MAX CORBACHO[Max Corbacho has been creating Ambient Atmospheric – Electronic Music for over two decades, combining spiraling, synth-driven drifting harmonies with breathing, timeless soundscapes.][Ambient Atmospheric – Electronic Music - Soundscapes - Space Music]

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by Synth&Sequences

max — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Aficionados of quiet and relaxing EM, at your wallets! Max Corbacho’s name was no stranger to me to have seen it on diverse compilations and on Ron Boots’ weekly E-news. If my eyes knew, my ears not! And very often I told myself; one day I got to try it. This day arrived when the Spanish synthesist contacted me to offer me his latest opus, his 17th I believe, «Source of Present». First analysis; a very quiet album! Like a heap of clouds in a sky drained of its energy, the music here moves with this vision that we have of these big cosmic vessels which are trapped in a dense effect of gravity.
An ascent of hummings begins my discovery of «Source of Present». Long of its 24 minutes, «The Beginning of Remembering» establishes an immense wall in height where try to climb some small translucent strands and thin lines of voices. Here, the details are important in this work for music lovers of cosmic atmospheres. A good set of earphones is as much important as a good 3D glasses for a movie, otherwise we miss the nuances in the slow, because the heavy wall moves, evolution of «The Beginning of Remembering», like these translucent effects which shine here and there. We can also talk about these stars which whistle around the 8th minute or still these hollow breezes which sleep around the 14 minutes. Elements among so many others which are grafted at the immovability of this wall to measure well its decoration and which also give a more interesting tint to this immense sound vessel which continues its ascent towards the path of the highest stars. «Soul of the World» is in the same vein but is clearly more intense with effects of loops and reverberations which give a very sibylline aspect to the slow travel of the music. «Echoing Shade» is more relaxing, more ethereal. It’s this kind of music which suits very well a contemplation of the sky the arms behind the head while listening to the breathing of our lover. We even find these resounding effects towards its finale, just to remind us the black and cosmic roots of «Source of Present». This title and «Transparent Phenomena» bring us to another level because the title-track continues our journey in the country of contemplation with an astral ascent which reminds me, especially at the level of the voices’ layers, of the very ethereal universe from Michael Stearns. Wide bands of synth waves are wrapping the blackness just with just what it needs in order to let filter thin incandescent cracks. Moreover, it’s these small bright cracks which decorate this nuance between the cosmic and the esotericism of this fiercely ambient work from Max Corbacho. So rich as dense, heavy and slow, the soundscape in «Source of Present» goes adrift between the universes of Steve Roach and of Michel Huygen. We can hear spiritual jingles hang onto the fall of layers while that from time to times we hear sharpened nails scrape on these impregnable walls of sound. Very rooted in its ambient cocoon, the music proposes a good duel between the cosmic darkness and these weak lights coming from distant stars. «On this Journey» ends this last opus of the Spanish sculptor of ambiences with a music so calm and intense as in «Soul of the World», effects of loops and of and reverberations in less. For music lovers of astral atmospheres who like disconnecting when the masses of sounds are heavy, rich and compact.
Sylvain Lupari (November 30th, 2017)

THE TALISMAN / Bert Strolenberg, E-dition magazine

max — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Bert Strolenberg , Journalist E-dition magazine, www.e-ditionmag.com

Max Corbacho’s brandnew album «The Talisman» is another great, highly atmospheric journey. It features 72 minutes of expansive and in-depth textural music with a strong cinematic and dreamy impact, spread out over 11 tracks. The title track is certainly one of the highlights, entering both wonderful as heavenly atmospheres that linger on and on.

A stunning & very well produced album that will absolutely please fans of Steve Roach, Amir Baghiri and all who love state-of-the-art soundscape music»

INDALO/ Phil Derby, Electroambient Space

max — Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Phil Derby / Electroambient Space

I only became aware of Bruno Sanfilippo this year, as he sent me a couple of his solo works, richly complex music that defies easy categorization as ambient, new age, or something else. On this release, he teams up with a familiar favorite, Max Corbacho. We get started right away with the centerpiece, the 20-minute “Indalo.” Bright feather-light metallic shimmers surround a strange swirling siren song. Melancholy strings meld into the mix, as does lightly shuffling percussion that gradually grows until it is front and center. Allowed to dominate briefly, the beat then fades entirely from view, leaving the smoothly spiraling drones in its wake. Birds add a nice touch at the end. Gently lapping waves mark the seamless transition to track two, a subtly shifting slice of ambience. In the running for my favorite ambient song title is “Lava Atmospheres,” an expansive piece with deep echoes and just the right degree of graininess and grit. Even more reverberant is “Cabo de Gata,” firmly in the realms of Steve Roach’s The Magnificent Void. I always gravitate toward Roach as a reference point when discussing Max’s work, and this collaboration with Bruno is no exception. But I never mean it as anything but a compliment. There is plenty of room for Roach and Corbacho in the genre, and Sanfilippo is certainly welcome too, given the fine results here.

INDALO/ Paul Rijkens, Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages

max — Fri, 18 Apr 2003 00:00:00 +0000

Paul Rijkens, Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages

The Argentine Bruno Sanfilippo who lives and works in Spain is a versatile musician. This versatility can also strongly be heard in the album Indalo that he created in collaboration with the Spanish ambient specialst Corbacho. Corbacho already has made a number of special albums with rather intense music. In the summer of 2001 Corbacho en Sanfilippo made a trip to Almeria in Spain. The spectacular nature as well as the historic symbol Indalo inspired them in making this music.

It contains a range of naturesounds from Almeria that are added with the ambientsounds and the nearly ancient rhythms of the duo. This is music where artists like Steve Roach, Robert Rich and VidnaObmana are masters in but in where these gentlemen are also very well at home. The sounds are widely spun, almost like a wave, above the organic rhythms and intriguing atmospheres. The titletrack of almost 22 minutes, with which the CD opens, immediately takes the cake. Quietness is an important element in the music on this CD. In tracks like The Agave Emerges On The Dry Earth and Lava Atmospheres this quietness as a matter of speaking blows around the listener. This is a very special experience. Cabo De Gata and Petrified Wisdom are rather dark. The dreamy A Lucid Dream Of Strange Landscapes takes together the concept of the CD very well.

Highlight of the album in my opinion is Signs Of Former Experiences that almost has a heavenly atmosphere.

2004 – Paul Rijkens, Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages.