Album Review: Will Gregory Moog Ensemble – Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project

Think outside the box.

Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project is the 9-track debut album from the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble. Having at most 14 players at any given time, the group dives into electronic music with an orchestral lens giving the listener a different perspective when discovering music in an extremely saturated market. The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble proves they are different and create work unlike most.

Spanning from extremely upbeat, easy-to-follow, plucky chords to grand, overlapped synths with a horn ensemble and large cymbal crashes that create an ominous, dark feeling; one would think they’re listening to the soundtrack of the next big outer space blockbuster. With no lyrics or vocals to accompany these large sounds, it’s easy to see why.

Taking inspiration from the greatest mathematician in ancient history, Archimedes, the album uses his influence on math as inspiration for some of the sounds and ideas explored in Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project. A common theme in many of the tracks is a spiral. The sound is heard panning ear to ear, or near to far to either build into or lead away from tension, like a cymbal crash or loud synth shot or shots. This is extremely evident in “Circles, Spirals, and Pi.” Arpeggiators are another tool used throughout the album, especially during lighter tracks like “Young Archimedes,” “Buoyancy Theory,” “Archimedes’ Screw,” and “The Sand Reckoner.” The dark undertones that gradually increase between tracks like “Law of the Lever” and “The Claw” or “Heat Ray” are a great change of pace from the brighter tracks on the album, sprinkled throughout in just the right spots to create the highs and lows that every album should have.

In total, the album is a futuristic electronic album with heavy orchestral influence in its composition and musical elements heard throughout its large, cinematic tracks. It does feel like something is missing, almost as if Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project should be listened to with a visual component because that’s the type of journey Will Gregory Moog Ensemble is taking its listeners on.