Arborescence was the fifth studio release by the empyrean instrumental British ensemble Ozric Tentacles. Released thirty years ago in 1994, it was their last studio album to feature keyboardist and original member Joie Hinton as well as drummer Merv Pepler.

The LP kicks off energetically with the thunderous, raucous foray “Astro Cortex.” The oscillating synthesizer gravitates through various permutations, intermixed with an emphatic flute and supplanted by buoyant bassist Zia Geelani and Pepler’s prog rock rhythm section.

The synthetic theme continues in the math-heavy “Yog-Bar-Og” with a syncopated keyboard hook over varying rhythmic time signatures, as Pepler pounds out triplets presumably using double kick pedals. Joie “Ozrooniculator” Hinton’s demented synth wails while soaring majestically throughout the album, especially on the interlude of this nearly ten-minute track. The spotlight momentarily turns to guitarist and co-founder Ed Wynne, the only constant member to persist through the band’s career of forty-one years and counting.

John Egan’s tellurian flute and Hinton’s gentle synth slowly usher in the title track, augmented by bird sounds and Wynne’s fretboard hammer-ons while omitting the rhythm section. “Al-Salooq” adds a Middle Eastern flair that temporarily brings the listener back to Earth amidst the album’s interplanetary journey. Elements of traditional Arabic and Egyptian Saidi music combine with a fluttery flute and relentless flanged bass in a hypnotic whirling dervish fraught with feedback.