Each music genre has its own set of atmospheres that artists more or less adhere to. Even in experimental genres like psychedelic, post-punk or soul-jazz, artists rarely create something that has a totally different atmosphere. They create music with different expressions, but the underlying atmosphere stays the same. This is also the case with new age. Here we usually have an ethereal and meditative atmosphere that is both loved and hated for its simplicity.

But there is a hidden world of sound here too, that is being presented to us by the band Transcend with Time (TwT). It has the atmosphere of progressive rock and the sound of new age. Now TwT has released a new album entitled A Haunting Presence. Read on, and get to hear about a hidden world of sound!

Transcend with Time is a one-man band by Mark Mendieta from Brownsville, Texas. His previous projects all have thoughtful names, which beautifully show the duality between light and darkness in his music: A Voice of Calmness (2006). Reflections of the Soul (2007) and Through Memory’s Perception (2008). Mark Mendieta also has a progressive rock project called Subject to Thoughts, which is also highly recommended by this reviewer.

The brand new TwT-album, A Haunting Presence, opens with a song that is called Hourglass Falls. It is a perfect introduction to TwT’s music; it is as beautiful as it is eerie, as complicated as it is simple. When listening to it is like stepping into a scary old house, filled with things that belongs in children’s nightmares – stuff that aren’t really scary, but still give you a foreboding feeling. Hourglass Falls is a new hit from TwT. It is Halloween music you can play all year round.

The ingredients in TwT’s music is a mix of piano, analogue sounding synths and drums. Note that the foremost beauty is not in the arrangement, but the atmosphere. Therefore it is too easy dismiss TwT as “synth music� (which I have seen other reviewers do in the past) – but this is not the case at all. Just beneath the sequenced synth are layers of heartfelt musical poetry.

The title song is, as implied, haunting, but in a good way. The songs flows away, like a dark undercurrent, taking you on a 7min18sec long journey.

But there are brighter segments here as well, like the song In Loving Memory, which includes a wonderful vocal by Brandon Strader. It is 11 minute long, and the atmosphere rises and falls naturally, like if it was not a song but a stage play about the loving memories of a now lost family member. One of my favorite songs on the album is A Silent Lullaby. It is like an early Tangerine Dream-song, with its analogue synths, flutes and sharp strings. It is an ambient jewel; very meditative, and filled TwT’s usual mix of melancholy and joy. Another song I would like to mention is the faster Beneath. It could have been the sound track to an action movie.

On A Haunting Presence Mark Mendieta takes everything that is great about new age and adds, what he calls, “a twist of Dark Progressive�. It creates a totally different atmosphere, unlike anything else you are likely to find in this part of the forest. TwT is not easy listening, and that is also the case with the new release. But if you give is some time, you will for sure be amazed of the richness in sound.

After all, a haunting presence is not something you are likely to notice right away. The new chapter in TwT’s history is a very rewarding listen.

You can sample and buy the album on Melodic revolution. Also be sure to check out TwT’s page on MySpace.

This release from 2008 offers 62 minutes of pleasant electronic music.

Transcend with Time is Mark Mendieta.

Keyboards operate with drums, guitar and bass to produce instrumental tuneage that combines contemporary electronic music with progressive sensibilities.

While some texturals are present, the electronics are mainly keyboard oriented. Riffs are established and then layered with secondary threads to achieve an ethereal density. A symphonic presence is liberally employed. Grand piano dominates many of the pieces with ponderous moods.

Percussion supports the melodic body with conventional rhythms.

Subdued guitars are relegated to a vantage that is immersed within the keyboard flow. In some instances strummed chords emerge on an equal basis.

These compositions exemplify a fusion of progressive music and new age. The composer can?t seem to decide between pacification and an expression of drama, resulting in tunes that stridently seek to convey a ponderous serenity.

On his latest disc, Mark Mendieta offers up a suite of well-constructed if slightly formulaic New Age tunes that sometimes suffer from a touch of same-ness. It?s a very Mannheim/Tesh-type of affair, with strong piano or guitar standing proudly in front of orchestral pads and rock-tinged (albeit electronic) drums. The pieces tend to follow the start slow/swell in the middle/fade to calm template?which isn?t meant to downplay Mendieta?s capable playing, which is absolutely solid. Notable tracks include the tone-setting opener, ?Open Your Eyes?; the ballad-like ?Cognitive Imagery?; and ?Into the Realm of Quiet,? with its insistent-but-patient bass line, string warbles and graceful keys. It?s the highlight of the disc. (I included it in one of my podcasts.) Through Memory?s Perception isn?t one of those discs I?ll hurry back to, but it?s pleasant enough in a mix and, given the denser electronic stuff I usually listen to, acts in that capacity as a good change of pace. If you?re more of a New Age listener than I, you?ll probably find enough good stuff here to warrant you picking up Through Memory?s Perception. Samples are available at the web site listed below. Give Transcend With Time a test drive and judge for yourself.

Available from Tarnius Music.

Listed on Transcend with Time’s myspace page, composer and musician ‘Mark M’ states that he would “like to do music for films, commercials etc”. I feel he should extend this list to making music for video games, as this is exactly the kind of arena this album seems particularly suited to. By video game music, I mean synthetic sounding tracks that play on a very similar theme. I listened to the album a few times over before writing the review, partly because I felt I had somehow been listening to the same piece over and over for the entire duration of the album.

Honestly, I’m still not sure if this is a good or a bad thing for “Through Memories Perception”. On the bad side, obviously, sixty minutes of very similar sounding music might not be a compelling sell-point for a music album. Then again, repetition on a theme can work really well in situations where the focus is on something else, such as in soundtracks. Some may really enjoy the unobtrusive, hypnotizing effect of these tracks - for me personally, I was left craving a little more variety and musical happenings throughout.

Really though, my biggest gripe with this album was the grating sound of the tinny drum track throughout. I’m not sure if this was a real drum fed through effects, or some pre-programmed beat, but regardless, the effect was somewhat grating against the wistfulness of the rest of the instrumentation.

The album opens with the stirring ‘Open Your Eyes’. As an introductory album track, it’s decent enough - you get the sense that you’re flying through time with the repetitive keyboard loops and it sets the theme well for the rest of the album. The title track ‘Through Memories’ perception is much gentler piece which precedes the spacier-sounding ‘Visions of Premonition’ and ‘Signs of Existence’. Of all of the tracks on the album, ‘Cognitive Imagery’ was the stand out favourite: the icicle-like mysterious and delicate sounds of the melody struck me as being particularly compelling (and perhaps more to the point, no drum track - sorry). The pace picks up a little in ‘A Lingering Thought’ before sliding back into that same familiar style in ‘Reminiscence’ , ‘Into The Realm of Quiet’, ‘Time of Certainty’ and ‘A Dream Subsides’.

My disparaging remarks on the percussion aside, this is not a bad album, particularly if you are into computerized sounding music. At just over sixty minutes in length and ten tracks long, Transcend with Time’s album, “Through Memory’s Perception” could make a good, laid-back soundtrack to a thoughtful stroll through the park, drive, or even meditation, where the repetitive mood of the music could be useful in helping gain focus on the matter to be contemplated.

Individual tracks from “Through Memory’s Perception” are available for download at http://www.tarniusmusic.com/transcendwithtime, along with some others from Transcend with Time’s collection.

(Personally, as a video gamer, I’m fully expecting to hear Transcend with Time’s music on some future release or other in the near future - it just seems made for that sort of thing.)

With ten absolutely stunning tracks spanning all of 60 minutes, Transcend with Time's 'Through Memory's Perception' is definmately one for the 'ingenuity and enourmous scope' collection!

This is the second album I've reviewed from this artist and it's one of those efforts that was so worth the time and energy with the added joy being I get to keep a copy! I've listened to this album three times already and I keep finding things that make me go 'Wow!'. It's the 'wow factor' that keeps me motivated and so we'll begin by looking at the numerous wow factors that are overflowing from beginning to end!

Open Your Eyes is a little over eight minutes in length opening with some nice background drones and some really pleasant mood-settling piano and strings that are given life with some nice prog-fusionesque percussion. There's quite a clever example of fine strings and bass synchronizing and for me, the perception is of bright, positive, growth as expressed by the charming arrangement. TWT's progressive leanings are apparent in a way which makes the project so much more interesting but you have to expect that kind of ingenuity occuring throughout this artist's development cycle simply because it's what it is and we like that ALOT!

Through Memory's Perception arrives with a very bright and uplifting assembly of keys and drum work that exude something really happy and marvelous going on. I get the impression that, in the composition stage, the organization of the percussive layers and parts took quite a bit of work perhaps to get the right feel across the entire track rather than being due to any missappropriation of sounds. Either way... it's a very interesting piece of music that made it's way to my Jeep's iPod where it's nestled nicely alongside some of the greatest music ever made! Watch out for the 5.30 mark... that's the bit for me!

The thing I like most about Visions of Premonition is the fact that it opens with a kind of foreboding and hesitant observation theme which is unusual for TWT but works exceptionally well with some lovely string work and sits really nicely as a follow up to the previous tracks. Signs of Existence on the other hand, breaches the kind of flood barriers that electronica often gets clogged up with by simply being that inventive. The other end of the piano; the left hand section, the lower, darker end is where the majority of strokes are laid out here. The repetitives and the bass and percussion work are exceptional. It's a 'busy' track and another example of what happens when you go back and find more things you might have missed first time around!

Cognitive Imagery is uttertly brilliant for lots of reasons but here's the main one.. it's highly engaging! I like the string work more for it's power and dynamism in the performance than for the actual choice of key. An octave lower maybe, and you'd have an uber track as opposed to a mega track but then anytrhing I produce with electronic strings doesn't come close to this!

A Lingering Thought has momets of excellence located in the string arrangements that are gently persuaded to venture to other realms by the sleek bass and riff sequences. TWT has a great command of percussion against strings which is actually a little harder to get right than you might think. You can't over do it and you can't mess with the cymbals too much but then I guess Mark Mendieta/TWT knows not to go messing in that space which is why his arrangements are so strong.

Reminiscence and Into the Realm of Quiet are two of my favourite tracks that deserve some praise and appreciation here for the inventiveness that they've been saturated with. Where Reminiscence is abundantly a contemplation track, Into the Realm of Quiet is the real thought provoker and I'd recommend that you listen to both tracks exactly in the order that they have been presented to get the full flavour and the lingering after effect that remain with you for quite some time. It's a hard thing for a composer to make happen and I'm glad that I had that experience in listening first time around.

Time of Certainty provokes some great audio imagery irrespective of the mood your in and I think it's down to the intricate piano layers that are given a kind of life vibrancy by the percussion work. Strings are very nicely positioned and I'd really like to see this piece performed by a full orchestra whether Mark would like that or not ;o)

A Dream Subsides brings the album to it's close delivering the kind of hook that sends slivers of sparkling desire for more into your thinking. Synth work includes some 80's effects that bands like Ultravox managed to turn into big royalty cheques and although the track is not really that reflective of the decade, it's good to see those little hints from wence it all began now and then. What stands out in this piece as with all of the tracks on this album, is the clever binding of prog-styled percussion with strings and piano to make a great album greater. Transcend with Time provides excellence and thought provocation to a genre that's often hungry for it. The more contemplative and imagery needy folks are adequately catered for too.

With Transcend with Time, I'd say that you can go and listen to the available projects with high expectations and you won't be disappointed. Better still, start with this album and work your way back through the catalog before you impulsively click the buy now button!

I find that some of the best and most interesting music is created in crossing point between different genres. This is where new expressions and sound are made. An album like this is Transcend with Time's third album, Through Memory's Perception. It is almost like a bridge between two worlds: the world of rock and the world of ambient/new age. Impossible, you might say. No. Not at all, is my reply.

Transcend with Time is a one-man band by Mark Mendieta from Brownsville, Texas. His previous albums are called Reflections of the Soul (2007) and A Voice of Calmness (2006). Mark Mendieta also has a progressive rock project called Subject to Thoughts. And the influence from progressive rock is obvious on Through Memory's Perception. But I think the overall atmosphere is closer to rock or alternative metal, even though the instruments used are the standard ambient/new age setup: dreamy synth pads, strings, piano and light drums. But the real difference is the use of electronic guitar samples, which in true rock style create a rather dark soundscape. Play song no. 7, A Lingering Thought, and you'll understand. But still the sound is ambient/new age, which makes this into a remarkable album.

The first song, Open Your Eyes, starts with an eerie, high pitched bird-like sound, dark pads and piano. It could have been the soundtrack to a scary movie. After 1min45sec a much brighter piano melody with a gentle tempo. All the songs are long, this one over 8 minutes, so the album is definitely chill out material.

The title track, no. 2, starts with a happy vibe, much thanks to the samples used. It gets a little darker later in the song, when the only instruments used are strings, guitar and a slow drumbeat. It is almost like a walk from light to darkness.

My favorite track is track no. 3, Visions of Premonition, which is a lot more new age than the rest. The last four minutes with a nice analogue synth reminds me of Tangerine Dream. It is powerful and heartfelt at the same time. Two another new age sounding tracks are no. 5, Cognitive Imagery and track no. 7, Reminiscence. They're slow moving and gently evolving: it's beautiful beyond words.

The track Signs of Existence is a good example of how a combination new age and rock sounds like. There is this mystical element here, like in many new age songs. Yet it has rock's in-your-face quality and atmosphere.

Through Memory's Perception is self released, but is still a professional recording. Some might argue that many of the songs are too long, but I think this make them perfect for relaxation. It is not easy to mix rock and new age, and in this respect Transcend with Time has done a magnificent job. I will also credit Mark Mendieta for the thoughtful and inspired song titles.

The next time a rock fan tells me that he hates new age music, I know of a record that for sure will change his mind: it's all about memory's perception. Right?

You can sample and buy the album or downloads on Tarniusmusic.com/transcendwithtime

Transcend with time is Mark Mendieta's solo project and the album "Through Memory's Perception" is a showcase of Marks' multi talented versatility. He plays all the instruments. This music can best be described as ambient. There are no vocals on this album unlike his other project Subject To Thoughts.

This is definitely mesmeric stuff, and while listening to it is very easy to lose your sense of reality as you are floating in the clouds.

I like to put this on when I need some relaxation or chillout time. Standout tracks are Visions of Premonition and Reminiscence, but in reality, every track blends into one another.

All in all, another great release from this talented man, and will definitely be appreciated by people who enjoy classical and world music. Get yourself a copy, and support an artist with a vision for great music!!

Go to www.tarniusmusic.com/transcendwithtime

“This album is the result of Mark Mendieta's time, effort, and incredibly diverse compositional skill. The project began somewhere in 2006 and ended with ten tracks being unleashed in 2007 to a planet that wasn't quite ready for the thought and emotion wrangling processes that would follow upon listening to this superb album.

The progressive elements are so brilliantly arranged that it's actually hard for me to understand why this album wasn't snapped up by a decent indie label at the very least. I'd normally single out a few tracks at this stage for emphasis but really, Reflections of the soul is a mammoth journey all unto itself with no single track having too much of a bind over another. I can honestly confess that there isn't anything I do not like or that I could have an issue with in regards to recording, production or otherwise!

Watch out for the very brilliant orchestral parts meandering throughout the integrated prog sections and enjoy this album for what it really is.. Reflections of the soul is the artist's concept.. mine is more reflections of the entirety of being... a little masterpiece that you need to own immediately if you enjoy the unadulterated musical/spiritual passion that this album was born with!”

With reflections of the soul, multi instrumentalist Mark Mendieta "Transcend with Time" has created a
wonderful, ethereal, moody listening experience. Right from the first track "Aurora foreseen" to the last track "Point of Notion" this is relaxation heaven. Sometimes dark but also uplifting at the same time, this is 60 minutes of music that makes you feel contemplative, but with positivity. This is definately Marks best instrumental work yet and i look forward to future releases from this multi talented artist.

Transcend with Time "A Voice Of Calmness"
www.myspace.com/transcendwithtime
www.soundclick.com/transcendwithtime www.soundclick.com/subjecttothoughts

This is reasonably calm. Why do I choose the modifier "reasonably?" Because I've heard a lot of New Age music in my life which takes the concept of calm to an uncomfortable extreme(...enough with the sounds of running water, its making me have too pee!) Transcend with Time has no such trappings. As a matter of fact, they actually build a little bit of drama into their music. There are spots in the music where you actually work through darker moods and follow the composer to more tranquil places. TwT also doesn't make the mistake of equating slowness with calmness. There is a reasonable tempo to most of these songs. Calmness also does not mean "a lack of sophistocation or progression in the composition." This band is able to keep you at a comfortable place, while twisting and turning you through a more complicated song structure than many rock bands are able to pull off.

I'm so happy to hear an actual composer, and not a pop-artist lacking in creativity attempting the new-age thing. It is all too often that the "big name" guys are hacks who couldn't make real music, so they rely on synth drones and sound effects to pull off the "mall" version of new-age. Listening to Transcend With Time is a refreshing and energizing challenge, like a brisk walk through wooded mountain trails.

The love and respect I have toward nature, and the life, which calls it their home, is a true gift to cherish. When music captures those emotions from which I feel so strongly drawn toward, it’s a beautiful reward. “Transcend with Time”, the vision of composer Mark Mendieta has demonstrated his connection toward the innocent, beautiful and compelling works of art--- nature, and how it affects us individually. For some too, it’s the hidden beauty that reveals itself from time to time, those magical encounters, that last for but a few priceless moments, those which leave a permanent smile on my heart. I feel it has shown itself quite openly and with loving inspiration toward Mark Mendieta.

Crackling sunbeams, rain storms, walks in the forests where shades of green each turn on their own special colors to be admired; lakes, rives, ponds, lagoons, the sea---each come into view. I feel peace, as it has been shown to me through the listening pleasure of “Transcend with Time.”

Joyful and spiritually; imaginative and mysterious; positive and fulfilling, are only a few of the words to describe the beauty of music heard on “Transcend with Time”. Some of the songs which have inspired, comforted, and simply made me feel the enlightenment which nature gently inflicts upon my soul are, “The Façade of Elegance”, “Images of the Surreal”, “A Voice of Calmness”, “As the Seasons Change” and “To Conclude”. I look forward to following the career of this joyful spirit’s music.