Hollan Holmes: The Sanctity of Rust
Spotted Peccary Music

Attention should definitely be given to the remarkable sound design achieved by ambient-electronic artist Hollan Holmes on The Sanctity of Rust; his maturation as a composer and conceptualist impresses even more, however, and marks the release as a high point in this Texas-based sound sculptor's career. The sound design first: among the hardware and software listed on the release's inner sleeve are the Korg MS20 and Oberheim Matrix 12 plus tools such as Native Instruments, Arturia Pigments, and Spectrasonics Omnisphere; custom samples and FM synthesis also played a part in the project's production. He's no purist, by the way: Holmes is happy to work acoustic sounds into a composition if the music requires it, which means one shouldn't be surprised to hear acoustic piano surfacing now and then, in addition to Rhodes.

His love for electronic gear began in his senior year in high school when he discovered synthesizers and purchased (thanks to a loan from his grandmother) a Moog prodigy. He's come a long way since those analog days, even if he reportedly still has the device in his possession and uses it. That early interest in gear naturally coincided with his discovery of pioneering artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Steve Roach, and Pink Floyd, and it's certainly possible to regard Holmes as part of that continuum.

The Sanctity of Rust is a mature work on thematic grounds, and it's this that makes the release resonate most strongly. Holmes' characterization of the album as “a celebration of endurance and the honour of growing old” finds its counterpart in the natural decay that temporal passage imposes on all things, human and otherwise. In his view, aging isn't pathetic but is instead something that accords dignity and elegance to the subject—the kind of insight only reached by someone of a certain age, Hollan presumably one who qualifies. Regarded in this light, corrosion takes on a kind of beauty and depth that can't be manufactured and only arrives with time. In his words, “Rusted metal tells a story written by time—each tone of orange, brown, and violet a record of survival.”

The album wastes no time engaging the listener when its title cut locks into position with grinding rhythmic thrust and iridescent synthesizer flourishes. Sequencer-like patterns dance nimbly while analog synths and Bill Porter's electric guitar wail like some particularly grandiose episode from Brain Salad Surgery. Holmes' appetite for epic cinematic evocation is well-accounted for in “Once More Unto the Breach” and “Moebius Trip,” both of them dramatic soundscapes of galaxial proportions and the latter calling to mind the glorious sound of TD's Phaedra and Rubycon (you might also find yourself thinking of Stratosfear during the blaze of “One Door Closes Another Opens”). Acknowledging the indomitable hand time plays and its inexorable movement forward is “The Unstoppable March of Time,” which unfolds at a ponderous pace that invites contemplation on its theme. Gentler and slower-paced than some of the other pieces, “Night Sky,” “So Far Away,” and the serene “The Fantastic Journey” likewise encourage reflection. The quietly majestic organ tones underpinning “Here at The End of All Things” conclude the album on an uplifting note befitting a project so-themed.

July 2026