Release data:

Ornah-Mental – Excursions
CD, Gterma, 2013

Orna-Mental is a collaborative effort by German musicians Carsten Agthe (who some may know for his collaborations with Mathias Grassow) and Dirk Schlömer. “Excursions” is their sixth album by now, offering seven tracks of spiritual/world music with occasional ethereal/eclectic touches. Or as the label puts it, it’s music made for drifting out of consciousness into the higher understanding based on enlightenment and revelation.

Rhythms, guitars and loops along a mix of instrumentation create an outcome with an constant pulse throughout. Tracks such as “Raga Offering”, “Tagore” and “Inner Flame” enter Al Gromer Kahn territory, as the sitar takes the stage alongside soaring atmospheres and tribal percussion. As a whole though, I feel the record is a bit repetitive at times.