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abysis212

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  1. Album: Haldoium - GLW / DRK Style: Progressive Trance Released: Mar. 2011 1. Glow 2. Out in the woods 3. Ce-Ras 4. Alice Dream (Haldolium rmx) 5. Photographic 6. Ridge A 7. End of a government 8. In life, we have 9. Moral Convictions 10. No-World It was with great anticipation I looked forward to the release of Mario Reinsch's 7th Album under the name Haldolium. A veteran of the scene he has often been at the fore front of defining what will be the next popular sound. Lets take the album track by track: Track 1 - Glow: First off great name for an opening track. In fact I love the album title as well--playing off the idea of 'glow in the dark'. Haldolium has always been good at choosing good lyrics and titles for his music. Alright, now for the song itself. Glow opens with a low key industrial palate of looping dark ambient pads, basslines, a ticking sound, and static like ambience. The melody mainly revolves around a repeating bell/chord sound that changes pitch rarely but when it does it is for dramatic effect and really only alternates between two pitches/keys. Still it sounds a little contrived the way it is attempting to create drama and tension here. Later in the track, when most elements fall out and you hear just the kick and bass clearly, it sounds very nice. 5.5 mins in we get a very interesting erratic synth line that adds some nice emotion. Overall, this track reminds me of the first track off QNT in that it doesn't jump out at you as very interesting. The first time I heard it I thought it was boring. However, upon repeated listens it has grown on me. I still wouldn't call it a dynamite track but it is 'interesting' if not really loveable. Track 2 - Out in the Woods: This track has a serious case of Atmos - Klein aber Doctor. The main synth line is very reminiscent of the end of that track. This doesn't bother me as its sounds good. It is almost like an updated more minimal remix. Fat bass and kick. Nice supporting synths and rhythms this is sure to get your head bobbing and if you are on the dance floor you definitely want to dance. Not much else to say...very groovy track. A nice blend of old school and new school sounds and feelings. Track 3 - Cs-Ras This song starts out with a sound the leads one to expect it will be good. However, the first time I heard it the song as a whole wasn't very interesting to me. Now after listening to it more there are parts I like and don't like so much. Between we first minute and second we get some cool industrial dirty synths and a driving bass. This is fun. However, as things start to progress the middle portion begins to bore me. I feel like the song is relying too much on minimal synth lines that stick to one note a lot. The occasion synth that is melodic only at the end of the bar doesn't interest me much. The last 2 mins of the track are my favorite. The industrial synths are back with other elements and combine to create an interesting interplay. Track 4 - Alice Dream (Haldolium rmx) Finally on this track Haldolium begins to cut loose a little (actually quite a bit;). The mood is spacey and repetitive with an undercurrent of an electo synth. The bassline is driving and deep. It all combines to create a hypnotic driving bombshell. It has the energy of some old school driving psy with the more minimal approach of progressive today. About halfway through we get a breakdown and main synth line emerges from the depths that mimics the percussive stabs in one part and it is very catchy and good. When the bass/kick come back in we are blown into hyperspace. Fuck, I want to hear this loud sooo bad. Sweet f'in track. Track 5 - Photographic This track is a mixed bag for me. It is much more melodically focused than the previous tracks and has a sort of electro robot sound to it. Reminds me of X-Dream's new sound. I usually love when Haldolium uses more melodic changes and longer vocal samples/lyrics. Here I feel like some work and some don't. The "I take pictures, photographic pictures" works well with the synth that plays only when it comes on. "Bright light, dark room" kinda sounded contrived when I first heard it but in a big crowd and dark room probably would be pretty cool during the breakdown part. The turnaround synth that plays each time after the 'bright light, dark room' sample to bring the beat back is sweet. The rest of the vocals don't do a lot for me. My favorite synth comes in with 1:40 left but then at 1:30 another synth comes in that sounds a little fluffy. It sounds commercial but probably works well on the dance floor with a big crowd. If I heard it live I wouldn't complain. In terms of album placement it is an appropriately placed track to mix things up. Track 6 - Ridge A This track starts off pretty unsuspecting. A repeating note with delay and a pretty weak sounding kick (gives it a mysterious foggy harbor at night sort of feel). A simple off beat hi hat comes in and some background drones. Nothing special here but kinda intriguing. Then the bass comes in with a stronger kick and the low end is just brutal! I love it. Can only imagine how this sounds with some serious sub-woofers. This track is a progressive minimal dark brooding master piece. When the track breaks down around 3:30 there are some beautiful under-stated synth lines that emerge and draw you in by not being in your face but by being quiet. And then the kick comes back in again. Love. This song just works. It doesn't try too hard and everything finds a space to shine. Along with 'Alice Dream' best track so far. Track 7 - End of a Government More dark brooding sounds...this time more twisted. The synth lines in this song seem to materialize like some swamp creature slowly raising itself out of the water. The track builds very nicely with a lot of nice interplay between percussion and bassy melodic elements and even between the melodic elements themselves. Halfway through, the track breaks, and all the sudden we are getting a sermon about trade unions and government power by some women that goes on for over a minute straight. The long vocal sample wasn't really my cup of tea at first...its a little hard to follow and feels a little long winded and kinda breaks the energy of the first part of the song. Plus it felt a little cliche. However, with 2 mins left the long sample is over and we get a repeating sample of "yes i'm with you all the way, towards the end of a government". This sample and the way she says the last line is so infectious it is clear this is the point he is getting to. Its like a "yes we can" barrack obama chant for psy-trancers. It sounds awesome. I wish the middle portion of the track had this elegance but alas. It still is a pretty good track. Track 8 - In Life, We Have I'm just gonna say it. This track is tits. Everything about this track makes me want to get up and jump around. It has an excitement bubbling under the surface that makes it feel like a revelation. There is one main repeating vocal sample that goes "in life, we have". The supporting synths and samples are great at adding emphasis in places and energy in others. I am very impressed with how 'expressive' the sound fx are here. The second half of the song peaks beautifully. There is no meandering around here trying to sound cool. It is cool and its going places. The best track on the CD. Brilliant. Track 9 - Moral Conviction Starts with a heavy rolling dark bassline. Breaks into a breakbeat with the sample "moral conviction". This song is well programmed and does a good job creating a mood. It is well placed on the CD to break up things a little and begin preparing to wind down. However, it doesn't really grab me as a track in and of itself and neither do the vocal samples. Though I can appreciate some of its good qualities I feel like its main value is in relation to the other songs on the CD not in and of itself. I wouldn't feel any great loss if I woke up tomorrow and it was no longer on the CD. Track 10 - No-World This track starts off with a classic Haldolium sound and effected vocals samples. Oddly enough while one of my overall critiques to the rest of the album is it sounds like it needs an update out of the old school psy sound a little in some places this song with its throw back to previous Haldolium sounds is welcome here. The synth lines in the middle are kinda haunting and when the vocal samples come back in it feels like a nice way to bring some resolution to the CD as a whole and end it. Good track. Overall, I had a lot of expectations for this CD especially after hearing "In life, We have" samples on psyshop. I must say that the CD doesn't quite live up to all the hype I placed on it. I was expecting a perpective ultering masterpiece where Haldolium introduces us to the new hot sounds that other producers will be copying in the coming years as he has done in the past. Instead, we get a little bit of a retro sound where it doesn't feel like Haldolium is really venturing too far outside his comfort zone. Instead, it feels like a good bit of rehashing of previously explored themes and sounds littered with some exciting psy-progressive-minimal revelations that happened to pop out. Overall rating: 8.5/10. Best tracks: 2, 4!!, 6!, 8!!, 10.
  2. http-~~-//www.psyvibes.com/covers/frost%20raven-body%20snatchers%20ep.jpg Artist......: Frost Raven Title.......: Body Snatchers EP Genre.......: Full On Type........: EP/Single Rel. Date...: 2010 Label.......: Geomagnetic Records Country.....: United States Traklist: 01. Alien Contact 8:07 02. Body Snatcher 6:55 03. Cosmic Radiation 7:21 I was asked to write this review of Frost Raven's new EP "Bodysnatcher". Before going into detail regarding the individual tracks I'll just mention that the style incorporates elements of both goa and psychedelic full on. The bpms range from around 145 for the first two track to around 135 for the third. I'm throwing on my Sennheiser HD 280 pros for this one. The closed ear design is definitely the right atmosphere to hear this release in. Also, a note on the cover art. Its nice. However, it would be nice to see a less generic font next time. Now for the review: Alien Contact Alien Contact throws us into the mix quickly. Hit play and we already have a kick, snare, a goa type synth line and a sprinkling of supporting elements. Around 30 secs in the bass comes in. It has a driving feel with a bit of dirty electro. As the goa synth line fades out for a bit we get a nice slice of the rhythmic backbone with the bass and some nice sidechained reverb. This is good cause that goa line was sounding dated to me and I like hearing the bass being showcased here. The track progresses using some simple melodic hooks, added percussion, and sweep buildups. Around 130 in we get a new rising arpegiated synth line that is reminicent of many full on songs. However, it is used to good effect here, compliments the bass well and is a welcome addition. The track seems to push toward a fevorish pace throughout leaving you little space even during the breakdown. Later in the track we get some Infected note stabs with delay and then some stuttering synth lines. A key change with the bass and main line is attempted and sounds decent enough. My main critique with this track is we have heard it all before. Lots of familiar elements are used and in some cases done well and in others like the stuttering synth line are not the best. The track is strong in its ability to create tension, make use of fills and pattern interrupts at the end of bars, use a catchy rising synth line, and have a driving low end. The track is weak in its lack of personal vision and melodic complexity. It sounds more like a reflection of what has already been put out there than an offering of someones personal felt experience. However, this may have something to do with Frost Raven's desire to master the elements of a particular genre and therefore is a necessary artistic step, that should be supported, before moving toward greater artist freedom. Seeing the track from this view it is a success as Frost Raven shows he is quite competent working within the stylistic sounds of this genre. Body Snatcher Here we have a little more of an intro before dropping back in with the kick/bass. Around 45 secs in the track starts to capture my attention as some nice percussion is laid down that compliments the bass pattern. Once again we are driving at a very fast pace though the percussion does a nice job of making it a little more bouncy feeling rather than barrelling down. Around 2 mins in we get a very nice synth line that fills things up nicely while keeping it simple. The elements here work well together as the song progresses and the sustain opens up on the lead synth. I'm grooving:) Around 4 mins some background pads come in they open up the track even more. Nice work. At the 5 min mark things drop out and some cool delayed vocal whisper sounding textures take over. The track calms down from there though it feels like it has lost some of the sense of direction and attention to detail that made the middle portions strong. Overall this song starts out kinda lackluster but ends up getting into a real nice flow for the majority of the track. The track has a more rhythmically pulsing feel to it. The percussion, bass, and melodic elements do well to compliment one another and I think Frost Raven does well not to try to get more melodic here. So far this is my pick of the EP. Good work. Cosmic Radiation Unexpectedly Frost Raven brings the tempo and energy down with this one. However, I think it is wise as there is only so much intensity I can take at that energy level before I need a break. As the bass comes in by itself I'm not really digging its sound but as it settles into the mix things start to gel. Cosmic Radiation also has a lot more melodic focus than the previous tracks and does a good job juxtaposing different melodic elements. We get some familiar harmonies but I can't complain too much cause my head is nodding:) Somewhere around the 4 min mark I feel like I'm transported back to the land of Astral Projection:). While this track is not my favorite off the EP (I like Body Snatcher the best) I think it probably has the best feeling of continuity over the course of the entire track. Overall, this release was better than I anticipated. It certainly caters to the oldschool psy and goa sound. However, after giving it some time I like some of the nostalgia. Frost Raven has a good set of production skills to draw from and I can only see him improving as he further refines his personal vision and musical understanding. The tracks here demonstrate that he has a strong commitment to his music.
  3. I happen to agree with Tennant's assessment of this album mostly. Haven't listened to it much in depth so obviously there is room for it to grow on me. However, it felt like the melodies lacked depth and the territory was rehashed. I remember listening to Shpongle Falls for the first time and almost shitting myself. It was so different and so awesome and perfect. I loved how the earlier albums just felt so different from everything else. This one unfortunately feels like more of a familiar Shpongle rather than an attempt to reach out and reinvent their sound. Obviously the production is top notch and it is well composed. Just don't feel the excitment...but that may change some day.
  4. Your Review had me cracking up. "Obviously these guys travel to exotic locations playing festivals and carry only the essentials. Dicks." Love it. The rest of the review was quite funny as well. Especially as we got deeper into the CD. Yea, I haven't heard this one. Probably not going to bother. Everything I have heard from Symphonix has this promise like 'oh this might be good' but then it never manages to hold my attention and I get bored and listen to something else. I keep waiting for these guys to learn how to make music...they have been doing it for awhile...you think they would have got it by now. Reminds me of Vaishyas. Oh, well.
  5. After hearing Orchid Ishq became one of my favorite chill artists. Needless to say this album was hotly anticipated. A couple thoughts about some of the songs as someone has already mentioned them all: Track 2: Sama - I love how this song starts out. It has several various elements which all seem to be doing their own thing rhythmically wandering around and gradually gently coalesce into more 'order'. The first reviewer mentioned that there is an ethnic pad instrument that comes in 2/3rds through. The sound used possibly was reversed to create the effect. Its an absolutely stunning effect. Very beautiful and moving. Track 7: Persia - Wow, gorgeous pads. Really nice transitions between harmonies. Beautiful lush atmosphere created with a touch of sadness that gets washed away with each new pad. Listening to it is like watching a timelapse of the clouds and sun moving across the sky in India. The first reviewer mentioned how track 6 seems out of place. I can see that. However, I don't mind it so much. The rest of the album is so low key its nice to mix things up in my estimation a little. While I have heard this album several times some of the tracks still don't stick in my mind yet. What I mean by that is its hard to really get a strong feeling about some of the tracks as they are very subtle and feel kind of like bridges to other tracks. Which in turn become bridges themselves;) Track 4 and 8 especially feel like bridges. Track 5 is composed of quite beautiful evolving pads with no real percussion. This track along with Mandala are my favorites after Sama and Persia. While it is tempting to try to rate it against Orchid I don't feel ready to do that. However, I can say that while perhaps not everything I hoped for it maintains the integrity of the Ishq label. ...and by that I mean its good:)
  6. http-~~-//217.160.138.169/pic_b/spn1cd038_b.jpg Artist: Day.Din Title: Sync Yourself Label: Spin Twist Release: Nov. 2010 1. Sync Yourself 2. Complete Paradox 3. Heaven and Hell (Day.Din and DJ Fabio rmx) 4. Zurich 5. An Ordinary Day 6. Shadow Of A Smile 7. Run (Day.Din rmx) 8. Knock Out 9. Twin Peak 10. Northern Lights 11. Eyjafjallajoekull This is Day.Din's third studio album. And this is my first 'first person to review' on psynews.org! I'm excited. Just a little background so you know where I'm coming from. Long time psy-trance/progressive-psy listener that has in more recent years transitioned to listening to house, prog-house, techno, electro, and other genres of dance music. I do the DJ thing a little bit...mostly in the bedroom at the moment...though I have pretty strict standards for what I find worthy to play out. Day.Din I am somewhat familiar with. Have listened to his previous release (not in depth) and liked some of it though wasn't hugely attached. I always like hearing artists mature so I was looking forward to hearing what came out of this one. Now for the review: Track 1 - Sync Yourself: The very first sound you hear is crickets and then the sound of a mosquito is buzzing in your ear. I love it! Great atmosphere. Its followed by some bleeps, a thud, and strange vocal like pads that make you feel like your entering through a gateway to another dimension. As the sounds continue you begin to hear a very interestingly effected kick and snare fading up (with a hi-pass filter on it so you don't hear the bass yet). This is great. I love when producer take this much time on creating a great intro. When the bass kicks in its a little heavier than expected but I'll have to withhold judgment completely until I hear it on a loud system. Anyway, I'm not complaining. The track is progressing nicely. Some very nice melodic pads come in as the bass cuts out for awhile. The first time I heard the track I remember being struck by how sudden it seemed the bass would kick in with not much build up (but kinda like it:). During the main breakdown we hear the nice pads again and then some stuttering vocals that Neelix has popularized. Familiar sounding in that regard but done very nicely. Overall, no complaints here. This will make a great track to start any party. Track 2 - Complete Paradox: The second track starts and I'm thinking 'alright now the test to see how well Day.Din can keep this energy going'. We have some pads and a vocal sample that has been used by other artists. Namely on the first track of Freq's album 'GoSub 20'. The kick and bass come in and they have a nice rhythmic interaction between them and the percussion. I like this sparseness. Then we get some pads and delayed synths. These sound alright...little fluffy...nothing to get crazy over. Around 3 mins we get a breakdown and a new melodic synth. This one takes over and has more promise. When the bass comes these sound great together. Very big and commanding. Once again nice use of sparseness. Overall not as consistently solid as the first track but still very good. Up until the 3 min mark I wasn't sure about it but everything after makes it a keeper. Nice work. Track 3 - Heaven and Hell: This track is done with Fabio. I like what I've heard from Fabio with Bitmonx as well as previously with Day.Din so I expect this to be good. We hear some atmosphere and a vocal sample about drugs at the beginning and then the bass is back in. A really nice synth hook comes in at 1:30. The breakdown happens and the bass takes over getting filtered in and out. The bass comes back and I'm enjoying myself. Then we get another breakdown and an unexpected vocal stutter saying 'heroin, heroin, heroin'. Near the end of the track I'm waiting to hear the nice synth hook come back to bring things full circle and it does:). This track like the second starts off somewhat generic and then goes some very interesting places and makes some unexpected twists. Once again very nice work. Track 4 - Zurich: Alright, finally a track I can critique a little. The bass in this one sounds like a square wave is humping the speaker...in a kinda butt rock way. We get some more somewhat fluffy synths and stuttering vocals throughout. There is a nice rhythmic synth that happens at various points to make things interesting. Overall this track is not bad and I would probably be dancing to it at a party. However, I'm not going to add it to my DJ list. It is pretty decent but doesn't do enough to stand out as something new in my opinion. Track 5 - An Ordinary Day: Some real nice guitars start this one out and I get the sense its going to be a good one. The kick is massive. We get an enjoyable slow progression of events. Some emotional synths that buildup and then breakdown the bass sounding pretty good. About 2/3rds through the guitars come back in. These will be a great sounding break at a party. Overall, this track is pretty solid. Track 6 - Shadow of A Smile: Track 6 starts and I am beginning to trust Day.Din's putting together a solid album at this point. He uses a similar vocal sample to bring in the bass/kick on several different tracks on this album and it is an interesting effect. About 2 mins in Neelix makes another guest appearance (it just sounds exactly like him). Halfway through, we get a lady singing something during the breakdown. Its kinda cheezy and while I'm not opposed to vocal this sounds kinda cliche. After she has finished the first line Day.Din does a very intesting job effecting her voice in such a way to build up the track for the bass to come back in. This sounds real nice and in fact the vocal clips used in the rest of the song (as well as the rest of the song itself) sound quite good. Its a shame about the middle being just a bit too much. Kinda ruins the track for me. Track 7 - Run: I swear Neelix has reincarnated into Day.Din's album. The bass in this one is all over Neelix as well as the stuttering vocals used. Its a short track and it has a very nice short melodic breakdown in the middle of it that reappears at the end. Despite me nagging on Day.Din for sounding like Neelix I'm not complaining. This sounds good and I'm actually enjoying more than the little I've heard of Neelix's new album. Nice track. Track 8 - Knock Out: Nothing new here. More of the same themes used throughout. But unlike track 4 I fink this one works for me. I'm happy to hear more of this fat bass (which sounds much like track 2). This track is placed well in the album. It is kinda a summing up of some themes that have taken place before it and does a good job of keeping you in the flow without being boring or cheesy. Track 9 - Twin Peak: Starts off letting you know we are getting things started a little new again with an energetic kick/bassline. We get some somewhat fluffy melodic stuff going on and then a breakdown about halfway through with the melody carrying through. Some more distorted organish synth sounds come in to make it really full and it starts sounding nice. When the kick comes in we get a really great simple synth line that rhythmically stabs between the kick and bass and sounds great. This section makes it enough for me to consider this track a keeper though overall it is not as consistently exciting as this part. Track 10 - Northern Lights: I like how this track gets going. The Kick and Bass are really pumping but in a kinda subdued way and there is a nice repetitive synth bar that creates some anticipation. The break happens and we get some washing over type synths. The track reminds me of Vibrasphere. It has kinda a lost at sea sort of feel to it. I'm not exactly a huge fan of this style which puts me a little on the fence but this track does some other things very well...namely the bass:)....and that catchy synth line dammit! Track 11 - Eyjafjallajoekull As with tradition a somewhat chiller track ends the CD. Day.Din is also one of the producers behind the 'Nordlight' project. Here we get some nice pads and nice clicky percussion with a soothing bass hit every once in awhile. This track evolves nicely adding in some real cool stutter horn type synths and then a unexpected very slow kick drum. Reminds me of the slow kick drum used in Vibrasphere's track Erosion. Good song to end the CD with and also a good song to bring the party down with as well. Overall: Very Solid release in my opinion. Better than I expected. Fav tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. Definitely has Neelix to thank for some inspiration on this one. However, that said I think Day.Din pulls off the Neelix thing better than Neelix in many cases here. Anyway, it will be fun to mix the two of them together:). Freq will also go well with this album. There isn't a lot of new ground here but Day.Din does a good job of taking the familiar and making it sound new and interesting. One thing I particularly liked about the CD is that it felt like Day.Din gave the songs a chance to evolve and didn't just try to force a particular theme to work throughout. This led to some fun and interesting twists and kept me curious to hear what might happen later that would increase a songs interest. Also, the album seems to have a bit more emotional depth and melodic interest than his previous work. I used to be a big fan for rating a CD on a 1-10 but I listen to so many different genres now it is tough to compare across genres sometimes. Within the Progress Psychedelic Trance/House Genre this rates highly in my opinion and among other genres it rates pretty highly as well. Hopefully you enjoyed my review. Hope its not too long;p
  7. So I got into Psy-trance probably about a decade ago. Classical Mushroom was my first CD...and I was in love. Then one day I discovered psynews.org (back before this site was taken down for renovation!) and psyshop.com and there my love blossomed . I used to read lots of reviews and listen to all the samples of cds I could find. I discovered lots of amazing artists. Then several years later after getting tired of psytrance and feeling like nothing especially new was coming out my attention began shifting to the progressive-psy artists. I discovered Son Kite, the Digital Structures label, and of course Iboga Records. Once again I was excited for several years before I felt like I had a grasp on most all the major players and all the new artists that came out were not bringing anything new to the table. My tastes have since diversified into techno, house, minimal, etc...(at least as far as dance music goes). Now everything has come full circle (though not for the first time). I find myself interested in the full-on category once again and want to catch up on what I have missed. My patience seems to be shorter now and I have less interested in going through all the reviews in the last five years and playing out samples from each album. So...I'm asking for your help. I am pretty picky about what I listen to at this point. I tend to like more mature artists who have honed their craft. Below is a list of some of my favorite full-on artists so you can get a feel for what I like. Full-on: Infected Mushroom, Hallucinogen, Shpongle/Younger Brother, Logic Bomb/Tranan, Psysex, Hux Flux, Cosma, Saiko-Pod/Koxbox, Space Cat, X-Dream. I'm also a big fan of progressive-psy artists: Son Kite, Ticon, Atmos, Antix, Ace Ventura, Fiord, D-Nox & Beckers, Bitmonx, Freq, Haldolium, Jaia, Phony Orphants/Emok, Vibrasphere, Perfect Stranger, and Neelix among others. From reading some recent reviews I have discovered recently: Loud (enjoying their first album...haven't gotten to the others yet), La Mila (pretty solid for their first release...nice melodies), and a couple trax of California Sunshine (though some get too cheezzed out for me). So there you have it. If you have any suggestions of great full-on albums in the past 5 years let me know. I'm also interested in any must have trax that may have been released on comps. There may be a fair bit of stuff that I have already heard suggested, and I of course keep track of new releases from my favorite artists, but as all you hard-core psytrancers know every time you discover a new artist or album that blows your mind it makes it all worth it again. Thanks!
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