Byron Metcalf - The Shaman's Heart (2005)

Sublime, deeply meditative tribal-ambient from American percussionist Byron Metcalf, and featuring the great Steve Roach. Gently insistent percussion slowly building and receding against a warm backdrop of shimmering synth-based drone.

Track listing:
1. Preparation Pulse
2. Threshold of Intention
3. Decision Point
4. The Call for Total Surrender
5. Raven Medicine
6. Wisdom Work
7. Unfolding Clarity

Archaic layers

You'd also like:

Vidna Obmana -
Echoing Delight (1993)

New Cult of the Sun Moon -
New Cult of the Sun Moon (2002)

Steve Roach - The Passing (2017)

Massive ambient synth-drone from Steve Roach, a man who surely needs no introduction around these parts. Close your eyes and disappear.

One track, titled "The Passing", free/name your price via bandcamp.

It's all connected

More like this:

Rudy Adrian - Atmospheric
Works Vols. 1 + 2 (1999)

Robert Rich -
Calling Down the Sky (2004)

Steve Roach - This Place to Be (2016)

Huge, shimmering drone from one of the all-time greats. Like all of Roach's best work, when played at properly loud volumes, This Place to Be comes off less like music than it does a beckoning transmission from a beautiful alternate plane of existence.

One track, titled "This Place to Be". Free/name your price via Roach's bandcamp.

Alive in the vortex

You will also enjoy:

Robert Rich -
Sunyata (1982)

Alio Die - Sit Tibi Terra
Levis / Introspective (1990)

Robert Rich & Steve Roach - Strata (1990)

The first of two excellent collaborative albums from influential ambient/new age artists (and OPIUM HUM favorites) Robert Rich and Steve Roach. Roach's hypnotic, tribal rhythms mix extraordinarily well with Rich's darker, Eastern-tinged melodies, and glacial synth work provides a spacious, enveloping aural landscape. The end result is some of the richest, most evocative music in either one of their discographies.

Track listing:
1. Fearless
2. Mica
3. Forever
4. The Grotto of Time Lost
5. Iguana
6. Magma
7. Persistence of Memory (for Dali)
8. Remembrance
9. Ceremony of Shadows
10. La Luna

Lost landmarks

Steve Roach - Stormwarning (1989)

Re: this post. I just realized that I've posted a bunch of records to which Steve Roach contributed, but none of his proper solo albums. So I'm nippin' that in the bud right now. Stormwarning falls on the more energetic side of Roach's discography (for further listening in this area, check out his first two records, and/or Empetus, courtesy of the Imaginary Radio Station.) It's technically a live album - three long compositions recorded at separate performances - but thankfully, there's no crowd noise to detract from the listening experience. I can't be the only one who hates that.

Track listing:
1. Day One: 5.10.85
2. Day Two: 1.17.87
3. Day Three: 10.2.91 (bonus)

Fever pulse

Steve Roach & Vidna Obmana - Well of Souls (1995)

Cavernous tribal percussion, shimmering synth washes and drones. Over two hours of gorgeous, meditative sounds. Exactly what one might expect from a Steve Roach-Vidna Obmana collaboration.

Track listing:
-Disc One-
1. In the Presence of Something
2. In the Realm of Twilight - Outlands One
3. The Secret Arrival - Outlands Two
4. The Gathering
-Disc Two-
1. Deep Hours
2. Well of Souls
3. The Quiet Companion
4. The Dwelling Place

Above the Mellow Earth

Brian Parnham - Mantle (2007)

Ambient drones from New Hampshire based composer Brian Parnham. Features contributions from Opium Hum favorite Steve Roach. Allow yourself to float.

Track listing:
1. Skim the Surface
2. Meandering
3. Rising Temperatures
4. Strata Peel
5. Liquid Aggregate
6. Scorpion Den
7. Minotaur's Lair
8. Molten
9. Altar of the Underworld
10. Relentless Flow
11. Bends
12. Up for Air

The big comedown

Steve Roach & Jerry Fayman - Trance Spirits (2002)

Heavy tribal drumming, deep synthscapes, spaced out guitar textures (courtesy of Robert Fripp). Perfect for exploring jungles on Saturn. Credits listed in the booklet include "Mercurial Sounds," "Soundworlds," "Hybrid Groove," and "Mystic Chord."

Tracklist:
1. Taking Flight
2. Trance Spirits
3. Off Spring
4. Seekers
5. The Calling
6. Year of the Horse
7. In the Same Deep Water

Blood music

Michael Shrieve & Steve Roach - The Leaving Time (1988)

Out of print collaborative effort between Michael Shrieve (best known as the drummer for Santana) and ambient/new age/space music pioneer Steve Roach. Tribal rhythms, chiming synths, jagged guitars. Dramatic, soothing, and gloriously dated.

Track listing:
1. The Leaving Time
2. March of Honor
3. San Diego
4. Theme for the Far Away
5. Tribes
6. Big Sky
7. Edge Runner
8. The Leaving Time (Reprise)

Falling, flying, dreaming