Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Zen Paradox - Eternal Brainwave (1993 Psy-Harmonics) 1. 01:16 Opening 2. 07:11 Say Goodbye to the Dark Place 3. 05:57 Lysergide Induction 4. 01:54 Lambent Interlude 1 5. 07:39 Thanatos Awakening 6. 03:46 Fornicator 7. 06:14 Vicious Cycle 8. 02:25 Biomechanical Psychosis 9. 02:42 Lambent Interlude 2 10. 09:38 The Light at the End...? 11. 05:17 Emerald 12. 07:24 Floating without Chemistry 13. 05:41 Evening Calm Here comes one of my favourite psytrance albums of all time. Very oldschool, yet it has a few very unique sounds that I’ve never heard anywhere else. Zen Paradox is Steve Law, who was a pioneer in the Australian techno/trance scene I believe. However, on most of this album he was assisted by two other Aussie masterminds, Ollie Olsen and Simon Polinski. Again, this is a very early Psy-Harmonics release, so it’s not yet in that crazy style they went to later on. The atmosphere is very special here, a bit like in Third Eye’s Ancient Future album but more worked out and intense. It is something like a perfect balance between light and dark, in which the dark component isn’t dark in an evil way, it’s not even dark in a dark way, but more in an almost gothic/darkwave manner. I know it sounds confusing but this is the best description I could come up with. It’s hypnotic melodic oldschool goa/psy with that slight gothic overtone, and the outcome is downright stunning. Now through the tracks: Opening: dark and foreboding intro sequence Say Goodbye to the Dark Place starts with great atmospheric background synth pads that set the mood for the whole track. They’re soon joined by the delicious bassline, which made me promptly fall in love with the track. The bassline is not a pumping one, it’s more of the floating kind, and it adds a slick twist to the track, in combination with the spacey background ambience, and all these little twinkling effects and bubbling melodies. What a magical tune!! With Lysergide Induction we have a nice, bouncy dancefloor stomper with quite a driving bassline and even some funky cymbals, yeah! We are offered some very pleasant echoing acid lines here and again the characteristic background atmospheres. Lambent Interlude 1: short Ambient interlude which lets us take a rest before the next trance bomb… Thanatos Awakening: Wow, now this track is really sort of a storytelling one, and it takes place in a deep dungeon or vault, or perhaps a haunted house. A menacing bass sequence forms the backbone of the track, and we can even hear some ghostly voice snippets. A powerful Ollie-style melody builds up a climax and then, after a short break, a simple yet uplifting piano melody takes over (don’t worry, it’s not cheeze piano but spooky one, hehehe), which makes this a real classic in my book. Damn this track f**king rocks!! Fornicator (as well as the two following tracks) is Steve on his own, and it’s a rather harsh and abrasive acid techno workout, quite similar to some early Aphex Twin tracks, as to be found on his ‘Classics’ CD for instance. Vicious Cycle: Again more techno than trance, and quite an experimental one, with all sorts of itchy sound effects fuzzing around and a rather hectic beat. The track can get a bit annoying but when in the mood it can be quite a funny track as well. (I believe the trance components are mainly Ollie & Simon’s effort here, with Steve adding the spookier sounds and rhythmic textures. However, you can find trance tracks on Steve’s later albums too.) Biomechanical Psychosis is a short and hectic drum’n’bass piece that has an interesting drum pattern and a nice synth pad layered over it. Lambent Interlude 2 is the continuation of track 4 and the fitting transition to the next track. With The Light at the End…? we get the theme of the Lambent Interludes as the main melody of yet another classic psytrance masterpiece. It’s amazing how this melody works on two levels here: It runs simultaneously in two different octaves and both layers morph in sound colour all the time. This hypnotizing track just pulls you in deeper and deeper. It also has a false ending, maybe that’s where the “…?” in the title derives from. Next is Emerald, which is really uplifting and more light-hearted than the rest of the album. It always puts a big smile on my face, like this: Damn, this track is so nice, I’d say it’s one with real Goa spirit!! In Floating without Chemistry we’re back to more melancholic atmospheres, with a gothic type piano melody but also quite uplifting textures. Eventually a sort of strange acid line (if you can even call it one) becomes prominent. Later on we can even hear some violin(?) notes and a rather dramatic background synth line. Solid track this. At last, Evening Calm offers us some really tasty beatless ambient soundscapes, which are very intense for some reason. Afaik this is an excerpt from a 20 minute piece. Shame the complete track was never released… Eternal Brainwave was also released on the Belgian Kk/Nova Zembla label: It seems that Zen Paradox is not very well-known in the psy scene, but this album at least is a true masterpiece. Sometimes I have to skip tracks 6&7, as they don’t fit too well with the rest of the album, but 2,3,5,10,11 are so awesome that it really doesn’t matter. I say it again, this is a great great album, and I recommend everyone here to check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agia_igoumeni Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 as we said in the past,its simple PSY-HARMONICS...no words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Samples sound great ! I wanna have it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Samples sound great ! I wanna have it... 336208[/snapback] Then run and get it NOW, I'm sure you'll love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted September 26, 2005 Share Posted September 26, 2005 It's easy for you to say "run and get it" but is it possible to get it at all? This old stuff is so great, and it's very hard to download and they're often pressed in small amounts. But this is like my favorite style so i wonder how you get these stuff. "Be there 1993" or is there any other solution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Many of the old classics are still available from Amazon. For the more rare stuff eBay is often the only solution. The original Psy-Harmonics pressing of Eternal Brainwave is indeed a bit hard to find, but the Kk/Nova Zembla versions should still be available from some online stores (e.g. amazon). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Niice! Same tracks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 I've ordered it (it said on amazon that it was psy harmonics version but if it is the nova zembla one i wont get upset. it was pretty cheap). It sounded so great in the samples. Definately will review it here in a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 Look what it says on discogs! http://www.discogs.com/release/123345 'All titles composed & programmed by Steve Law, 1992/93 Additional knob twidling on 3,5 & 11 by Ollie Olsen' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonflier Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Great album for sure, bought it via Amazon a few months ago. Pure old-school bliss is all I can say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Wee i got it today =) It's great, i love some tracks like Thanatos Awakening, Fornicator, the Lambent Interlude tracks and Floating without Chemistry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 To my surprise, there are a quite a handful of copies for this unique album all over amazon.com and amazon.co.uk for around $1.99 - $3.00. What buyer would want to spend more $$$ to ship this than the asking price I don't know. I suppose for just to make a buck here and there since all the others are around the same price. Why get rid of this? I realize people get rid of stuff all the time, (get sick of it, sell their collections, old copies laying around in boxes, etc..) but I can't find classic albums like Total Eclipse - Violent Relaxation on amazon anywhere. And yet this seemingly cult, rarely known album is fairly popular to many other rare ones I searched for on amazon. For the low asking price, I may consider getting it. Many of the copies even say factory sealed, The samples sound very cool overall, beyond their times in comparison to much other music. PS: It says File ID does not exist when I go to sample track 7 and several others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 samples of track 2,3,5 still work seems they've deleted the rest already But John, I see you're gonna buy it anyway For the others: just ask and I'll put the samples up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 John: the two different versions of lumukanda - araglin cost 0.96 and 0.28 dollars. I bought one of the 0.96 and it was in perfect condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 I ordered and got it for around 4 to 5 bucks in perfect condition. You can get this NEW or USED on www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 My absolute favorite is floating without chemistry, it's almost a magical track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I absolutely love track 5, Thanatos Awakening. There's something beautiful about it as it progresses, a sound or melody that packs so much emotion. This is one of my favorite goatrance songs ever!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I absolutely love track 5, Thanatos Awakening. There's something beautiful about it as it progresses, a sound or melody that packs so much emotion. This is one of my favorite goatrance songs ever!! 610924[/snapback] pre-goatrance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 pre-goatrance 611044[/snapback] Nah nah nah nah nah blah blah blah It kix arse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Nah nah nah nah nah blah blah blah It kix arse 611576[/snapback] I didn't say it doesn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astro Cortex Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Did I mention how awesome this CD is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 ZEN PARADOX - ETERNAM BRAINWAVE[/b] 1993 FULL REVIEW 1. Opening - C 2. Say Goodbye to the Dark Place - B+ 3. Lysergide Induction - C 4. Lambent Interlude 1 - B 5. Thanatos Awakening - A- 6. Fornicator - C- 7. Vicious Cycle - C- 8. Biomechanical Psychosis - C- 9. Lambent Interlude 2 - B- 10. The Light at the End...? - B- 11. Emerald - B 12. Floating Without Chemistry - B+ 13. Evening Calm - B / B+ (ambient) PROS There are some really special sounding songs on this album! Track 2, Say Goodbye To The Dark Place must have been excellent when it first came out. I consider it good, beautiful melodic elements. Some may call these nice melodies cheesy but whatever man. They can be extremely pleasent, floating to listen to if you're in the right mood. Thanatos Awakening is even better. Floating without Chemistry is also one of the best songs here. These songs take time to develop and can work wonders on the consciousness when you least expect it. The feelings projected throughout some of these songs use of melodies, choice of sounds, notes, and mixing is impressive when they all come together. This is why I love lots of old-skool goatrance and I wish all of the songs followed the peaceful style when several don't, knocking me out of the state I'm in. My advice is to just upload this to your iTunes, make a playlist and delete the weak songs. And just remember, this was made in 1993. I assume this album was very underrated because I never heard of it before this thread. It's a very nice album, where some tracks are more like morning old-skool goatrance and others are more hard and relative to a better mood set at night. There is some real beauty to this album. It's definitely good, especially for it's time. However, it's hard to rate or score this because I didn't listen to it back then. CONS I don't even think they called this goa or psy back then. The inside flip mentions electronic or electronica, but it was 1993. With exception to several tracks, this is (mostly) what I consider early goa/psy trance. The problem is that two types of style genre tracks take place throughout. One is that lush, more goa sound while others basically sound like techno. I don't care for the techno ones but some of the goa morning trance work is beauitiful and very unique, catchy. Three tracks are definitely suspect. Tracks 6, 7, and 8 do not "fit into the more melodic, harmonic trance style that appears on other songs. This album would have been and flowed much better had it elminated those songs. Track 3 is dance electronica of some kind and definitely NOT goa/psy trance but it's not bad. IN CONCLUSION, tracks 6, 7, 8 are not good. I don't care for track 3 either. Almost everything else however is more or less old school, goa sounding and melody-driven trance bliss. Tracks 6, 7, and 8 could have easily been mistaken for another dated electronica techno album unfortunately. Whatever. There are three short ambient goa-esque transitions/interlude tracks, two break up the album nicely. Several songs are good, great, somewhat magical sounding. The album is generally positive and uplifting in sound too and for the number of songs there's a good amount of quality "older" ones. Being released in 1993, I can only imagine this was impressive to those who heard it back then. It's anyones guess who inspired these artist(s). Afterall, there were hardly any artists producing this music back then. One must have tried different things and been experimental with so little to compare to. That may in part rationalize the reason for the several "experimental" (techno) tracks. Fans of old-skool melodic goa, experimental and trance, check this out. BEST TRACKS: 2, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13. B+ ... (not an average) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qa2pir Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 One of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
platte Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 thx.! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.