Navigating the Shamanic Landscape
Byron Metcalf
Luna Recording Studio

For over 40,000 years, shamanic societies throughout the world have used various musical strategies to achieve altered states of consciousness, and drums and percussion played in a continuous, driving manner were most often used. Metcalf’s Helpers, Guides & Allies: Navigating the Shamanic Landscape was inspired by the composer’s passionate interest in the healing potential of these altered states. Stanislav Grof, M.D., author of The Holotropic Mind, has described the album as “a truly unique piece,” citing both Metcalf’s musical skills and his training as a certified holotropic breathwork facilitator, intimately familiar with non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Byron Metcalf is a drummer, percussionist, and record producer with over 40 years’ experience as a professional musician. He is also a transpersonal guide and educator, shamanic practitioner, researcher, and teacher with a Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology. In recent years, he has experimented with the use of drums, percussion, and other sounds to induce altered states of consciousness for both ceremonial and therapeutic purposes.

His music aids in deep inner exploration, breathwork, shamanic journeywork, body therapies, meditation, and the healing arts. Metcalf is now retired from his counseling practice and devotes himself to his HoloShamanic Strategies and to recording. In 2005, he joined with the Monroe Institute to produce meta-music using Monroe’s Hemi-Sync technology embedded in musical tracks.