“For this listener, Markus Mehr’s Off is unquestionably the most satisfying part of the trilogy that began with In and On. Using computer, synthesizers, processed guitars, piano, and distortion pedals, the German experimental ambient artist has constructed a single-track, forty-two-minute epic that opens in a manner characteristic of the genre but subsequently distinguishes itself as something far more than a standard ambient work.

The opening minutes find Off in ambient-drone mode with a hazy loop cycling endlessly until a piano enters six minutes into the piece, at first tentatively as if challenging the ambient elements for the spotlight but then more assertively. The electronic and acoustic elements establish a truce of sorts as one alternates with the other and Mehr wraps the piano in a thick blanket of symphonic synth and field recordings textures. A hint of classical elegance attends the piano playing, which is generally ponderous in mood, but the listener’s attention abruptly shifts when a transporting synthetic swoon emerges at the twelve-minute mark. Though the moment occurs early in the piece, it’s captivating nonetheless, especially when it imbues the piece with such a dream-like aura. The piano re-surfaces, its melancholic character a natural complement to the slow-motion context within which it’s embedded. Time feels suspended as the mass, which fizzles and sparkles with a kind of clandestine grandeur, rises and falls, its tension released by Mehr ever so deliciously.

Halfway through, an undulating vocal choir emerges, before the piano takes center stage, the other elements receding so much that the creak of the piano bench becomes audible. The moment passes quickly, however, and a new episode, one heavy on field recordings of vocal choirs, moves to the forefront. An industrial quality begins to characterize the recording, with low-pitched noises fizzing at a dull roar alongside the vocals until the swooning synth figures resurface to point the recording home, albeit at a slow tempo that grows steadily slower as the end nears. That Mehr is able to sustain the music’s effect so expertly over so many minutes is a testament to his sound-sculpting abilities and sense of control. The literal culmination of his trilogy project, Off offers to the listener a wholly immersive experience that he/she will likely want to re-experience many times over.”

- Textura

“In July of last year, I reviewed Markus Mehr’s On album here at DOA, the second part of the trilogy of albums that Off is the final section of. On is a tremendously varied and imaginative sequence of tracks, varying from ambient soundscapes to haphazardly conceived audio collages, and it’s continuous invention gives the album an accessibility that could find Mehr an audience outwith the Electronica scene. Perhaps he has deliberately gone out of his way to reassert his credentials as an electronic composer with Off, which is a very different album to its predecessor. Consisting of one track 42 minutes in length, Off places less emphasis on jump cut sampling and leaps of technology, instead it’s to all intents and purposes an actual symphony, a seamlessly performed series of drone and keyboard motifs interspersed with intricately timed percussion.

In other hands a 42 minute extended synth improvisation might prove over indulgent or even unlistenable, but Mehr’s timing and his compositional skills prevent the piece from sliding out of its focus. When the percussive breaks appear amidst the drone waves and piano motifs, they’re placed not to boost the sequenced sound to club trance levels, although Mehr could and probably does produce music that’s more designed for crowd pleasing : instead, the percussion signifies tonal changes of emphasis as Off develops its fractalised structure and while it remains based around a repetitive synth riff, Mehr draws as much as he is able from his sequential templates and added effects are used sparingly.

This structured, verging upon minimal approach to what is a lengthy piece of experimentation is exactly what makes Off work. Mehr is too experienced a musician to take significant risks with his material, but Off is unquestionably a work which makes demands upon its listeners. That it doesn’t seem overlong is a measure of Mehr’s own skills and as album length ambient electronic epics go, it is again an accessibly scored work, avoiding too much in the way of atonality and retaining a melodic core throughout. Aside from that, it’s an album you might need to put some time aside to appreciate fully. Off may qualify as ambient but it’s definitely something more than just elevator muzak.”

- DOA

[Translated excerpts from the original German review]

“Off, as with the two preceding parts [In & On], is available as a download & a stylishly designed CD-R in digipak on Australian label Hidden Shoal Recordings… Markus Mehr, a native of Augsburg, is surely  one of the currently most exciting discoveries in atmospheric drone & ambient around at the moment….The strength lies again in the immense intensity of his soundscapes – the shimmering, rising and falling drones produce through their multiple layers like a swell, almost wall-like intoxicating effect, yet without being destructive. Elements are subtley changing between the poles of enraptured relaxation and dissonant confusion, of beauty and menace. In this universe of sound the ear moves from detail to detail and loses itself more and more into a trance…Markus Mehrs Off is an absolutely fitting end to a consistently intense trilogy. It finds no noisy climax, but instead pours out in a slow trickle. Off combines all of Mehr’s strengths, connecting all three parts together and proves once again the international class of Markus Mehr. Absolutely recommended!”

- Cultural Terrorism

“Third part of the Augsburg-based ambient composer’s conceptual trilogy (following In and On), which consists of a single 42 minute opus.

It’s hard to do justice to the range of sounds you’ll find here – tremendous, rumbling, industrial atmospherics forming most of the backdrop; plaintiff, space-age whines; kosmische melodies; classical piano; a choir of voices. For something that’s so abstract on paper – and so steadfast and glacial in its pacing – it connects brilliantly with the listener, prompting all kinds of emotional and philosophical responses. It makes you wish some film maker would use the music as a template for an exploration of the origin, or the meaning, of space, earth, life, the cosmos – it would undoubtedly make for an epic, soaring, awe-inspiring journey. “

- Underground of Happiness