BYRON METCALF & DAVID VITO GREGOLI, "Peace of the Senses"

“Peace of the Senses” captures the otherworldly creative magic that can emerge when two deeply accomplished visionary artists bring their individual musical aesthetics together. From its slowly emerging tribal heartbeat and spacious electronic atmosphere, the first collaboration between shamanic practitioner/legendary percussionist Byron Metcalf and multi-instrumentalist, producer and “sound painter” David Vito Gregoli develops into a richly cinematic journey. What begins with remarkable restraint gradually expands into something more dramatic and immersive without losing the grounding pulse at its core. Organic textures, exotic instrumental colors and shifting textures continually interact and spark an adventurous flow.

Metcalf establishes the foundation with frame drum and udu, whose earthy, rounded tones give the piece an unmistakably physical presence. Gregoli surrounds earthy center with an unusually wide palette—synths, piano, gamelan, duduk and additional textures—creating an intriguing conversation between the ancient and the futuristic. At first, the arrangement is almost deceptively simple: a slow rhythmic undercurrent moves beneath a spacious wash of sound while delicate, high-register electronic figures appear and disappear like distant signals. A Tibetan Tingsha and isolated accents add tiny points of definition, keeping the listener alert to everything happening around the central groove.

Slowly expanding the sonic environment, chimes and bell-like tones suddenly cascade through the mix, their echoes hovering above deeper tribal rhythms. A breathy duduk passage enters like a distant call across an open landscape, adding an almost ceremonial quality before rushing-wind textures carry the music somewhere more mysterious. The arrangement never settles into a predictable loop; instead, Gregoli and Metcalf keep introducing subtle shifts in color, density and momentum.

That sense of discovery becomes especially vivid as the frame drum returns beneath recurring chime patterns and those evocative instrumental calls. The music feels increasingly cinematic, but its emotional center remains rooted in Metcalf’s earthy playing. Above it, Gregoli layers more melodic material, eventually opening into a sweeping orchestral-like passage where synth strings seem to stretch toward some distant horizon. The contrast is striking: earthy movement below, expansive melodic space above.

As the piece moves toward its conclusion, the layers gradually recede. The chimes and drums remain for a while, followed by another broad melodic swell before the arrangement finally settles into a more conventional synth-string passage. It is a satisfying resolution after several minutes of adventurous sonic interplay, as though the music has traveled through a series of altered states before finding its way home.

Gregoli says he had admired Metcalf’s work for years and had been hoping to experiment together ever since the percussionist contributed to an album he produced a decade ago. That long-gestating idea has resulted in something refreshingly organic. “Peace of the Senses” doesn’t simply place electronic atmosphere around tribal percussion; it allows the two approaches to continually influence one another. Metcalf supplies the grounding while Gregoli expands the surrounding universe, and together they find a beautifully unsettled sense of peace.