Inigo Kennedy - Strata (2018)

Strata expands conceptually on the idea of planetary layers alluded to in Magma/Mantle, released in February 2018. The album progresses through levels of ornate drama, opening with Clarion Call (Return to Nothing), a full-length refix of the celebrated introduction from Kennedy's 2015 release of the same name, showing off the best of his melodic manipulation and creativity in sound design. This delicate grace is cut through spectacularly by the jaggedness of the approaching textures of Trapezoid, while the elegant and icy beauty of Stillness Expanded is impacted by the noisy and epic Reminiscence, which grand and almost clerical in its resounding majesty.