Ultra Arcanum ‘The Silence Inside’ cover artwork.

‘The Silence Inside is the debut album from Ultra Arcanum, consisting of Mark Thirkell of London and Konstandinos Dorlis of Greece. The duo has been making together since late 2013, at which time Thirkell responded to an online ad from Dorlis requesting a vocalist. Dorlis was living in Birmingham at the time and Thirkell was in London, which led the two to make music remotely. For more information about the band, please see this informative interview.

Fast forward to November of 2016 and the duo have released their debut ‘The Silence Inside’, a delightful homage to vintage synth pop and new wave acts such as Duran Duran, Joy Division and Visage, among others. All music on the album was written and arranged by Dorlis, with Thirkell providing the lyrics and vocals. The entire album was performed on a Roland JUNO-Gi, a workstation that can duplicate the rich analog sounds of vintage Roland equipment. In fact, no MIDI files were used in the recording process.

Clocking in at over 75 minutes, this release comes highly recommended for fans of Synth-pop and new wave. The thoughtful lyrics cover love and loss and other universal themes. Thirkell’s melancholy vocals are reminiscent of Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots) at times. It’s easy to get lost in this release, overall just a nice relaxing listen. The album is rounded out with four outstanding remixes, including one by Greek Italo disco act, and Nadanna labelmate, 23rd Underpass.

ErikTomrenWrites is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. Your purchases on Amazon.com via our links will help support ErikTomrenWrites – at no extra cost to you!New