Umbra Linea

This experimental piece was created as a side-product of work on my second, conceptual, thematic, long-playing album Neobios.
The birth was very long and complex - it gradually took shape from fragments, ideas and motifs that didn't conceptally fit into the upcoming album. It begins with the film's opening orchestral sequence, moving through a more dynamic section that slowly dims into a quiet orchestral passage. This is soon interrupted by a suspenseful motif that gradually shifts and the piece climaxes with a harder rock section.

The title Umbra Linea could be loosely translated as "the edge of darkness". I'm trying to raise questions in the listener's mind as to where is the boundary of what he or she considers musically dark. I myself went through so many different periods and moods during the period in which the piece was written that all of these feelings mixed within me to create a diverse, experimental cluster of music.

With this composition I wanted to pay tribute to the brilliant album Amarok, which Mike Oldfield produced in 1990 to make a rough cut for all the commercialism he was pushed into with his contract with Virgin "under his throat". In spite of all that, the result was an hour-long composition pieced together from snippets of various motifs so that none could be cut into a promo single. The album was eventually released in a smaller number of copies and with almost zero commercial acclaim, but for orthodox fans and devotees of alternative music it remains TOP up today.