Highly anticipated! I heard some samples of the tracks from trance-galaxy.net and I had to get it. I love big orchestra type of trance. This is heavily influenced by Propellarheads though. Sounds similar to their DECKSANDDRUMSANDROCKANDROLL release, which was friggin’ awesome. Here SynSUN take orchestra and add psy. It is a nice combination. The artwork on the front cover is simply inspired. Who is this demon? Why is he connected to SynSUN? SynSUN’s music seems much more light than what the cover makes it out to be. Like they say, ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’, they should change that phrase for the sake of this album. Here goes…
Vampira – Starts fast, continues to pump its beat, while injecting these light crazy sounds which sound like a drill implanting itself into someone’s brain. Then the quiet background which you sense something is about to fuck with your brain. The stereo use is nice but a little cliched. Then the orchestra comes in. Soft at first, then a bit of techno trance, and then builds to a nice beat with the melody quite danceable. This turns into a very addictive track. Your ears are trained to the simple construction and your body rocks along with that beat! Everything happens at once although the sound isn’t quite full on as it could be.
Zygote – Very intense, movie composer sort of opening, it pumps though. The beat is clean and very nice. The bass is pumping, I love the way the harmony is dodging the rest of the track. It’s like it is coming in and out of consciousness. The simplicity of this track is very worrying because at any moment it’ll take you to a place you haven’t been before. I love the rise and fall of the computer beeps. And the distorted drums sounding like they have been processed through a hundred different filters. Nice. Different one of the highlights.
Ride The Sky – Starts of slow. Really sluggish. Can’t get into a suitable rhythem. Then a nice tune comes across and gets the track into gear. Your ears could follow either the bass or the harmonies, and you’d be in different places. Really nice and repetitive, although the simplicity does get overdone. Then you sense a darker side of the track. There is something waiting in the wings. Something unexpected. But then it just repeats itself again. Not necessarily a bad thing but you want a bit more at this stage.
Logic Mami – I enjoy the beginning of this track. Very endearing. And the bass fucking kicks the shit out of your heart beat. The cymbols of the drums is distracting and very 80’s. However, the orchestra is very freakin’ cool on this track. You get lost in this track. A friggin’ highlight. It just keeps on going!
Ceremony – Starts out very assuming. What is this? What is this sound? Is this going to be some Isratrance rip-off? And for 2 minutes you think “yes”. Then the most awesome sound comes through. That line construction is so perfect to my ears. It is so catchy, it is so danceable, it is so many things. You can get lost in this track if you were willing to let yourself go. I love the build and then suddenly it goes to the bass and drums again. The symphony are exhausted and now you are taken on a car chase through the streets of some busy city. Then at 7 minutes, the build is excellent. It takes your pulse and raises it, raises it, raises it, raises, raises, raises until JACKPOT! Get swept away again and then…the end. Love it!
Ave Samael – Wastes no time in cutting to the up tempo bass line and awesome pounding symphonic orchestra. I love the way this track just wastes no time. You are in a hundred different places at once. Then we get a sampled voice, then the track takes a different turn. This hasn’t turned out to be what we expected. We are given a different genre. But then at 5 minutes. We’re back! That same bloody brilliant piece of construction. The legs are pumping, jaws are clenched, and sweat is pouring!
Death Machine – What a nice kick! It blisters through your skin! Then the little gremlins tear through the speakers to create a nice track. The overall mood of the track seems a little slower, however, the digital effects are on speed and they create an awesome sound. This becomes a highlight in the end. It just doesn’t stop and it gets dark and faster, and becomes so different to the other tracks on the album. It has definitely been created after the rest of the album.
Tataria – Hard to define. It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album and has a kind of wind down tempo (as all psy trance albums do) but this one sort of sounds like it is in reverse, not because of the female vocal but because of the beat and the computer-like melodies. I like it but only because it’s a nice finisher. The track experiments with different ways to present the style. And I predict that the next SynSUN album will be similar to this track. They sound like they are having a blast with this track. Imagine what they could do if this was the opener!
Overall, I am very impressed. Maybe not as earth shattering as I had hoped for but it gives me my fix and is money very well spent.
8.5/10
Highlights: Ceremony, Logic Mami, Zygote, Death Machine