This is the fifth chapter in the life of Five Thousand Spirits, the creature born from a collaboration between historical pioneer of Italian electronics Raffaele Serra and Stefan Musso (aka Alio Die) (the first episode also included Claudio Dondo of Runes Order). The CD is released by Russian label Faria Records, also responsible for Alio Die's "The Flight Of Real Image" last year, and comes inside a beautiful package decorated with mysterious drawings and enriched by four spectacular alchemic tarots, one for each track of the album. "Synapse-Shaihulud" proceeds the path taken especially by its two predecessors ("Quantum Consciousness" and "Schwarzschild Radius"), extending however the atmospheres in the direction of German kosmische Musik of the 1970s: representative in this sense is initial "Aardworlf", with the analogue synths in the first part as protagonists of a deep-space scenery worth of Tangerine Dream's "Alpha Centauri" or "Zeit", while the zither's strings coming in the second half make you think more of Manuel Göttschings and his Ash Ra Tempel. Even more glacial and atonal is "Mnomquah", a micro-symphony for cosmic and light years-distant echoes, inducing a sense of infinity and contemplation, but also of cold terror in front of the immense void. "From The Ashes" conjures feelings a lot more pacific, thanks to bells and the zither's strings perfectly melting with the electronics on a pastoral scenery. Final "Lulungomeena", on the contrary, goes back to the slightly disturbing atmospheres of the first two compositions, exploring a new cosmic panorama of fluttering waves and drones, suddenly reached by the hypnotic rhythm of a drum machine. Five Thousand Spirit's new work is highly recommended to everyone who liked the previous chapters of this excellent project's saga, as well as to every ambient and cosmic electronics lover looking for new sceneries to get lost into. - Simone V.