The Kabbalah / The Zodiac (Mystic Pathways Series 1 of 3)

Album Review

The first of his Mystic Pathways Series, Japetus tackles two more spiritual traditions in The Kabbalah/The Zodiac. As the composer is wont to do, the first disc includes spoken directions and explanations of both Kabbalah and the Zodiac over music, while the second is simply the instrumentation of the first disc. The Kabbalah, which begins the album, is divided into four listening sections — "Preparation" (comprised only of spoken breathing instructions), "Elements," "Praxis," and "Transformation" — while the Zodiac has just three: "Preparation," "Elements," and "Praxis." Though Japetus' gentle Austrialian-accented voice certainly is calming, he tends to give a very cursory explanation of the traditions, introducing their more universal aspects as opposed to delving into the intricacies of each. Musically, Japetus doesn't venture much from what he's done for the past 20 years, using gentle, often rhythmless synthesized chords and sound effects with each of his pieces, though he does include some vaguely Native American-sounding chants and something that resembles a waltz in the Kabbalah section, which adds some nice diversity, though its connection to the ancient Jewish tradition is a little unclear. Without the spoken guidance, the instrumentals seem a bit directionless, relying solely on a low, constant drone to bring them together as opposed to any greater spiritual significance, but for the most part the tranquility of the music could be a good aid in the meditation or relaxation techniques of the listener.