[DeathPosture]

Nocturna - Cronik



Hi-res cover: front + back

Artist: Nocturna (Spain)
Title: Cronik
Format: CD (jewel case)
Label: Inpsyde Media (Italy)
Cat. #: IME 009
Distribution: Wirikuta / Beatspace
Date: 23 March 2006

Track listing:

01. 07’04” No Fear
02. 07’09” Out There
03. 07’24” Blasting
04. 07’07” Nocsak
05. 07’19” Back In Island
06. 06’23” Craket
07. 07’40” Loco Pirulo
08. 07’20” Skating Solar Planets
09. 07’16” Enterrador
10. 05’52” Uda Project

.m3u-playlist: http://tinyurl.com/f8m5a (all tracks!)

Review:

Scare tactics…

Nocturna is a project by Ibiza-based producer Willie Buetas… Supposedly he’s a successful house producer and this darkpsy alias is his aggressive outlet… Released by Italy’s Inpsyde Media, this album is, like Derango’s excellent debut album TuMuLT was, a departure from the label’s usual very dark, aggressive night time style… This is still darkish trance, but it’s has a more uplifting nature than some of the earlier, hard-hitting compilations… Let’s avoid looking at the hideous cover and focus on the music…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: No Fear
The album kicks off with a scary, yet not too dark piece of horror trance… The desperate panting in the intro is downright scary and the eerie melody that follows adds to the general frightening atmosphere… Spooky stuff – not unlike what The Misted Muppet did a couple of years back on their debut album… Not too dark, not too full-on – just pure, scary night trance… Very refreshing!

#02: Out There
“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell in the air.” The next track starts with a Balearic-slash-majestic manner with huge melodic pads, Galadriel samples and some subtle synth tweakage… The acid is flowing freely and the bassline is hard-hitting, but still, the track never crosses fully over into darkpsy… The many twists, turns and surprises help secure my full attention and this track is surprisingly trippy…

#03: Blasting
Again a track that opens with undecipherable, scary voices… Good start! The bassline seems very bland and totally old-school at first… But wait – it’s a diversion! Before you know it, the track transforms into a fully-loaded, scary piece of nocturnal night-trance… Sadly it’s a tad more monotonous than the previous tracks… It takes too long before the good stuff kicks in, I’m afraid – and the ending seems exceedingly long… It’s not bad; it’s not just as good as previous tracks…

#04: Nocsak
Woow, another very original intro – extremely atmospheric! Luckily the bassline is improved here and this is a bouncy, electro-influenced psytrance track… Packed with rich, diverse influences this is a very versatile track – which even incorporates children’s crying into the rhythm section… And it really works! Very original! I’m totally diggin’ it!

#05: Back In Island
This title reminds me of something hidden deep in the back of my brain… Oh no, it’s those lyrics… ‘Hey, we’re going to Ibiza… Back to the island!’ This must be Willie’s tribute to the Vengaboys? Ok, ok – maybe not… This is in fact pretty straight-forward trance with heavy psy influences and a pounding bassline… I’m not a fan of those epic melodies in the background, but the rest of the track is quite ok with its minimal appearance… Ok, but that’s it……

#06: Craket
Next up is more of the fluff we got in the previous track – and I think Willie’s Ibiza hideout is beginning to shine thru more frequently now… This is basically uplifting morning trance – with the occasional psy-tweak… It’s not bad; I just like the more trippy tracks over this… The track picks up towards the end, but I’m afraid the damage has been done… :-/

#07: Loco Pirulo
But luckily Loco Pirulo is here to save the day… And I’m telling you, this is nothing even close to being fluffy – this is easily the fastest track here… The intro is eerie as always and is soon brutally interrupted by a banging, relentless bassline, subtle acid-lines, loco tweaks and some seriously beautiful, majestic & melancholy melodies… All that makes one hell of a track… Brilliant!

#08: Skating Solar Planets
“[…] blood and guts. I want to broaden the format! Mrs. Cassandra I know they brought you in here” The next track is hard to describe style wise… It’s somewhere in between lighter morning trance, and darker, slashing night-trance… It’s a hybrid! The percussion seems a little too basic at times, but besides from that this track is pretty neat… Not a stand-out though…

#09: Enterrador
“Would you like me to play for you?” Yes please! But make it interesting! This track takes a slightly darker approach and the bassline seems bland again… And that’s a shame when we know just how good Willie can make it sound… So yeah, again this is a little too boring compared to some of the other tracks…

#10: Uda Project
As legend prescribes, the last track off an artist album is often used either to chill-out or to experiment heavily… And I’m happy to say, that this is the latter… This is an experimental, oddball track that fuses all kinds of different genres into on, crazy-ass track… Not unlike some of the stuff coming out of Finland or Australia… Very psychedelic and very eclectic… I really like it – too bad it’s so short though…

Right, when I first saw this album announced I laughed hard at the crappy artwork – and I was expecting a pretentious, hard-as-fuck technoid darkpsy album… But trust me – this is *not* darkpsy… This is psytrance which crosses well over into both darker night trance, but also uplifting melodic morning trance… Like a cross between Penta, 12 Moons and Drumatik – and a whole bunch of other artists… The BPM range is somewhere between 140 and145 (I’m guessing here, as I don’t have a BPM counter) and generally I was positively surprised – this album is much more versatile than I would have hoped for…

There are a couple of tracks that didn’t really do much for me, but luckily also quite a few tracks that took me by storm… The cover art sucks royally! Sorry Willie, I’m not dissing your mug – but your yellow zombie looks doesn’t correspond with the actual music. And that’s a compliment! So, don’t judge a book by its cover – give this CD a shot, and you might get a positive surprise! I know I did… Recommended to fans of darkish, cross-over psytrance with evident links to both morning and night trance… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1, 2, 4, 7(!), 10

DeathPosture


External links:
Inpsyde Media: http://www.inpsyde-media.com
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/643989
Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/ztbfj
Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/zepy2
Discobole: http://tinyurl.com/jauu3
Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/hth7m
Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/zpn3n
Chaos: http://tinyurl.com/kwla9
Ajuca: http://tinyurl.com/gzou4
Juno: http://tinyurl.com/jt5ng

[Templar]

Nocturna - Cronik

Inpsyde Media, 2006

1. No Fear
2. Out There
3. Blasting
4. Nocsak
5. Back In Island
6. Craket
7. Loco Pirulo
8. Skating Solar Planets
9. Enterrador
10. Uda Project

I must admit that this is the first time I have stumbled upon Willie Buetas, the man behind Nocturna. He is another musician from Ibizia, but, unlike some other artists from the land of never-ending parties, he chose a different path than, lets say, the Spun Records crew, which can be easily heard even after a quick glance at the CD's musical content. "Cronik" is a debut album of Willie under the guise of Nocturna and it was released on Inpsyde Media, a label which always pops the likes of "Psychedelic Sparks" compilation (remember Psynews.org contest?) and Derango's "Tumult" album into my mind. It goes without saying that the cover is really awful. As far as I am concerned, it evokes the same emotions as a woman with moustache or a fly in the soup. It stands a real competition for some other butt-ugly covers like the one on "Most Wanted presents Raja Ram - The Godfather", a resemblance of what the scene looks like, or the cover of Hypersonic's album "Freedom", which depicts perfect wanking fodder for gay magazines. Fortunately, major drawbacks of this album end with its cover, as the inside proves to be a match for my picky music-buds.

We start off with "No Fear". Despite the name, the track gets under your skin and gives you the chills with its effective climate and stimulating samples. Definitely one of the best and distinguishing tracks on this CD. The second track, "Out There", kicks off with some well known phrases from a well known movie ("The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell in the air.") and quickly turns into a dark-trance acid frenzy. It manages to sustain the climate of his preceeder, though there is clearly more power in it. Hard and pounding, just the way I like it. "Blasting" is another tune with a solid backbone, though less straightforward than the previous track. Track 4 has taken me by surprise with its intro - astonishing! "Nocsak" is really willing to show who is in charge around here. I have the feeling that mr Buetas has reached his full potential with this track, this is really something and I mean it. The track is skilfully packed with samples of crying children (simply breathtaking and jaw-dropping), there is even something for the Indian-chants-freaks. One word: phew. "Back To Island" is much more minimalistic than the rest, which can prove as a certain disadvantage, nevertheless it is still deep and moreover hypnotic. With "Craket", Buetas takes - surprise, surprise - a more optymistic approach. On the whole it is not as profound and catching as the previous tracks, which makes me want to skip it. Luckily, "Loco Pirulo" easily dissolves this let-down in its subtle acid pit, serving one of the fastest and pounding tunes, yet maintaning sparks of joyfull atmosphere. If you don't like it, go f*ck a sheep or something. Smashing and mouth-watering piece of a mad dancefloor mo-fo. After an outstanding track came a mild tune, "Skating Solar Planets" to be exact. Nothing impressive here really. Unfortunately, "Enterrador" is not an attention-grabber either… "Uda Project" comes to the rescue and closes the CD with a faster tempo. A bizzare though well built tune to end the whole thing.

In the end, the album is like an atmospheric thriller (though not entirely dark and scary), which is sure to creep you out with its highly effective elements. It stays with you, even haunts you. Willie Buetas a.k.a. Nocturna did a splendid job here, no doubt about the fact that he is a talented guy, though there are parts of "Cronik" that could be much better than they are. Still, the album leaves an overall positive impression and most of the tracks are a gripping and satisfying experience at the same time, great for the dancefloor as well as for homelistening. Some people will definitely get hooked on it. I did.

Links:

http://www.inpsyde-media.com
http://www.psyshop.c.../ime1cd009.html
http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5345

Templar / http://www.psytrance.pl

[nocturna]

nice thx

[NT]

Loco Pirulo

Is a FINE and already a classic track! (in my opinion) Damn, those synths and that trumpet + trumpet like synths are so atmospheric and done so well! AWESOME! Catchy tune as well... bit of morning trance though, not pure nighttime stuff imo.. (well, if you don't count the BPM's..)

Love the intro on "Back In Island" as well... and "Nocsak" reminds me of those good ol' 80's/90's horrormovies!