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]

HORIZON MATRIX now available

max — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 05:32:44 +0000

Dear friends,

I am pleased to present you my new album HORIZON MATRIX, available now on CD and digital download in my Bandcamp store. You can also find it in streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon. etc.

After the release of NOCTURNES II in April (thanks for the fantastic reception of this album), I was involved in remodeling my studio and adding some new gear such as the fantastic DSI – Oberheim OB-6 synthesizer. At that time HORIZON MATRIX was already completed and during these months I have finished shaping the project, which now I present to you in an elegant and beautiful 4-Panel CD Digisleeve. The five pieces that make up this album were developed between 2017 and the first months of 2018. The first track ‘Quantum Cathedrals’ resonated powerfully in my mind, and I realized that there is a direct connection between this ethereal soundscape and my 2009 album ARS LUCIS. On the imminent tenth anniversary in which I am preparing the reissue of ARS LUCIS on CD, I wanted to close the circle opening the new album with this piece born from the same filtered light. Get now your copy here: https://maxcorbacho.bandcamp.com/album/horizon-matrix.

Do not forget to comment on the album on Bandcamp, it’s important and great to hear from you. More info at:

www.maxcorbacho.com

I deeply appreciate your support for my work. Stay tuned, more news soon,

All the best,

Max Corbacho

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by Textura.org

max — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Space ambient of the first order from Max Corbacho, who has been crafting deep, atmospheric soundscapes for the better part of two decades. Much has happened since his debut Vestiges appeared in 1998, including an ongoing refinement in the sound design of his ambient productions. Created during 2015 and 2017, Source of Present finds him in fine form, never more so than during the seventy-four-minute release’s opening track, «The Beginning of Remembering,» an oceanic, self-contained universe that ebbs and flows for twenty-four dramatic minutes.

Exploiting the potential of looping, reverb, processing, and sequencing in his productions, Corbacho sculpts deep soundworlds that radiate and shimmer in largely serene manner, though there are moments where the material assumes a dark and mysterious aspect. Synthesizer-generated waves of crystalline sound overlap, building into resonant, harmonious wholes that often reverberate like some primal force. In meditative fashion, the music unfolds with patient deliberation, Corbacho content to allow the material to blossom like some natural phenomenon rendered at half-speed, and likening its effect to a state of deep slumber isn’t unwarranted. While it is characterized by organic flow, it’s not static: sixteen minutes into «The Beginning of Remembering,» for instance, a noticeable rise in intensity and volume introduces an ominous element of foreboding into its otherwise starry-eyed presentation. As dynamic as that opener is, the subsequent «Soul of the World» and nineteen-minute title setting swell even more dramatically, their epic expanses suggestive of exploding star clusters.

Ambient music’s often characterized as time-suspending and Corbacho’s is no exception, especially when the Spanish electronic artist’s taste runs to long-form immersion. It’s easy to get swept up by his soundscapes, so much so that as the recording plays the immediacy of the physical world with all its distractions and noise falls to the wayside. Is there anything here the ambient aficionado hasn’t heard before? Probably not, to be honest, but if your appetite for deep space ambient is insatiable, Source of Present shouldn’t be overlooked. Corbacho certainly does it as well as anyone.
December 2017

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by Richard Gürtler

max — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

The Spanish Maestro of deepest sonic meditations is back again with his latest aural cathedral entitled «Source Of Present». As a reviewer, even if it’s just my free time hobby and passion, I should maybe stay more objective, however, many of you might have known and it’s no secret that I have been always utterly fascinated by Max Corbacho’s soundworlds. I am simply unable to hide this and when a new album by Max is announced, every time I am looking forward to it just like a small kid for his fave candy. Of course «Source Of Present» CD, created during 2015-2017 and released at November 10th on Max Corbacho’s own Silentsun label, was no exception. How could it be? The album comes as a 4-panel digipak with glossy cover image created by the artist himself, while the layout duties are handled, as usual, by Michael Rodriguez Pletz.

«The Beginning Of Remembering» is not only the opening, 24 minutes long opus, but to be straight, also one of the most monumental epics Max has ever carved and undoubtedly one of the most jaw-dropping compositions since his ultimate milestone «The Ocean Inside» released at the end of 2012. How can I resist when such gargantuan driftscape invades my listening room? Ultra tenebrous and voluminously humming, yet gracefully multidimensional stratums swiftly steal the whole, breathtakingly immersing scenario. However, warmly spellbinding vistas clandestinely permeate as well and persistently juxtapose with tiding ear-blowing transcendental meridians. I am loosely gliding across the unfathomably subterranean Eden, enter now and experience this pure magic!!! «Soul Of The World», clocking to 7-plus minutes mark, maintains its monstrously engrossing splendor, but this time more illuminating as the sweeping vastness is insistently amalgamated with flamboyant range of sheets, both intricately mindscaping and balmily titillating. «Echoing Shade» promptly dives into magnificently expansive deserted solitudes, holding the unmistakable southwest signatures of no one else but Max Corbacho’s iconic guide. Panoptic serenity at its most majestic!!! «Transparent Phenomena», at 4:17 the shortest piece on «Source Of Present», rides on the wings of abundantly scenic and thrillingly overwhelming immenseness, where colossal drone layers continuously resonate, counterpoint and dazzle with ear-tickling glimmers. Nearly 19 minutes long title composition «Source Of Present» unfolds in absolute stillness and then calmly extends into an awe-inspiring panoramas of sheer atmospheric delight, incorporating own myriad of floating, reverberating, twinkling, glimpsing and crescendoing insignias masterfully reinforced by superiorly prodigious flickering mirages reminiscent of the master. A huge dose of sonic ambrosia is offered here!!! The closing 13-minute track «On This Journey» ceaselessly reveals and tightly keeps on the path of incredibly sublime sceneries, perpetually magnified by sweeping and ebbing vertexes, eternally enrapturing and staggeringly transporting. Evanescing tranquil horizons inconspicuously sneak in and are as much spectacular and soulfully exquisite as its quintessentially billowing and tenaciously monolithic companions. Gorgeously enigmatic finale!

Although the amount of influential earmarks is to my taste a bit stronger at some stages, Max Corbacho returns with almost 74-minute «Source Of Present» masterwork, as well as with the previous «Nocturnes» album, to the ultimate pedestal celebrating all geniuses of powerfully engulfing atmospheric soundforging. That’s the place where he has already stood after sculpting unquestionable magnum opuses such as «Ars Lucis» and «The Ocean Inside». And this position fits to him more than perfectly! Bravo, Max, you fully deserve this!!!!

Richard Gürtler (Jan 01, 2018, Bratislava, Slovakia)

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)

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by Morpheus Music

max — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 16:09:48 +0000

Drifting spacey ambient electronica.
Source of Present is a assemblage of six silken, deeply-immersive ambient experiences. Like the pull of an enormous galactic ocean Max Corbacho’s compositions here heave and roll in tranquil immensity, waves and swells of sound shifting, rising, falling in multiple tides. Having the cover art in mind one can’t escape the association between the mesmeric music and the lush colours of the visual imagery – vivid tonal hues bathe the senses in deep saturation, fluid drones and glossy textures luxuriating in endless expanse. Shadows of purple, indigo and mauve seem perfect for this music since there is a gorgeous gloom laying down a constant undertow to the infusions of warmth and soft brightnesses that light the way. Each track fades gently into the next in such a fluid way as to act as an unbroken whole, the relative fleeting nature of the central tracks emphatic and tight whilst embraced by the overarching tenor and traction of the central theme such that their contributions are of equal weight.

Source of Present arrives in a richly-hued card digipack of two panels. Cover art, created by Max Corbacho himself, is intriguingly ambiguous and engrossing: twin bands of crystalline light shaft across the front cover in lustrous diagonals, darkness massing around like an enveloping shroud. Purple depths support lilac and ice-blue highlights, each in constant interplay with the other. The rear cover holds track titles, the inner left panel presents relevant credits and website information; simple, minimal, elegant.

This latest album from Spanish ambient master Max Corbacho delivers a highly refined ambient experience. This is serene, floatation music of a sublime nature – delicate, subtle, serene, carrying the listener afar. Tracks range from the twenty three minute forty four second opener The Beginning of Remembering via three shorter pieces, Transparent Phenomena being the shortest at just less than four and a half minutes, to a pair of epics at the end of nearly nineteen and thirteen minutes respectively. Max Corbacho seems to sink his beautiful sounds in ever greater lustre and sheen – the clarity, vibrance and intensity of Source of Present being top notch.

SOURCE OF PRESENT – review by SonicImmersion.org

max — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 13:11:47 +0000

Being a long time ambient fan myself I’ve reviewed quite a bit of music fitting the bill to slow down the mind and detach from busy modern life, offering a doorway to tranquil spheres for contemplation and introspection. The sphere paintings created by Spanish composer Max Corbacho in the last decade fit this category as well, most notably «Ars Lucis» and his is epic double album «The Ocean Inside».

A kindred kind of beauty and intrinsic power making those albums special is also felt in the tranquil, smooth morphing textural waves and currents making up «Source of Present», which also holds a distinct nocturnal touch and feel. Imminent currents raise from the deep on the evocative opener «The beginning of remembering». From there, the smooth and spacious drift continues on five separate tracks as a dreamy, highly immersive aural tapestry shifting neatly between light and shadow.

The profound feel marking the opener also applies to the two longer pieces found at the end of this high quality release. Immersion strikes deep on the 18-minute title piece, an aural celebration of the here and now. On the final track «On this journey» (that I would rename «Into the Infinite») soft, warm and rich rays of sunlight lit up making place and time dissolve without effort.

With «Source of Present» Max has produced another winner and a great companion for those doing some soul searching and inner travel.

Source of Present – Now available

max — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 08:13:04 +0000

Dear friends,
Source Of Present is now available at my Bandcamp store. Also available through CDBaby, Amazon, iTunes, and streaming services as Spotify. Pre-orders have already been sent, infinite thanks!!. The release of a new album is a special day always for me, it’s something magical. I hope to convey to all of you a bit of that emotion, passion, and dedication behind every album.
Please remember that all my CDs include at the time of purchase unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more formats to choose from. As always, do not forget to comment on the album on Bandcamp, it’s important and great to hear from you, thank you!!
That’s all for now, thanks for supporting my work. Without you, this music would not exist.

Max Corbacho

Source of Present – Now taking pre-orders

max — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 15:58:09 +0000

Dear friends,
I’m happy to announce the release of my new album Source Of Present. We are now taking pre-orders at my store in Bandcamp. Official release day is November 10th. This new album completes a year of intense work in the studio, first with the release of Nocturnes and later with Arte Magnetica. In both cases, I am deeply grateful for the excellent reception of these two albums. You can revisit the links and read the comments of some of the followers. I would be happy to see your comment too. I hope that this new collection of soundscapes will return to you, in a serene, enriching and profound way, the energy you yourselves have transmitted to me. It is ultimately the infinite loop of artistic creation, the divine interaction between artist and audience.

Max Corbacho

New album soon…

max — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 19:05:04 +0000

Dear friends, my next album «Source Of Present» is in the factory. I hope to comment further details in about two weeks. I’ll be announcing preorder and release dates. This photograph was taken today while I work in the studio. Also, comment you that I have made an adjustment in album prices and shipping costs. Visit the store www.maxcorbacho.bandcamp.com/music and take a look. Thank you, as always, for your support.

Peace, all the best!!
Max Corbacho