Rieg is an Electronic Musician, Composer, Player and Live Performer, Producer and Record Artist

Rieg

CD: The Absynth Ritual
Year: 2010

This album is also reviewed at the bottom of this page.

Cover Art: Geir Opdal (www.geiropdal.com)

Rieg's creative idea behind The Absynth Ritual album was inspired by the fact that the word `Absynth` is similar to `Absinth`. With a little fantasy, the word Absynth relates to both synthesizers and Absinth, which is an alcoholic drink with some special attributes.

Bohemian artists and authors of the last century used a lot of the trendy Absinth drink and it can still be bought in some countries. However, it was also believed that long time use of Absinth could lead to excentrism and madness.

The Absinth color is normally green and when water blends with Absinth (as part of the Absinth Ritual), the visual, ghostly effect in the glass is called the Green Fairy. Rieg has used the Absinth and its myths for the music in this album.

Left: Part of the ending score for "Daugthers of Doom".

• `The Green Fairy` is a relatively light tune illustrating happy fairies, flying and dancing in the absynth g... -sorry, absinth glass.

• The `Absynth` tune starts out quietly as from a harmonic and peaceful soul, but ends up more wild (as from a soul affected by long time use of "Absinth").

• `Daughters of Doom`, is kind of a musical journey, where these daughters (green fairies) first was sent away and doomed, but later was rescued and could return home. This piece is kind of classical in style, blended with electronic music and new age style style.

• `The Absynth Ritual` is just a honor to the Absinth Ritual, which is a special ritual for making this drink. Some of this can be seen on the front cover. but with an electronic musical twist. You can even see the green fairy in the bulb in the glass. Thanks to the artist Geir Opdal and his brilliant visual interpretation in the making of this cover, by mixing both the (real) absinth ritual with electronic musical elements.

• `A Wonderful Day` was special composed as part of a mini concert in a bohemian party where Rieg performed live. Yes, some guests did actually drink Absinth in that party too. Don't ask who... :) This track is a bonus track not originally meant to be included on this album.

Below the audio player, there is a HD video, -a colorful musical journey about "The Absynth Ritual" themes. Enjoy :)

This album is also available at: Amazon, iTunes & MusicZeit. Additional distributors can be found here...

Review by Eurock Magazine
Rieg - THE ABSYNTH RITUAL (CD)

The Norwegian synthesist Rieg has been making electronic music since the early 80's. The first productions, SOURCE, MUSIC FOR WIND & VOICES were extraordinary cassette only releases. His music in the beginning was comprised of glacial layers of electronics filled with pulsing sequences overlaid by cosmic effects. He then took a long hiatus from recording until his 2008 release RETURN (review here).

His brand new 2010 release ABSYNTH is truly a gem that's unique in terms of most other EM releases today. In many ways it's the sonic equivalent of imbibing the actual magical elixir from which its name is taken. The album's compositions are a concoction of vibrant tone colors, and effervescent rhythmic soundscapes full of surreal layered melodies flowing from one sound to another in liquid-like alchemy.

"The Green Fairy" is a beautiful chorale of synthesized voice and strings. "Absynth" fuses delicate wafting synthscapes with Zen-like electronics and string counterpoint. "Daughters of Doom" is a lush symphonic tone poem that blends into the album title track, a 23:16 tour de force of powerful melodies, pulsing sequences and choral voices. The album finale, "A Wonderful Day", is an Arabic tinged ambient coda laced with pulsing sequences and laser flashes of synthe and occasional ethereal voice reciting the track title. The album as a whole is a hallucinatory trip, equivocating the Absinthe ritual which can bliss you drift off into dreamland.

Archie Patterson - Eurock Magazine , Portland, Oregon, USA - www.eurock.com