Voice of Eye is the duo of Bonnie McNaim and Jim Wilson that stated in Houston, Texas in 1989 and later removed to Talos, New Mexico. You wouldn’t expect music like this coming out of either of those locations, but then again there is nothing ?normal’ about Voice of Eye. I am familiar with project from their excellent ?Vespers’ CD from 1994, and did not realize they have at least 16 or 17 other releases on CD, CDR, cassette and vinyl. Most of them are limited and difficult (maybe impossible in some cases) to find now. I was really happy to receive their latest effort to review.

As ?Vespers’ is my only real basis of comparison for the work of Voice of Eye, I will have to use that as a reference point. On that CD Voice of Eye’s music was mostly dark ambient soundscape with a tribal undercurrent. Very atmospheric, somewhat along the lines of Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana, and most of it too dark to be mis-classified as New Age. It is an excellent work, one of the best dark ambient albums of the 1990’s and well worth owning if you can find it. I honestly don’t know how they achieved some of the sonics they came up with on ?Vespers’, it is that mind-bending at times. You not only get the impression of vast amounts of space, but it also conjures images of alien landscapes and primeval entities. Very cool.

?Seven Directions Divergent’ is different though. And not in a bad way either. In fact, what Voice of Eye has done on this new album sets them well apart from so many other artists. The album opens with a strong dubby track ("Gates of Mysterious Fire") that recalls elements of krautrock, Frippertronics, Gong (the band, not the instrument), Pink Floyd, space-rock, psychedelia, and related. Bonnie’s vocals (I assume it is Bonnie singing) are wispy, ethereal tendrils of enchanted mystery, beckoning the listener ever onward and inward. What amazes me is the statement on the CD: "All sounds are acoustic in origin. No synthesizers were used." It wouldn’t matter to me if they did use synthesizers, but achieving this without them is simply incredible!

The track that follows, "Where are You?" keeps the music in the spacey realm while employing processed acoustic guitar, again with vocals by Bonnie. Although it could be considered a song, you get more of a certain "feeling" rather than anything traditionally resembling a song. "Fish Radio" is immersed in a swirl of psychedelic ambience and space-burbling. It seemed kind of transitional to me; perhaps the least engaging track on the album. That was immediately transcended by "Golden Space Funk Transmission". We’re really getting into space-rock territory here. Imagine the spacier elements of Hawkwind, Amon Duul, Ash Ra Temple, Ozric Tentacles, etc., and you get the drift. It could almost be called progressive in a way; there are certainly some progressive touches incorporated in the changes but it never strays into jazz or classical territory the way so many progressive rock bands did. Drums are there pumping the rhythm along but subdued; with all the cosmic elements at the forefront. How the hell was this done without synthesizers? It boggles the mind.

Eastern-themed overtones appropriately set the mood on "Om Shanti," with spiritually soothing vocals blended into the mix. If you listen to a lot of ambient chillout music, especially from the post-new age halcyon days when it seemed like there were so many compilations being put out you couldn’t keep up with them, then this should be familiar terrain. But this track is a cut above most of what passed for Eastern-Ambient back then.

"Remember" is a track that is much more a traditional song. Male lead vocals and acoustic guitar with psych ambience. Pink Floyd meets Pink Dots. It might make you think of Mercury Rev or Flaming Lips, but really better than either in capturing the essence of the psychedelic song form, in my estimation. Final track "Transformational Birth" heads off into deep ambient space for a little over eighteen minutes of cozmic bliss. When you return back to planet earth, you may not remember it all, but you WILL remember it was good. Very good. I recommend this as a strong buy. Even though I listed their main website in this review, go to the Voice of Eye MySpace site and listen to some of the tracks from this CD. If you’re not blown away, I’d be very surprised.