Fresh out of Salford, home of musicians such as Mark E. Smith from The Fall and many more we don't know of, bordering on the city of Manchester just divided by the river Irvell, comes 19 year young Empyrean who left the English countryside to study audio technology. The city of Manchester with its social and musical scene allows his current self to flourish and we got his music passed on by an artist already on Zaubernuss.After three years of experimenting in a plethora of genres and acquiring Ableton Live due to Reason's limitations, his debut album on Zaubernuss states where he is today musically.We think he has done great and see his Sans Semblance as a tasteful blend of styles and recording techniques which bring together the soulfulness an sweetness of black music with today's modern style of electronics.We have always had an eye on that kind of fusion and it seems Empyrean has fallen in this wormhole which brings him close to the Northern tradition of mixing cultures up in a challenging and cool fashion.So be prepared for some acoustic stunts as well as some real trax. The whole recording is composed in an album style.Sans Semblance opens with an experimental Intro called Fervid which right from the beginning installs a bit of a sensitiveness for the coming tracks.Odalisque is somehow a trip in acoustics... there are flutes, water, water drops and cars and a fairy like voices on top of it... and if guided by magic hands all of it finds its position in this animated still life. Empyrean created this bubble of sound with a huge panorama stereo appeal, all classy, noble sounding.Next comes Almagest which seems more down to earth, the soul of this track floats less than with Odalisque and is easier to catch and get hold of... it carries a quite moody melody blues like note. Anyway the sounds are more gritty and rougher and more direct. The title track Sans Semblance is a moody masterpiece with a tighter beat structure combining kingly acoustics with lush vocals and electronic reversed sounds.Nomad is another highlight of the album, referring beat wise to dub step like beats while performing sound wise with an an oriental touch.The album closes with Forlorn Abyss a track which would do nicely as a soundtrack for an underwater documentary of filmer Jacque Cousteau. The track is style wise between ambient, lounge and chill out.