Synth EP Review: “High Noon’’ by Maestro Eternal

Maestro Eternal’s High Noon transports listeners on a cinematic journey through the Old West. As the music unfolds, we feel all of the majesty and sweeping excitement of an old-fashioned Western, woven by the artist’s skillful composition and synth choices.

“He Walks the Trail of Dust & Blood” opens as gruff notes move below distantly echoing, mournful synth. The roughness adds threat as the open-voiced synth drifts with nobility and strength, while wordless vocals shift in the distance.

The main melody creates imagery of a silent, strong man with a taciturn face who moves through the world with dark purpose. As the military drums rattle, a raised synth carries a melody full of images of a lone fighter against injustice.

As the fluting notes float, I feel myself filled with awe at the power of the main character. The way in which the spaghetti western elements combine creates a classic sound, with the fluting notes adding haunting elegance as the low end marches on. I see pictures of swirling dust and our main character striding forward, one hand on his six-shooter and his hat pulled low over his eyes. As the track draws to an end, the main melody exudes timeless meaning before silence falls.

Seething notes add an undercurrent of danger to begin “Lonesome Gun.” The sharp-edged synth carries a melody that is full of something wistful, while the background calls to mind The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The main melody cries out with epic drama, reflecting the silent perseverance that defines the album’s main character.

The rhythm is strong and pulses with unstoppable force as wordless vocals move behind the melody. It fills me with a sense of great strength, drawing images of dusty streets and a man riding away on his horse, leaving behind a corpse lying flat on its back, staring emptily up at the sky.

“No Man’s Land” commences as the bursting beat is joined by a darkly shaded melody that creates sensations of desolation and grand vistas opening. The beat creates a dramatic march as the string-like notes are joined by a synth reminiscent of a clarinet, carrying a melody full of elegiac sensations, painting an atmosphere of melancholy vastness for me.

As the rhythm throbs, the main melody soars with mournful emptiness, evoking wide-open plains stretching to the edge of eyesight. The woodwind-like synth conveys sweeping horizons, creating sensations of aching contemplation and utter loneliness. The song ends slowly and meditatively, with the main melody singing out into silence.

Elegantly gliding arpeggios flow to start “Echoes in the Canyon.” Pan pipes float with tranquil delicacy as the deeply shifting bass adds weight and the strings sing a mournful tune. The pan pipes exhale with calming, tender radiance as the low string section creates intense drama.

A feeling of constant vigilance fills the low end as the fluting synth carries a wistful melody that dreams through the music. Lonely contemplation permeates the melody as the low end marches on. The track is touching, filling me with a thoughtful ache while the bright strings slowly undulate. The undergirding pulse adds shadow to the music while the flute is full of hurt and warmth before the track closes.

“Whiskey Dreams” frolics with a light touch as the main synth carries a gentle melody, tinged with hope as the strings continue to sparkle. I find the main melody soothing as it sings above the low end with soft sensations.

Only in his whiskey dreams can the main character escape the pain and struggle of his life, setting him at peace in spite of the darkness in the world around him.

The main melody has a painful, desolate quality as “The Lawless Ride Alone” starts. Maestro Eternal’s voice is shadowed as it carries the aching vocal melody. The drums thunder as the lead synth shimmers with strength and resolution, while Maestro Eternal captures the depths of the song's emotion.

The rhythm is full of weight as the darkly shaded vocals catch me with their emotional ferocity. The drums throb and the melody swells with emptiness and drifting sensations, transmitting the lyrics’ feelings. The bass underpinnings are thick as ringing notes glimmer while angst and threat fill the music before the track breathes to an end.

The main character’s poison “infects your weakened mind” as the storyteller says that, at best, he’s an outsider who is never satisfied. She points out that it’s a no man’s land and “death knows no time,” as you can hear the devil calling, “Let ’em ride.”

“Under cover of night,” the narrator says, our main character runs until the sun climbs high through desert towns. She urges him to “listen to the devil inside” and calls for the black hats to ride.

Our storyteller points out that the main character “only places bets when the aces are high,” as he has to steal and cheat to survive. “These lands are harsh, but he don’t mind,” she adds, as he rides through the storm in pursuit of his target.

The narrator pleads, “Kill me with your wicked ways,” and asks this cowboy to burn her with his gaze, because “the poison inside you lives within me too.”