Synæsthesia was a Canadianambient band formed by industrial musicians Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber as a side project of their main band Front Line Assembly.[1]Keyboard magazine writes: "Synæsthesia explores dark tribal ambient sounds, composers have a flair for cinematic electronica, and favor epic pieces that unfold slowly."[1]
History
Leeb and Fulber formed Synæsthesia in the 1990s and began recording together. Due to contractual entanglements they were at first not able to admit they were behind the music.[2] Instead credits for their first two albums, Embody and Desideratum, went to "R. Deckard", an allusion to the main character in the film Blade Runner.[2][3]
The identity of the musicians was revealed with the release of the third album, Ephemeral, crediting Leeb with the music and Fulber with programming.[2][4] The album incorporates symphonic passages, traditional rhythms and nature sounds into menacing electronic sounds.[5]
Synæsthesia uses samples from a number of musicians and from the film Fire in the Sky.
Desideratum
Desideratum is Synæsthesia's second album of ambient, industrial music, released October 17, 1995 by Cleopatra Records.[6] It was produced by Leeb and Fulber. Its length is 139:15. It received a four of five star rating by AllMusic.[7]
Track listing
Disc one
"Andromedia" – 8:00
"Orion Nebula" – 11:30
"Consciousness" – 6:56
"Umbra" – 9:00
"Barred Spirals" – 9:48
"DNA Barcode" – 10:42
"Surface System" – 11:20
Disc two
"Dark Core" – 8:08
"Subversion" – 8:24
"Lumia" – 10:30
"Hallucinations" – 9:07
"Mosaic" – 9:48
"Lifeless" – 15:42
"Tubastrea Aurea" – 10:20
Note: Disc 1 track 2 is labeled incorrectly as "Orion Nebulua". The correct title is "Orion Nebula"
