Album Review: Raphael Weinroth-Browne - Empyrean (2026)
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Written: 6th September 2026
It has been a little under a year since charismatic Canadian cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne released his second solo album, the excellent Lifeblood (review here). During the time that Lifeblood was being constructed, the contemporary dance company James Wilton Dance commissioned him to create a cello-based score for a new work entitled BACH Reimagined. Having toured the music extensively with James and Sarah Wilton, Empyrean is the music from the BACH show reimagined as an album. “At its core,” Weinroth-Browne explains, “Empyrean is about the search for the sublime. As artists, we spend our lives trying to create something that transcends the everyday, if only for a split second, as if to glimpse eternity through a keyhole.”
Emyrean opens with Speed of Light, a reworking of Bach’s Prelude to the G Major Cello Suite. Anyone familiar with Weinroth-Browne will not be surprised that this is no mere direct interpretation but a pulsating, cinematic version that blurs the lines between Baroque intricacy and the progressive leanings that make his work so fascinating. Across five and a half minutes, the piece moves from its urgent, vibrant opening to an enchanting mid-section that finds Weinroth-Browne drawing out the notes, creating a stirring sense of yearning. He adds, “With this track, I wanted to evoke both a feeling of ferocious determination and uplifting transcendence. The song’s third act sees the clouds parting for a brief moment before the layered cellos forge ahead to a dramatic finish.”
One of the key elements to any of his music is the range of emotions that he draws from the listener and the time investment that his music rewards. The thoughtful layers of arrangement gradually reveal themselves over time, with new discoveries adding another dimension to the experience. His love of metal also comes through in his use of “every metal guitarist’s favourite scale, the Phrygian mode.” Without doubt, these influences flow throughout his playing and compositions, with Speed of Light providing a deeply immersive opening while also introducing Middle Eastern textures - another of his great loves.
Constructed purely from solo cello, Remnant is a short achingly mournful piece that brings a completely different atmosphere to the album. Serving as a transitional moment, it leads us towards Evocation, which is built entirely from layered live-looped cello. Infused with a heartfelt solemnity and dignity, it patiently develops with each element of the elegant arrangement falling into place as each loop is added. Demonstrating that Weinroth-Browne fully understands the use of both power and restraint, Evocation weaves intricate threads that can each be heard individually, allowing us to be completely absorbed in the experience. He comments, “The cyclical arpeggio sequence that has as much in common with J. S. Bach’s keyboard preludes as it does with Philip Glass and electronic music.”
Completely living up to its title, Murmuration - one of the highlights of Empyrean - is a sweeping, majestic piece that ebbs and flows in mesmerising patterns. It is impossible not to conjure the breathtaking image of a flock of starlings when listening to this piece. Weinroth-Browne perfectly captures both the rapid changes of direction and the wave-like flowing motions that characterise this wonder of nature. The underlying insistent rhythms evoke the constant movement, while the soaring cello lines are so evocative that they can almost be followed with the eyes as well as the ears.
Integration is one of the most experimental and haunting tracks to be found here. Beginning with reverberating strings that move from one speaker to the other, the repeating motif creates a hypnotic quality that keeps us transfixed. Giving further credence to Weinroth-Browne’s recent interest in incorporating contemporary pop rhythms into his music – which is also the case during Speed Of Light – there is an infectious groove to this kaleidoscopic piece that works well when combined with the lower insistent notes and the verdant lead lines.
In stark contrast, Dissolution - based around the opening melody from the Sarabande of the sixth Cello Suite by Bach - has a sombre, funereal quality that alters the mood once again. Evolving gradually over seven minutes, the use of space and air within the music is as effective as the notes themselves. As the composition progresses, the level of distortion and overlapping music increases, something with which Weinroth-Browne was keen to experiment. “What begins as a solemn chorale becomes a dramatic, almost operatic solo before giving way to a churning maelstrom of distortion not unlike something one might hear from Godspeed You! Black Emperor and finally dissolving into pulsating waves of noise.” Utterly spellbinding from beginning to end, it balances unease and beauty in equal measure.
Sanctum continues in a similarly subdued vein, with Middle Eastern influences coming to the fore. It is easy to imagine a piece such as this echoing through the vast interior of a great cathedral, its stately themes drifting towards the highest beams and vaulted spaces overhead. A composition that places atmosphere ahead of power, it nevertheless conveys a striking sense of scale, whilst its careful structure allows each idea to unfold with natural poise and elegance.
Reflection – one of four singles already released – is, in part, the heaviest track on Empyrean and following Dissolution and Sanctum, it brings us back to Raphael’s love of metal. “As a cellist, I’m unusual in that bands like Tool and Meshuggah are a more significant part of my musical DNA than composers such as Beethoven or Brahms.” The resulting composition sits at a fascinating crossroads between classical music and more contemporary influences. Recurring ostinatos weave around one another with restless energy, creating an undercurrent of tension that persists throughout, whilst the contrast between the cello's natural warmth and bursts of distortion lends the piece a more confrontational character than much of what has preceded it. At times controlled and precise, at others almost chaotic in its intensity, Reflection serves as a striking reminder of the breadth of Weinroth-Browne's musical imagination.
Empyrean ends with the title track, the longest piece on the album. Making full use of every moment of its seven-and-a-half minutes, it is a staggeringly exquisite work that is almost ambient in nature. With a barely perceptible undercurrent, the lead lines develop slowly in a deeply meditative manner. Despite its unhurried pace, it proves utterly intoxicating, allowing each subtle shift and development to emerge naturally. In doing so, it further broadens the album's already expansive musical palette. There are moments that call to mind the vast, cinematic qualities present in some of Hans Zimmer's work for Inception and Interstellar, not through imitation but through a similarly overwhelming sense of space and possibility. As the piece enters its final two minutes, it seems to expand even further, creating an almost transcendent sensation that is difficult to ignore. A stunning conclusion.
With Empyrean, Raphael Weinroth-Browne has successfully reshaped music originally written for BACH Reimagined into an album that stands comfortably alongside his finest work. Whilst traces of Bach remain an important part of its identity, the record is equally informed by contemporary classical music, world music, progressive influences and even metal, all of which are absorbed into a singular artistic vision. It sits between a number of different musical worlds and those willing to embrace all of its constituent parts will undoubtedly derive the greatest enjoyment from the journey. Building upon the foundations laid by Lifeblood whilst venturing into new territory, it demonstrates both growing confidence and a continued willingness to push beyond conventional boundaries. Rich in detail and meticulously constructed, Empyrean is further evidence that Weinroth-Browne is carving out a distinctive musical path. If these compositions prove even half as captivating in a live setting as they are on record, his upcoming dates with Einar Solberg later this month promise to be something rather special.
Empyrean is released on 11th September 2026
Raphael Weinroth-Browne online:
LIVE DATES
September 18 – The Garage, London, UK (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 19 – Café de la Danse, Paris, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 20 – Le Rex, Toulouse, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 21 – La Rhapsodie, Biarritz, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 22 – Mouco, Porto, Portugal (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 23 – República da Música, Lisbon, Portugal (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 25 – Be Prog! My Friend, Barcelona, Spain (with Einar Solberg)
September 26 – L’Ampérage, Grenoble, France (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 27 – Euroblast Festival, Cologne, Germany (with Einar Solberg)
September 29 – Hype Park, Kraków, Poland (solo and with Einar Solberg)
September 30 – Lido, Berlin, Germany (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 1 – Gebläsehalle, Neunkirchen, Germany (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 2 – Werkk Kulturlokal, Baden, Switzerland (solo and with Einar Solberg)
October 4 – ProgPower Europe, Baarlo, Netherlands (with Einar Solberg)
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