Myoptik’s Voyager album explores the sonic intensity of transportation when utilised as part of major international conflict. The album contains four different soundscapes, each focusing on one particular means of transit and the tense, emotive sound palate in existence when in constant, pressurised territorial movement using that particular method of moving huge numbers of people from one place to another to stem the tide of others to whom they are opposed.

The first track, Viking Voyage, dives deeply into the intense human endurance, bravery, cruelty and constant rhythm of Vikings rowing across the North Sea. The second track is about horses used as steeds in large-scale battles, turning a nature-based means of transport into an agonising, trampling cloud. The third piece is about rail travel across the Russian and European continents, with the smooth sounds of metal on metal, the endless vistas, the constancy, the rushing speed and the silence at signals and junctions. Finally, the last track is about the struggle of epic Naval adventures, the huge reverberant, clanking sounds, with huge lengths of time spent in massive vessels, struggling against the elements whilst the sea thrashes and ebbs all around, then grows still to bring serenity.

Overall there are two main dimensions to the music. Firstly the sounds of human struggle; the waiting and uncertainty; the effect of the shifting landscape on the imagination; the changing moods and the changing conditions; the weather and the tiredness; the tension and the mind games. Secondly there are the sounds of the transportation itself; the droning, banging and crashing; the machinery, materials and liquids; the harnesses, ropes pulleys and chains; the acceleration, coordination and navigation, the maintenance, breakdowns and refuelling, the preparation, stopping and starting.

Overall Voyager should take the listener off on a deep and feverish journey across imaginary landscapes, with sounds triggering visions of large-scale logistical adventures that strain then release, rush then grind, over vast distances, out into the unknown.

All tracks written and produced by Myoptik.
Copyright Shrimpsalad 2019