Onewayness’ “The Sound Of Thunder”

By Julie Caldwell

This Experimental Electronic album is a five-track collection of the most melodic and brilliantly produced Electronica music that one could hope to have the privilege to listen to.

With a total run time of just under 76 minutes, “The Sound of Thunder” is a magnificent collaboration of two of the most gifted and unique Electronica musicians our city has to offer.

Adam Holquist, Onewayness, and Charles Shriner, dRachEmUsiK have combined their considerable musical talents to create a work of genius that was inspirited by T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland.”

Each track of this album echoes four qualities of the Hindu texts, the Upanishads–Charity, Mercy, Desire, and Peace. Dark and rasping hums of minced electronics, combined with the soft successions of constantly changing electronic notes, textured buzzes along with the spoken word creates a commanding, yet ambient feel to the music.

Though each piece on the album seems to have its own conflict and divergence of music, each smoothes out to become something fresh and lighter, offering a challenging yet delightful escape for the listener.

Shriner and Holquist managed to produce a dynamic and demanding compilation of explosive tensions, abstract elements, and hypnotic waves that simply draw the listener in completely, captivating both the ear and the mind.

The whispering and menacing synths of, “In Charity” ushers in the diffusion of drums and swelling feedback of “In Mercy.”

The soft piano brilliantly carries the melody of “In Desire,” while “In Peace” reiterates the chants, and resolves the composition’s tension. Calming and even consoling at times, “Thunder” delightfully blends electronica distress and bliss magnificently.

With complex and shadowy overtones, distinctive and exigent energies along with the unique and outstanding use of Eliot’s work as a backdrop, “The Sound of Thunder” wonderfully shifts between satire and prophecy with unannounced changes combined with shining musical skill and tenacity delivering as unique a work of music as “The Wasteland” is to literature.

The full album purchase includes a bonus track of the complete ‘The Sound of Thunder’ as a single continuous track.

“The Sound of Thunder” is fresh, innovative and perhaps the best use of melodic and Electronica expertise I have heard in at least a decade, while maintaining creative integrity.

With a cornucopia of feeling lacing through the entire album, overwhelming talent, devastating originality and superb musicianship, “The Sound of Thunder” is without any doubt one of the best albums ever produced from local musicians and a five star work of art.

“The Sound of Thunder” is available for download as high-quality MP3, FLAC, and many other formats at CDbaby, Amazon.com,  iTunes, and eMusic.com.

For more information on Onewayness and Adam Holquist, please visit his Facebook page. For more information on Charles Shriner and dRachEmUsiK, please visit his Facebook page.