5 tracks. Running time 63:55 Byron Metcalf has been a professional musician for several decades and has recently been experimenting with drums and percussion to create altered states of consciousness. His latest solo album A Warning From the Elders carries spiritual and pragmatic feelings about the problems facing the environment and aspects of human life. Complementing the rhythms created on drums and percussion are drones formed by Byron's overtone singing and guest musicians on didgeridoo. Tibetan bowls are used to make gong sounds and drones at the beginning of the first track called “Facing the Truth”. Quavering tones of didgeridoo and the haunting timbre of overtone singing then join in along with a beating drum. The pace of all this combined with a shaker percussion gradually builds up then finally fades out. The title track “A Warning From the Elders” is where the hypnotic element of the music works its way into the listener's mind. Snaking vocal and throaty overtones mingle with hand beaten drums in a hypnotic but also slightly disquieting manner. After the visceral rhythmic passages across most tracks the album finishes in a restrained fashion. In “Earth Om – Sacred Resonance” harmonic chants of “om” rise and fall while a slow drum beat keeps time. Towards the end of this piece deep guttural tones add resonance. Like other music of its ilk – such as Dan Pound's strongly shamanistic albums – it stirs ritualistic and primeval feelings even in this reviewer who holds no belief in spirits or gods. Most of the instruments heard here are made from natural materials, giving the music a distinctly organic quality. A Warning From the Elders is a heartfelt musical prayer for people to treat the Earth and their fellows better than they do at the moment. Musically it deserves concentrated listening and verges on the spellbinding, but listening to the whole album in one session can be a bit oppressive.