Byzantium

Byzantium
Jeff Johnson and Brian Dunning
Ark Records
(2725-11505-2)

Byzantium is an auditory journey to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Loosely based on Stephen R. Lawhead's novel of the same title, it follows the journey of St. Aidan and a small band of Irish monks carrying the Book of Kells to the holy city in an effort to ensure the survival of the Celtic Church.

Understandably, this monumental journey from Ireland to Constantinople provides a wonderful inspiration for a CD, and Johnson and Dunning deliver with an intriguing meld of varied cultural influences. Byzantium is far from a historically accurate album. Rather, it plays to every listener's fantasies of the Middle East and the Silk Road, with images of romance and mysterious beauty. In other hands, such diversity might become an eardrum-destroying cacophony, but not in Johnson and Dunning's deft care. Vocals in Latin, Turkish, Greek, and English, as well as drums, tambours, violins, flutes, and even electric guitars come together in a satisfying and dramatic synthesis of sound.

Certain sections of the CD are reminiscent of artists known for their multicultural fusions, such as Kitaro, Yanni, and Enigma, especially in the use of solo violin, electric cello, and flute passages to contrast with the heavy rhythms of other instruments. The CD is at its best, however, when it branches out into more innovative territory, particularly in its sensitive use of Middle Eastern instruments to accentuate the character of the music, on tracks such as "Byzantium (Golden City)" and "Eagle Dream." In the same vein, the use of an electric guitar might seem jarringly out of place, but it actually helps to convey the mood of exoticism with its unusual qualities, adding yet another so-called "foreign" element to the diverse musical arrangements.

Evocative of a long-gone past, Byzantium successfully resurrects, for a spell that seems far too brief, the wonders of

— Richard Mackenzie