Enter the Mysterium

Although Peter Ulrich remains best known as an on-again, off-again member of Dead Can Dance (he supplied percussion on such classics as 1987's Within the Realm of a Dying Sun), he is an accomplished composer in his own right, as evidenced by his sporadic solo recordings. Like the releases by his former band, Ulrich's latest solo outing, 2005's Enter the Mysterium, is an incredibly lush recording — chock-full of exotic instruments not usually associated with your typical rock bands (recorder, oboe, violin, etc.). Recorded at his home and also at a few British studios, Enter the Mysterium would serve as the perfect soundtrack to a European marketplace before the advent of electricity (think one of the early flashback scenes of Highlander, and you're not far off). Written entirely by Ulrich (who also supplies the vocals and the majority of the instruments all by himself) and paying close attention to sonic detail, Mysterium is definitely a "headphones album," as evidenced by such standouts as "The Scryer and the Shewstone," "The Witchbottle of Suffolk," and "Kakatak Tamai." If you're looking for soothing music that is 100 percent free of distorted Marshall amplifiers, Enter the Mysterium is recommended.