The album was inspired by the 1965 Frank Herbert science-fiction novel Dune, and instigated by Schulze's recent collaboration with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack for Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film adaptation. Dune was a longtime source of fascination for Schulze; he also made an album in 1979 inspired by the book, as well as a song for Herbert on his 1978 work X, a concept album of six "musical biographies."[5][4]
Reception
Steve Krakow of the Chicago Reader said that Schulze sounded "newly energized" on Deus Arrakis, and praised the "pure-synth space daze" of the music, which includes several long, ambient soundscapes including the 32-minute "Seth." He called the album's closing composition, "Der Hauch des Lebens (The Breath of Life)", a "fitting epitaph" for an artist who knew that he was dying while working on this music: "To appreciate the slowly unfolding sonic colors of this visionary, atmospheric piece, you need patience, but your effort is well rewarded. Like any journey, whether in sci-fi or in life, it moves between realms of pure bliss and darker terrain."[4]
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times wrote that the album's "three lengthy instrumentals are a masterclass in old-fashioned cosmic music."[5]
Henry Schneider of the website Exposé Online praised the album highly, calling it Schulze's "best release in decades, if not his entire career. ... Deus Arrakis is a wonderful posthumous achievement for the father of electronic music."[6]