FRANK MARK ARTS

The fourth album »Realm of the Shades« by Roman Leykam tempts the listener to explore new territories with every new track. Subtle, avantgardistic, partially spherical arrangements between trance and meditation.

Tracks:
1.Realm of the Shades 3:51, 2.Vexing 4:02, 3.Mirage 3:16, 4.Seance 5:23, 5.Hallucination 3:22, 6.The Aftermath 3:47, 7.Bleak Place 2:22, 8.Secret Passage 3:42, 9.Cursed 4:51, 10.Trailblazer 2:00, 11.Meteor Dust 5:06, 12.Gyroscope 5:20, 13.Changing Times 3:04, 14.The Fascination of Sparingness 3:29, 15.Oneiric 3:49;

Recorded and mixed 2013 in the studio of Roman Leykam.
Mastered 2013 in the studio of Frank Meyer.
Photos by Roman Leykam.
Artwork by Frank Meyer and Roman Leykam.
Produced and performed by Roman Leykam.
6-sided Digipak

Roman Leykam: electric guitars, guitar synths, e-bow guitars, guitar treatments

... if you are not a lover of effected guitars or synth-manipulated guitars, you could find the listening experience that Roman provides dreadfully boring, as the excessively abstract and old-fashioned sonic mantle by which he wrapped and blurred his brilliantly effected guitars - a trained ear will easily recognize that he's quite good in manoeuvring effects - could even severely test the resistence to the synthesis of sleep-inducing agents of listeners, who can understand what he wisely does. My attention was kept high by some interesting insertions of e-bow guitars as well as by some meaningful ideas such as the humongous growl he lets rise in "The Aftermath" or the club-induced claustrophobic feelings that got rendered in "Bleak Place", but I can't really stop yawning when the above-mentioned mantles made some interesting guitar-driven experiments sound like demo songs of cheap electronic keyboard. Rate: 2½ of 5 stars / Vito Camarretta. (CHAIN D.L.K. Oct 2015)

... a mix of trance, ambient, meditation and avantgarde ... assoziative ethereal spiritual soundscapes, sometimes meditative and melancholic sometimes dynamic powerful forward ... In particular titels like 'Seance' and 'Cursed' guide the listener at a crazy journey. (Doppelpunkt / Jürgen Parr - Doppelpunkt/Magazine for Culture in Nürnberg - Fürth - Erlangen / May 2015)

... the most experimental one I've heard (by Leykam) ... The guitar remains the epicenter of this work, which often sounds pretty anarchistic in sound, sometimes a little less psychedelic while I can't get away from the idea that it all sounds much improvised. The compositions don't really sound like 'music' compositions rather than sound experiments where the result of manipulations and studio effects become more important than song structures, verses and choruses. The work is a pure sound collage revealing multiple guitar sounds that have been transposed into new noises. Some of these 'noises' are absolutely cool and I especially refer to the kind of monstrous sound emerging at The Aftermath. I also became fascinated by the e-bow guitar, which is something really special and very experimental as well. This work is meant for real die-hard fans of experimental music or do I have to call it 'anti-music'. There for sure is an audience for all kinds of music and experiments, but I'm afraid this new Roman Leykam release will only catch the attention of a very restricted number of listeners.
Conclusion: Different guitars and guitar effects have been pushed towards a real distant border of experimentalism. It's the kind of work that will only ravish the most extreme lovers of experimental music while I already heard more fascinating releases from Frank Mark Arts. Best songs: The Aftermath, Vexing. Rate: (DP:5)DP. (SIDE-LINE music magazine May 2015)

... Titel wie z.B. Vexing - Secret Passage oder The Fascination of Sparingness überzeugen jeden Hörer. (edelhagen.de / digitale Jazz-Zeitung - Jan.2015)