Conor Fynes 'Synopsis: Outland' - Senmuth (3/10)

Another fairly disappointing and boring ambient release from Senmuth. While even some of Senmuth's latter work has proven to be quite strong; even great at times, the prolific Russian composer seems to have fallen into a rut of releasing the same album over and over again, albeit with different artwork and under new titles. While the music here is technically new, it is by no means fresh for Senmuth. Anyone who has heard one of Senmuth's more ambient electronic albums will see virtually no exception from formula here. Of course, the album is graced with enough strengths to save it from being infamous, but as it stands, this feels like another harmless ambient album to me.

The formula is generally as follows: drawn out, quiet soundscapes, shallow electronic beats, and the constant dynamic between these two. Due to the fact that all of this music is composed using a computer and there is no real sound here, things sound quite lifeless, even as electronic music goes. With albums like the more recent 'Expanding Architecture', Senmuth really manages to make a spacey journey that's worth going back to multiple times. Here, as each track passes, one may struggle to remember even one aspect of the music.

Of course, Senmuth's prolific work has given him quite some experience, and that does bolster what would otherwise be a possibly worthless album quite a bit; namely, his arrangements of sound. While the sounds here aren't excellent by any account, the more intricate sections of the music can have multiple things going on in the music that warrant a little extra focus. The song that does this best is 'Жизнь вне Жизни', which gets a little extra caffeine than the rest of the songs on 'Synopsis: Outland' and manages to provide a somewhat more engaging experience, although it still only passes by as being decent.

Certainly one of the weakest experiences I have had with Senmuth yet, although it may be in large part due to my existing familiarity with this side of the project.