15 tracks. Running time 59:48 Ambient producer/composer/musician Marvin Ayres and singer/musician Sonja Kristina collaborate together under the moniker Mask. Heavy Petal, subtitled The Tenebrous Odyssey of Jack and Virginia, is their latest release. Comprising a dual sided disc enclosed in a glossy digipak there's a standard CD album on one side and a surround sound DVD called Healing Senses on the other. This review is of the CD side only. An intriguing aspect of this album is how on first listening it seems more electronic than it really is. Overtoning, cello, violin, piano, and guitars are melded together expertly whatever the context. Across the fifteen tracks they pack together reverential musings, rhythmic grooves, laid back melodies, and tenebrous ambience to name the most salient styles. And yet it all fits together like a book of short stories united by a loose theme. Hints of the mystical East are one noticeable aspect of this kaleidoscopic album. The opening track "Dark Murmur" features moody and melodic violin and cello which are played in such a way as to transport the listener to deserts in the Middle East traversed by colourful nomads. Later, the track "Shelter Skelter" begins with watery drums and leads into a hi-hat and beat rhythm set against snaking violin refrains. There's too much variety on this album to do it justice in a review of this length. Here are some personal highlights for what it's worth. In the ambient "Healing Senses" ghostly washes combine with will-o-the-wisp wordless vocals. An almost nonchalant yet hypnotic percussive rhythm on "Free" creates a structure against which sung lyrics and shy cello musings twist and turn. Things take a lively turn in "Waking the Dream" which has a commercial feel with beats, uptempo metallic rhythms, pads, and vocals. Overall Heavy Petal is a wonderful album chock full of mellifluous melodies, rhythms, and reflective sonic wanderings. The only weakness is the singing on some tracks that doesn't quite work as well as intended, even though Sonja has a interesting voice with a lovely timbre. I commend this hard to categorise album for your attention.