean-Philippe Feiss under his newly introduced artistic moniker Ze-Ka which is more oriented and driving towards a world of dark, ambient'esque synths and other electronics as perfectly showcased by the brooding, slowly moving opening track "Fission (Tribute To The Liquidators)" which, according to the press release sheet, is kinda inspired by the Tchernobyl disaster - a remark totally relatable to when referring to the tunes dangerous, yet alienating hum and desolate feel dissolving into more uplifting, naturalistic structures towards the end. Following up is "Gold River", the albums 24+ minutes long main piece, which literally is redefining the meaning of time-defying Ambient beauty and slow harmonic movements through its sheer existence alone whilst "Landscape" caters an array of dry, almost scientific sounding eclectrical bass pulses paired with static crackles, panoramic string layers and single oscillating synth tones as a rhythmic foundation. With "Red Forest" we see Ze-Ka return to his Tchernobyl driven inspiration providing a melancholia-infused cello effort of multilayered complexity evolving towards a darker, danger-inducing tonality and partly even threatening atmosphere later on whereas the final cut "Oceans" caters to the needs of Ambient / Deep Listening aficionados having a thing for unstable, slightly off-kilter rhythm signatures and crackly, solemn and contemplative textures. Highly recommended!