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And people wonder why this forum going downhill, this is a review thread, keep it that way

oh man, do i know what you mean 😃 😅

I will have to get back to you about the best one. What I do know is I've been getting real tired of the galloping horse KBBB these last few days, especially if it isn't done too well. What sucks is I have exactly that in the track I am working on. I will do something different next time. Off the top of my head, Hallucinogen always had great kick and bass and they were unique. I think he had the kick and bass playing at the same time as well. I am also reminded of this track, though listening to it now it's the bassy acid that's memorable but the kick and bass were still really good anyway:

Xenomorph Netherverse 2024 Suntrip Records 1 Sinister Contours 9:17 2 Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) 8:03 3 War In Heaven 8:35 4 Negative Time (-L Di/-Dt Mix) 8:20 5 No Beginning No End 8:39 6 Nebula Of Souls 7:47 7 Subdimensional Anomaly 8:38 8 Abode Of The Damned 8:46 9 Netherverse 8:38 So Mark Petrick comes in 2024 with Netherverse, his fourth album and the one to accompany 2023's superb ep "Negative Time". Is it any cop? "Sinister Contours" telegraphs Petrick's self-evident intention: he is for sure following the left hand path. This means a heavily arpeggiated track with a threatening minor melody. There'll be no easy upliftment on this album; and no cheese! But isn't the whole gothic darkness thing quite cheesy? Well yeah, if we are talking Twilight movies with aristocratic pretty boy vampires who bling in the sunlight, or perhaps campy Tim Burton style goth-lite. But we are not talking that here. No easy joy, no happy endings, on this sinister path, but plenty of eerie and other disquieting feelings. A "Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix)" is probably my favourite track on the album. Here we seem to be on a space ship on a quest for a new home and we dive deep into a black hole, or something like that, indicated by the "our sun is dying... we are dust" sample and another spaceship sample (Petrick is a master of the appropriate sample - he really tells stories with his samples, which are carefully chosen). We sense here how cosmic Xenomorph's vision for this album is. The production quality on this track has to be heard on a good hifi to fully appreciate it - mindblowing. EPIC! A+++ "War In Heaven" starts off with a simple four-note melody that summons up fairy tale horror, but at the half way mark the track shifts up a gear and achieves take off with sawing synths. The "war in heaven" sample states succintly Petrick's apparent philosophy that the tension between good and evil is the propulsive force that drives the universe. A dance floor monster! A+ "Negative Time" is from the accompanying ep of that name. Plenty of pretty tinkles and juddering synth melodies here make for a track that is almost progressive trance - a more mellow track than the ones that preceded it, quite blissed out and dreamy. A "No Beginning No End" is an ourobouros in both concept and in big swirling melodies. These melodies do seem like spiralling nebulae. At 3.15 it turns darker with some delightfully chewy bass 303 and then the spiralling begins again, growing out of the darkness. Another epic trancer with massive melodies. Petrick has worked hard on making these melodies as echoing and big in scale as possible. A "Nebula Of Souls" - I love this slightly more minimal track. It features mysterious vaporous synths at the start, which are utterly beautiful and uplifting in a creepy way. There's a whap-whap sound that continues throughout, giving propulsion; it builds to a grinding climax and then ends on moody cello - simply stunning. A+ "Subdimensional Anomaly" starts with twinkling synths (lots of those sounds on this album) and then builds towards twisting leads against a stumping beat. There's a lovely sense of calm and observation behind this track. A "Abode Of The Damned" is as dark as its title, beginning with a sample about a graveyard and its ghosts. There's a great climbing bass arpeggio that kicks things off and then we have minor key choirs so beloved of dungeon synth and black metal and used quite regularly on Cassandra's Nightmare. This track could easily have been from that first album. At the four minute mark the bass goes into double time and here comes the growly acid that slowly morphs into long pads. Yo party people, are you ready to chew your tongue off and lose your shit? I'd love to see what this track would do to a dancefloor. A+ "Netherverse" - the come down track. Vaporous spacey synth, twangy echoes, a slow beat, eventually builds to the expected long and melancholic pads. I'm a huge fan of sloa Goa, but this is not an especially outstanding example, coming across as an unfinished fragment, and is the least good track on the album for me. B So is it any cop? You betcha it is. What I particularly liked about this album is that Xenomorph has not stood still, unsurprisingly perhaps as so many years have passed. This is a unique lighter and more cosmic album in his discography. Terrifying, eerie, haunting, sinister, at moments, but also full of cosmic beauty, Xenomorph's vision achieves maturity here. It seems that his albums are all quite different, despite there being strong similarities (not least the superb production and sound quality of all of them). I characterise them like this: Cassandra's Nightmare 1998: cinematic horror trance Qlippoth 2003: spirit possession Demagoguery of the Obscurants 2007: the conspiracy album Netherverse 2024: cosmic darkness and light In this fourth album, it seems to me that Petrick goes scifi and reaches for the stars, seeing the dialectic between light and darkness, matter and antimatter, creation and destruction, as the cosmic turbine that powers all. His vision has become epic and fully realised by this point it seems to me in that it appreciates all, including the disgusting and repressed, and values all equally. A divinely balanced cosmic vision. Does such a vision appeal to you? It is a bit early in the year, but I have no doubt that this is already one of my records of the year. Actually, my only strong criticism of this album and the ep is the cover art - weak in both cases. Finally, I am inspired to look back over his oeuvre as the body of work that triggered an entire (sub-)genre: darkpsy. You could argue against this notion, pointing out the other great dark Goa albums that helped ignite darker psychedelic trance: Sandman's Witchcraft, Orichalcum and the Deviant Orichalcum and the Deviant, Cydonia Fear of a Red Planet, UX Ultimate Experience, and so on. This would be correct: all played their part. Nevertheless, nothing was nearly as dark and scary as Cassandra's Nightmare and it remains the keystone album. So Xenomorph's latest album deserves to be seen in this wider context as part of the genre that his first album kickstarted. Amazing what can come out of watching a few horror movies and being open-minded enough to meld trance with the gothic, industrial, and metal. ~*~

I just want to say that makes me very happy that there is a new album using the real goa trance, psytrance methods, art and skill, then just using new technology in a non sense way, I feel those days many artists should use the technology more wisely, all those xenomorph tracks make sense and seem to tell a story, my favourite track is the negative time.

To be honest I doubt most of those Guests on Online Users are humans. Could be bots and AIs. Agree with the contribute comment. Don't agree with "no balls" comment

Yup I also think it's him tbh. Anyway.. I feel really bad about this thread having sunk into the trenches and I hope a mod cleans it all up. Hardly fair on the review even though he didn't post a link it was still a good review 😥 either way mr doktor didn't deserve all of this off topic and I take responsibility for most of it.

@astralprojection would be funny if the admin removes the anonymity of emoji reactions and we find out who constantly posts these reactions, though I am pretty confident it is @HolyLight

It's OK to be sensitive. Lots of us are sensitive. I don't know about anyone else but I don't want you to leave the forum. I just feel like it's better to tone down the totally intense way you write your criticisms, if you can. For example you're not wrong that it's helpful for a review to include a link to the music. But if you say it the way you did full of intense insulting superlatives like "nothing I hate more", and calling him things like "lazy" and "ignorant" which are usually hurtful to someone, if you say it like that then you will get these kind of reactions. I'm puzzled that it needs spelling out but you contribute a lot to this site, so I just want to figure things out. I mean, are you going for a jokey style with those kind of comments? It doesn't work. Any further discussion should move to a different thread IMHO.

Please do, nothing we need more over here than more reviews and content! Yeah bandcamp is a great way to both let the reader quickly check out the music as well as promoting the artist. Just don't be lazy and ignorant like the doktor (and then be crazy enough to redirect it back to me as if I'm the problem and not him for not posting a single fkn link) and you'll be more than fine 😊

And id really appreciate if you, in the future, could post a listenable link to the album you're reviewing, thanks What's with the quoting? We all can read what I wrote but thanks for really driving my point home! 😚 And I'm gonna comment even more on your threads now. 😃 (and I just have to mention the "reactions". Haha. It's kind of hilarious. So basically you want reviews with 0 links to the album in question. And hate if someone calls that out. Gotcha and holy shit people here seem to have their little pink panties in a twist these days. Jesus christ, grow up)

Really nice review... ....And a little bit of drama added to keep things interested. You can buy the release here: https://digitalreprints.bandcamp.com/album/human-odyssey And in the meantime check the new 2xCD Elysium's release as well :) https://digitalreprints.bandcamp.com/album/a-journey-through-time-space

"Nothing I hate more", "it's just lazy", "ignorant", "disrespectful", "God I hate that so much", "disrespectful", "damn", "frigging"... I would really prefer it if you no longer commented on any of my threads please. Thanks, I would really appreciate that.

Moon Tripper - Hypnotic Frequencies Altar Records - ARCDA130 I hadn't heard of Moon Tripper before, the Dubai-based artist Brad Ashtar. I came across this album because I enjoy psychill and want to start posting reviews of new music here so I was looking over Altar Records' recent catalog. 1. Moon Tripper – Inside Your Head 13:03 2. Astral Waves – Black Panther Medicine (Moon Tripper Remix) 10:15 3. Moon Tripper – Mystical Realm 6:57 4. Moon Tripper – Transcendental 7:15 5. Moon Tripper – Arise 6:00 6. Moon Tripper – Hypnotic Frequencies 6:59 7. Moon Tripper – Dopamine 7:55 8. Moon Tripper – Spiritual Smiles 8:53 9. Moon Tripper – Elevated State 8:00 10. Moon Tripper – Earth's Consciousness 6:46 1. Inside Your Head: This has a lovely long build up with mysterious pads, slow flute, growly synth sounds, what I think is a sitar sound, tribal drums and later a nice kick and bass come in. A little reminiscent of Elysium to me but with the psy turned down and ambience cranked up I suppose. 6/10 2. Black Panther Medicine (Moon Tripper Remix): We start with some tribal voices and cool drippy sounds. The kick and bass makes it sound a little bit dark and we have some nice somewhat tribal percussion coming in then some really trippy melodic synths. Nice. 9/10 3. Mystical Realm: This track is harder and a lot more psychedelic than the earlier ones but still has a lot of ambience. A nice, slightly more irregular beat. 7/10 4. Transcendental: We continue the harder psychedelic theme with this one which is really nice with layers of squelchy synths and still little bits of ambience sprinkled in here and there. 8/10 5. Arise: A mystical sparkley opening with a female voice and some flutey ambiences. Then the driving kick and bass come in quite near the start and groovy synth stabs. It feels more ambient than the previous track whilst maintaining the pace and energy. 7/10 6. Hypnotic Frequencies: For the title track we're back to harder psy again with some really tasty acid lines. The production quality is nice and the pads envelope you with a real sense of depth and immersion. If you only have time for one track, listen to this one. 9/10 7. Dopamine: This sounds closer to pure psytrance to me. The light sort of synth-almost-a-flute melody is nice from about 1:40. Past the halfway mark I must admit I was losing interest a bit but the closing parts of the track were a bit better. As mainly a Goa fan I may not be the target audience. 5/10 8. Spiritual Smiles: It opens with chanting, then the standard kick and bass, and a fairly laid back mood with lots of weird ambient sounds and one meandering synth. Then from around 4 minutes we get nice acid coming in. A trippy breakdown where the chanting comes back. 8/10 9. Elevated State: This one is some crazy mind jumbling psytrance. Sounds to me a bit like darkpsy with the tempo turned down slightly. 6/10 10. Earth's Consciousness: We end with another serviceable psytrance track that's well put together but not really my cup of tea. 5/10 As primarily a Goa fan who also enjoys psychill and ambient but is less keen on modern psy, I find this album a bit of a mixed bag, but the good bits are great and the rest of it I certaintly wouldn't mind having on in the background. I deliberately listened to this before trying any of Moon Tripper's older music. It will be interesting to see if that is more to my tastes. 6/10 https://moon-tripper.bandcamp.com/album/hypnotic-frequencies?label=3714585001&tab=music

Xenomorph - Netherverse (2024) Suntrip Records 1. Sinister Contours 2. Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) 3. War In Heaven 4. Negative Time (-L Di/-Dt Mix) 5. No Beginning No End 6. Nebula Of Souls 7. Subdimensional Anomaly 8. Abode Of The Damned 9. Netherverse It's so interesting to read the comments here. I found the the Negative Time EP (2023) fairly monotonous, lacking the visceral, dynamic energy of Mark Petrick's previous albums. A brief recap, Cassandra's Nightmare (1998) was like Goa chapters in a horror film. It took risks and showcased a new approach to Goa. Qlippoth (2003) was more mature and provocative. Demagoguery of the Obscurants (2007) was a concept album reflecting the uncompromising, tragic [old world] vision of the elites (the dark ones via cabal) phases ending with Nuclear Winter. Years later, Xenomorph singles began appearing on Suntrip comps. Petrick's style was more contemporary, less hard edged, technical, more melodic and smooth. It was with Suntrip that I felt something powerful, raw, daring, and organic just did not cross-over that made this artist so brazen, unrestrained, and impressive. Fast forward to Netherworld (2024), the first main album by Xenomorph in 17 years. 1. Sinister Contours starts with strong atmosphere and a solid beat. The synths and samples are catchy, dark (not heavy dark) fun and danceable. The gritty synths in the third minute are catchy too, coupled with tight mixing despite the fairly simple sound design. The second act transitions at 4:15. Little soundscapes fly by as we catch our breath. An oriental synth arrives at 5:53, coupled with supporting synths, darker samples, a throbbing bass line. These elements are good! I like the ice cold ambient at 6:05. By this point however, the oriental sound design has grown repetitive as it crossed the sixth minute. The first two acts were substantially more interesting, fun, arresting, dynamically mixed, and punchy. The last act is too repetitive, as if stuck on a tape loop until breaking out at 7:48 that sounds better before falling prey to the same issue. The third act deserved to be exciting, punchy, developed, fun, and memorable, as any third act should compliment the first two, but it comes across as lazy and pales in comparison, as if the artist threw in the towel, and that's disappointing. I was really into this song beforehand and thought it was good/great, darkly sleek, fun, and danceable despite the simple beat, bass line, and more mainstream-friendly (without being commercial thankfully) sound programming. The song inspired me to listen to the opening track, Prognosis on Demagoguery of the Obscurants (2007), confirming that this artist can produce some of the strongest tracks from start to finish when he commits his mind to doing so. B- 2. Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) is MUCH BETTER than Sinister Contours IMO, and my top, if not one of my top favourites here. I LOVE the ominous opening, the raspy samples (that somehow work with the), atmosphere and synths. I LOVE the space astronaut sound accent effects (end of first minute), and the sound/melody work is excellent. The song gets richer, more tasty and delectable as it progresses. This is a great example of duality, rather than pure dark-evil-- combining darkness with light. Then a key change at 3:30, and the song does possibly the most beautiful, transformational thing I've ever heard from this artist to date, completely elevating the journey into cosmic, transcendental realms of growth and development before sliding back into the dangerous void. Sure the beat and baseline are pretty standard, and I'm okay with that. It's everything on top of it that's riveting and so unexpectedly strong, evocative, and enjoyable! This (more balanced in duality) song is so innovative, catchy, and welcome from what I'm used to hearing from this artist. It's less hard hitting (beat-wise, synths, grit) than his other songs, and I'm okay with that. Even a transition in the fifth minute gifts us more jewels via sound/melody work. Maybe the second half of the last act could have emphasized more edgier synths, but I'm nitpicking. This is such a well done song. It's imaginative and beautifully helmed from start to finish. Excellent track! A- 3. War In Heaven is a return to harder hitting, darker content with catchy sound/melody designs. This is closer to what I thought the opening track was going to be like from start to finish. I notice some cross-over sounds that remind me of Demagoguery Of the Obscurants (2007) which I love. The sound/melody work is crisp and energetic, though somewhat simple in arrangement, complimented by voice samples and plenty to engage my mind. The music improves as the song progresses. I love the blinking little synth effect at 4:03 (I wish that reprised just once more later) and how a voice sample transitions to catchier terrain. This has punchy (danceable) synths, and I love the little dynamic sound/progression at 5:12. I'm a sucker for catchy transitions to new surprises, sound/melody work, mixing. The contemporary meets nostalgic sound compliments. The last act brings everything together like a dark albeit less dark (than previous albums) approach coupled with melodies had A Nightmare on Elm Street had a Goa song. That said, I feel as if the music is just a bit restrained in power, rawness, grit, and delivery, as if the artist is fairly reserved to unleash his greater potential via fiery power. All in all, I enjoyed the smooth, fluid production, sound engineering, and delivery. Great track! B+ 4. Negative Time (-L Di/-Dt Mix) starts strong. We get a synth lead that breaks through like a tidal wave (beautiful effect) at 0:57 followed by more complexity. The first act is catchy, though repetition starts to sink in just before things shift at 2:40. We reach an interlude at 3:30 via voice sample that sounds like Lance Henriksen in one of his intriguing character roles. I like how the tone grow darker in the fifth minute. The song's synths remind me of the third album to some degree. The third act merges fresh ideas, good mixing and melodies. The end of the sixth into seventh minute features key changes, however they (here) combined with the sound design (arrangement) made the song feel more conventional and formulaic. But that's not make or break despite the song losing its sharp edge in the final moments. Nonetheless, I admire the dualistic rather than being dark-evil approach. I think there could have been more of a finale (edgy climax) towards the end. Otherwise, another great track! B+ 5. No Beginning No End starts promising, for about a minute. The dark tone is decent along with the sound at 1:03, though the synth at 1:30 wears thin along with the second and third minute. The synths around 3:33 is catchy via grittier (something this album lacks), but it's quickly discarded for a more conventional approach going forward, and this is where I start to lose interest. The predictable, redundant sound design builds up before climaxing into a conventional, repetitive, and uneventful final act. This song began with so much potential. Even its title sounds dark and intriguing, but the direction is generic (formulaic), redundant, and forgettable. More fire, grit, variety, complexity, kickass stomping energy and complexity, atmosphere, and just a better more contextualized song to the album would have been wonderful. And is it me or does this feel and sound rushed? The more I listen to it, the less I like it, and the more turned off I am. This artist is way too talented to release stuff bordering on selling out. C 6. Nebula Of Souls starts great like a dark fantasy. I like the atmosphere, enchanting sounds and synths. The first act builds nicely. Little squiggly sounds mingle with soundscapes in ice-cold moving atmosphere. There's a recurrent synth that works. It grows delectably grittier, rougher, more aggressive, and less restrained as the song progresses. That said, the song follows one set path, direction, and conceptually, is pretty one-dimensional. But it packs some of that rough edged rawness I miss. Again though, the structure and sound design grows repetitive, albeit more powerful and emphasized, and I feel like we needed this... something with more visceral and aggressive. Why not add this intensity to a more dynamic, varied, and elaborate storytelling chapter? Doing so could have produced an album selling super song. In Act 3 the synths fall to the back as slow ambient notes carry this across the finish line, and while I appreciate the change, I feel like this was an opportunity to incorporate something more exciting and revelatory to spruce up the finale which otherwise feels somewhat melancholy and anti-climactic, especially after the welcome, harder edged albeit predictable structure/drection. B 7. Subdimensional Anomaly opens with soft ambient, inviting us into the ominous fold. The bass line stands out for once. I like the evocative feel, synths, and key changes, especially the lead synth in the second minute that's accentuated by soundscapes, following a voice sample, stronger energy. Now we're gliding across the dark terrain, though a little more involvement via arrangement (sound programming) would have spiced up the forth minute. The song's second half maintains the catchy synths, combining fresh touches, samples, and punchy synths that remind of Mark's third album that works well here. The ambient notes compliment the last act, reflecting sadness and contemplation. The second half of Act 3 however could have incorporated more spice, intrigue, and development like the song's first two acts. That said, I admire the artist's more pensive direction. B 8. Abode Of The Damned as with Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) showcases stronger storytelling throughout. The first act builds intrigue, acknowledging the underworld (the Great Below) conveniently excluded from modern academia, as it does not fit in with established associations, hence fiction-fantasy / folklore / conspiracy / advanced ancient civilizations, technology, Shiva, Krishna, etc. The first act is dynamic, offering a variety of tighter sound engineering. The second act has more grit and energy, a thumping beat. I love like the tone, evocative feels, gritty synths, distinguishing acts, and voice samples. But the second half of Act 3 could have gone deeper to more magnetic degrees. That said, this is easily one of the best songs on the album, and my favorite song since Dying Sun. Great, excellent work. B+ / A- 9. Netherverse is an ambient-influenced downtempo number. The first half... we're floating in space, cold atmosphere. No beat. The eerily intriguing opening works well for the first minute. Not longer as not much happens. A synth arrives in the second minute as I start to grow impatient, hoping things will improve. A slow kick drum enters the third minute. It's okay albeit plodding. Again, I wait for this to turn into a powerful, downtempo gem, but the interlude in the forth minute leads to more of the same. There are some nice notes and key changes in the fifth and sixth minute, but to my surprise and dismay, the song ends soon after-- just when it was starting to get interesting and warm up! I would have loved if the artist developed this into a more memorable downtempo gem, condensing the best of the three acts (cold atmospheric-ambient opening, beat, notes, key changes) into the song's first half, before diving deeper into memorable greatness in the song's second half. Act 3 felt like it should have been Act 2 in story so that we can enjoy the feels develop into something more developed narratively, structurally, and more substantial, satisfying, and whole. I like the pleasant feels. Unfortunately, the song feels underwritten, underdeveloped with ideas and execution, and underwhelming. I was left wanting more, and should never feel indifferent or disappointed at the end of a Xenomorph album, especially after 17 years. Furthermore, this is the album's title track. You'd think it would be more memorable and sublime. C+ CONCLUSION So few dark Goa albums release now days that I want to savor what I like here until something better comes along. Its been 17 years since the last Xenomorph album. Mark's work has grown more contemporary via Suntrip comps. If you like this style coupled with some cross-over elements from his third album, you'll probably like this. I like it more than his work on Suntrip comps and find numerous tracks ( 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 ) enjoyable, good and occasionally great. Constructive criticism and feedback: Let's get this out of the way since I like this artist and album enough to end on a positive note. This 4th album by one of my favourite artists did not exceed my expectations like his last two albums. Tracks 5 and 9 feel like write offs. They're underwhelming. There are a some repetitive segments in Sinister Contours among a few other songs that could have been tightened up, as mentioned above. These moments upset an otherwise fun song, though dance floors are generally more forgiving. The overall album is less ambitious, less technical, less dynamic, less hard-hitting, less punctuated, less involved, provocative and unpredictable, less gritty, explosive, powerful, daring, and risk-taking, and less advanced via mixing/sound programming-- his third, more industrial Psytrance album really impressed me outside of the polarizing four songs with vocals. His previous albums felt more organic, unconventional, determined, raw, gritty, rough, chaotic, and unrestrained, and I miss that-- the magnetic, technical wizardry, moments of dark surrealism, build up, climax, awe, inspiration, innovation, evolutionary developments (at times), and complexity. I was listening to his third album this week, noticing how even the second half of its third acts improve, growing edgier, more engrossing in the last two minutes. His sound engineering and how far he took things in the third album was amazing. That's not the case here regarding the second half of the third acts that feel similar (a bit repetitive) to the first half of the third acts. The more mainstream friendly approach often works when it's not conventional or repetitive, but also (at times) feels like more Xeno-lite (not to be misinterpreted with light). I would have loved more complexity, catchy developmental arrangements, advanced mixing, sound designs, atmosphere, variety in baselines, beats, textures, details, accents, and a great closing song that doesn't wait for the second half to grow interesting before ending soon after. The good news is that Netherworld (2024) features a healthy amount of good and great songs. It's smooth, very melodic (at times), danceable, and easy to digest. It combines light and dark well via dualistic sound/melody designs. There is some atmosphere (great when present). Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) impressed me the most (my wife's favourite song), followed by Abode Of The Damned, Negative Time, and War In Heaven. These songs feature some really catchy synth work, mixing, dynamics via developments, and direction, and that's no knock against tracks 6 and 7 that are entertaining more or less. Even the first song is reasonably solid, though less memorable which leaves only two songs I didn't care for. I like that Mark Petrick's style isn't saturated in bleak, nihilistic dark/evil like his previous albums. Times have changed. We evolve. Well some of us anyway. The praise: "work smarter, not harder" probably makes more sense after 17 years, but how can one not compare the 4th album to the last two considering how top tier-- Qlippoth (2003) and Demagoguery of the Obscurants (2007) represent some of the best dark Psy/Goatrance albums ever released. This artist set the bar so high that not even he can top it. My suggestion is to give this a couple listens and decide for yourself. I like to listen to an album enough to identify the songs by titles, for them to form an identity in my mind like characters in a story, each it's own creative world, but that's me. One way of seeing it... we could have NOT gotten a forth album at all, and now we have something to talk about, which at least brings more energy to the forums! Also, thank you Mark Petrick and Suntrip Records for making a new Xenomorph album happen after all these years. While far from what I consider superb, there IS some superb work here, and plenty solid work in general for me to enjoy. Cheers! Favourites - 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Least favourites - 5, 9 ... the latter could have been so much more satisfying and engaging with more time in development, and the album is more deserving than having formulaic fillers like track 5. B Stream the full album on Suntrip's YouTube

A long-awaited album by the master of dark goa & psychedelic trance! We got a taster of some of these tracks in Xenomorph's ZNA Gathering 2019 set (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3N1BEkHB8) and finally five years later the new album is released. However, not all the tracks from that performance, such as the amazing Atrocity Archive, were released on either the recent EP nor this album - hopefully another release is upcoming. Further, a few of the tracks are mixes of existing released tracks with very minor changes. Why do I love Xenomorph's music? 1) A huge part of why I like psychedelic music overall is its ability to create powerful atmospheres. Xenomorph is almost unmatched at that. His tracks tell stories ranging the whole spectrum of darkness from apocalyptic hopelessness to unhinged lunacy to stony-faced esoterica. 2) Xenomorph's melodies are very strong. Classic tracks like Abominations are surprisingly melodic. The combination of dark storytelling talent with melodic payoffs does much more for me than most later darkpsy. 3) Lastly, Xenomorph kept forging a unique path, each album is novel and just so different to what anyone else was doing at the time. It's no surprise that he's gained many fans with this uncompromisingly creative approach. 01 Sinister Contours This track's name describes it perfectly. The first half feels like an intro to the moment when the sinister contours really kick in at around 5:00 with tense eastern melodies, croaking acid, and spooky samples. The main lead is brought back in and the tension just ratchets up and up with so many intertwining ominous layers. A build up which we might anticipate leading to a break down actually leads to the addition of an off-beat clap along with an echoing foreboding sound at 6:55. A driving new melody starts emerging and and at 7:45 most layers drop away leaving this new theme. The pressure release ultimately happens at 8:00 when a cheeky goa melody drops! At this point I have a huge grin on my face. Despite how much I love this track, some aspects seem a little overprocessed for my taste, such as the main lead when it first comes in. The break at 6:50, which was previously understated in the ZNA Gathering clip with just the clap added, now also brings in another layer which makes that section a little crowded - maybe my headphones need upgrading. 02 Dying Sun (Sol Aeternus Mix) A fantastic song already released on the Gamma Draconis compilation. I didn't do a detailed comparison but it sounds like the bassline has been thickened and some minor tweaks have been made (the original track did have poor mastering for some reason), otherwise everything is the same. The storytelling of the sense of melancholia about the dying sun is beautifully expressed. 03 War In Heaven This one is a cool change of mood and pace, and recalls industrial/EBM artists like Velvet Acid Christ and Hocico when they have dabbled in trance. Less of the high-tech psy leads or Xenomorph's signature menacing atmosphere. The focus is more on danceable high energy with a gothic touch that can actually end up sounding euphoric. The interlacing arpeggiated melodies at 4:00 are absolutely gorgeous!! 04 Negative Time (-L Di-Dt Mix) Again, it says this is a mix but the version sounds pretty much identical to what was released in the Negative Time EP. The track takes off like a rocket with a bouncy bassline, and at 0:55 comes a massive and absolutely delicious lead. Then a slower response section with more metallic sounds, which finally runs out of energy at 2:40. Suddenly to be replaced by another massive resonant lead, mirrored by a shimmering second melody, I could listen to this section all day as the modulations sound so nice. A series of acid melodies slowly build up the energy back to a metallic section, it's clear we're heading for something big. At 6:40 there's a spine-tingling breakdown leading to a very old-school goa climax! 05 No Beginning No End Not such a fan of this track personally, feels like it's perched between the styles of the last two tracks. Lots of interesting ideas but not structured with the urgency of previous tracks nor with any real stand out sections. The only dud on the album. 06 Nebula Of Souls Yet another change of style, this track is more of a slow-burner compared to the others and evokes the mood of hopelessness and weirdness most similar to the Qlippoth album. Intriguing start feels like being in a space station drifting through freezing space. Again the title is fitting. At 3:00 a crunchy growling lead starts to takes the fore. The track builds up in intensity until at 5:45 a sad stringed instrument melody comes in. I can see why for some fans this would be the top pick of the album, it's easily the darkest track here. 07 Subdimensional Anomaly Time for another more trancey track, but with a pensive mood. Big sweeping pads and a lot of more subtle layers over the top take us all the way to 3:00 where we get a radiant psy lead along with a big snappy snare. The track doesn't evolve in any major way from here but doesn't need to. It's absolutely beautiful. 08 Abode Of The Damned This one heavily reminds me of Cassandra's Nightmare, still my most loved Xenomorph album. The first half has the twisted horror style with a playful array of spooky squelchy sounds. The second half breaks out into powerful melodies that just get better and better on top of a pumping bassline. The melodies aren't particularly memorable however unlike the previous track. 09 Netherverse Wow a rare psybient track from Xenomorph, this one also wouldn't have felt out of place as the last track on many oldschool albums. The first half is deeply atmospheric and intriguing, similar to Koxbox's Searching For Psychoactive Herbs. Unfortunately the change of direction that feels like it's coming at some point never does arrive, besides a small modulation near the end. Still an enjoyable track but could have been more. Overall, there's a large variety of styles here, and at first I think this makes the album as a whole difficult to comprehend. It's harder to fully appreciate tracks 7 and 8 after you've just listened to the nightmare tour de force of Nebula of Souls. After repeated listens I really appreciate the quality of each track and there's only one that I feel is weak. Perhaps the biggest surprise is how euphoric a few of the tracks are, especially Negative Time, one of the least dark songs Xenomorph has produced. But still has that signature intensity and urgency and I love it. I'm a sucker for the big psychedelic leads used and production level is high as you'd expect. I expect the range of styles is due to the long time period this album took to put together, and my only disappointment is we didn't see more new tracks instead of a few minor mixes of existing songs.

From the Label, & it's Free: https://sundancerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-immaculate-perception Or from the Artist himself, also Free: https://anahatamusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-immaculate-perception Also this: ) ..butnotfree: https://kaliearth.bandcamp.com/album/vibrations-e-p

Oh, plz do and give a report on it here that would be highly interesting. About the Album, I don't have any cents on it. Heard it once some many years ago and never returned

the whole internet = 5 people who visit psynews forum in 2024 😉

Since getting married I haven't had much chance to listen to Goa on CD or through speakers in the house. I had to change to mobile listening and I don't think I did it very well for a while, then smartphones became a thing I ended up streaming music. It became mostly background. I recently bought a dedicated DAP, full sized headphones and a high quality cable to connect the two (this thing is a lot thicker than I was expecting, I don't think it's meant for headphones 😆) and I'm rediscovering all my old favourites.

That's my personality, I'm quite brazen and in your face.. Is that better or worse than being anonymous and spamming " 😥" reactions to my posts? Like some random coward? If you don't like, say it. Don't hide behind a anonymous reaction like whoever keeps stalking me. Also, what's wrong with my superlatives? Is it that hurtful? No, it's really not. And yes it's a jokey style. It's not my fault everyone here are so freaking uptite. I really feel bad for you if you can't take a freaking joke. (I don't mean you personally acid being but "you" as in a general statement) Put your fucking skirt down and stop reacting to me like I'm a fuggin Hitler.