Guest Sadness Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 This is awfull! Complete crap. Etnica started to go down on Nitrox and now has hitted the rockbottom... Very boring, repeative and monotonic songs. I give it 3/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rx7style Posted January 30, 2002 Share Posted January 30, 2002 This really is bad. This will go nicely with the new Shiva Chandra album Gecko -- into the garbage. What is going on with these artists? I'm getting really tired of listening to terrible new releases -- even if I only listened to the MP3 copy over a month ago. SHIT!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insejn Posted January 31, 2002 Author Share Posted January 31, 2002 Etnica - Chrome Artist: Etnica Title: Chrome Label: Solstice Date: 2002 Track listing: 01. 07'03" Alph-Beta 02. 06'15" Solaris 03. 07'39" 1056 04. 07'27" Black Lava 05. 08'02" Traktor Activity 06. 08'11" Object (Live Mix) 07. 08'36" Liquid Forms 08. 08'13" Are We Safe ? 09. 08'44" Blasting ! Review: First of all this is a minimal album, at least is not melodic. And I'm not much of an minimal lover. But I'll say what I think about the album. This is kinda like some Nitrox tracks. Just a little more minimal. But still, the Etnica touch is there. The first 3 tracks I don't like at all. But after that. It's faster, more powerful and so. It sounds more and more like Etnica old screaming style. But I must say I enjoyed Nitrox much more then this album. There are no ambient tracks here, wich I think is a pity. Final Verdict: 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trancer Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 I must say i like this album. Okay, i am like the biggest etnica fan out there, but it sounds good. The first is empty. The second track is very good. I think the bassline is very hypnotic. Then 3-6 is like ok. But then comes the kicking ass part. Liquid Forms is fucking amazing. Great basslines, drums and sounds. Are we safe? is somehow melodic. reminds me of old etnica. Very nice probably the bet track here among with the last track blasting!. I think the name says it all...Well it is very blasting. Somehow the cd goes more minimal but there is something still touching the old etnica. Okay, it can't be compered to Alien Protein or I.F.O., cause then it would look like shit (almost)..But its a pretty good released that will grow on you. But i recomend this cd. 7/10. Higher if it wasn't for the first track and some "empty" parts between track 3-6... BOM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xenox Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 The 2 last tracks are really good I think... the rest are pretty... hard and just boring... 2 last tracks 9/10 overall 4/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurk Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 tracks 6, 8, & 9 are good, the rest i think is a complete waste of the talent that they have; it sounds like it took the 5 minutes to make most of the other tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest --==MileS==-- Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Predictable release numero 2012 in the persuasive techtrance/minimal fashion. Its inscrutable hard enough, its mercilessly pounding enough and its surely bloody fast enough but -Chrome- has unfortunately the subtlety of an amoeba. No track is really memorable or recommendable although at the end things improve as finally some psychedelic light shines through (are we safe?) but nowhere minimal/progressive stompers of Delta's -Standby- or Holy Ghost's -Zombie Assasin- proportions are anywhere to be found. When so many stuff in this particular techno/trance hybrid is coming out, just be sure to deliver quality that stands out from the grey masses. This Chrome doesn't shine... 4/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Antic Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 "this Chrome doesn't shine" - so true Miles!!! Though I liked 1 (very melancholic and sad) and 6 to 9 - they're less minimal than the first half of CD, kinda like Small Doses or Nitrox (the song). 6/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stay[at]with.your[dot]roots Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Bo-bo-booring album. And syre, i think everything in psy is starting to sound the same, even the pop scene will soon be more original. I don't understand why nobody stays with their roots these days. Etnica was good as melodic, but i can't stand their new minimal style! and i do like both melodic&minimal. 4/10 Im glad i didn't buy this album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theorem Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 Well, I have loved Etnica ever since the Juggling Alchemist and Alien Protien days, and I was really dissapointed when Nitrox was released, but I actually really dig this one. The first three tracks are really minimal, but make much more sence the louder that they are played. Empty cold robotic space is nice sometimes, and the fact that he didn't cut any corners with the bass is a plus too. It picks up towards the end, reminding me of the true old-skool etnica (sorta). Although, I don't think I would like it as much if it were released by someone else... I guess I just like Etnica. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahogany-records Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 i hate this kind of music it s boring and never get me up 1/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kimitys[at]goatrance[dot]com Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 even tho this is a minimal album, and different than other etnicas albums, it's not bad. i think it's good. listen to the songs more than once and i bet you will find them more than bad. minimal isn't bad. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest [Anonymous] Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 If you don't like it, don't buy it. At least let the artist(s) the freedom to make the music they want. Typical for the new style of Etnica (amongst others)is that it needs more listening sessions than five to learn to appreciate fully their music. Also try the music in different audio and subaudioconditions and different states of mind. Don't judge too fast, that's what the non-psy world stands for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ...goatrance is dead... Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 "If you don't like it, don't buy it. At least let the artist(s) the freedom to make the music they want" They don't use that freedom, these day everybody sounds a copy of eachother!! which is really annoying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 i thought the psy-world stood for psychedelia... i hear very little psychedelia in Etnica's latest stuff (Nitrox, '1' and this) - only chuggy tech-trance... I understand that people don't all want to make melodic stuff anymore, great, so make some different sounds instead of just leaving it out altogether... just my 2 sense anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ad Posted January 31, 2002 Share Posted January 31, 2002 I have never been an Etnica fan, but there are some track here that I really like! Was quite shocked that I would like Etnica, when my friend turned on the album.. I mostly listen to harder tech-trance, nothing near this.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vasyachkin Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 i like it, and no, minimal doesn't all sound the same. In fact i can't think of anything else that sounds exactly like this. it pleases MY ears. i will give it 9/10 for music, 6/10 for originality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest russ Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 i don't like the album that much, but i love the first track. a very beautiful psychedelic sound at the end of that one, with nice production and space. but then as things get faster it becomes much less interesting. i think most people like the faster stuff, but it kinda gives me a headache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest vasyachkin Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 speaking about production and sound. the sound is very clean and dry. almost no reverb is heard anywhere on the album. this is probably done so that sounds do not interfere with each other. the kick is rather short and snappy (unlike rolling kick of atmos and delta), this is not where the bass lives on this CD but they have acutally added another layer of bass BELOW the kick, which on the first track for example comes in once every few kicks at alternating intervals -- on many speakers you will never hear it though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NONDAS 7 Posted February 1, 2002 Share Posted February 1, 2002 Sorry guys but ETNICA S new project is very best.Every track on this album has special dark sounds that make ETNICA fans really happy!!!!Everything u say guys is really shit from me!!!I ll give it 10/10 and in a live set with showman MAX 100/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxijazz Posted February 2, 2002 Share Posted February 2, 2002 man.. can etnica suck more? well they must have hit the bottom with chrome.. it cant be much worse, can it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest [Anonymous] Posted February 3, 2002 Share Posted February 3, 2002 This album stinks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest waater[at]dqc[dot]org Posted February 3, 2002 Share Posted February 3, 2002 Ok, i must admit...the FIRST time i listened to this album..i did not like it at all..found it way to tekky...listened to it all the way thru..the last 3 tracks are full on and frutiful...what i DID find however in listening to it the 1st time...is that the whole album builds and builds to the very end..so they DID compose it VERY well IMHO... THEN later..i popped it in and listened to it again...at that time (not expecting to hear the crazy sounds as i did originally)..i found it to be EXTREMELY psychedelic..but its not about being just crazy sounds everyhwere... everything builds..and there are slight changes within the music if you listen to it..and if you were to put it on a LARGE system and having it NOT be an mp3 format...you might notice what i am speaking of... there is some extremely GOOD work they put into this album...but its in a different sense..i dont really have any tracks in particular that i like on it yet...but i do know however that it is all (besides maybe 2 trakcs) very nicely composed... so just shut up..get your ego down a lil...dont be so hard..and listen to it... Namaste` `waater~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mescalinium Posted February 3, 2002 Share Posted February 3, 2002 With this album, Etnica continues further in the direction hinted at on Nitrox. Call it minimal or progressive, silly catch phrases like these are not the issue here. What is the issue then? First, Is it good? Yes. Is it great? Upon initial listening I'd be inclined to say no. However, given the musical ability of Etnica, I think repeated listening sessions are in order before determining this album's greatness. The songs themselves progress in ascending order from most minimal to most full on, an interesting arrangement to be sure. (1) Alph-Beta starts things off. Fairly slow with some moody bass sounds rumbling in the background (foreground?). Some nice cymbal/hi-hat work, but beyond that this track doesn't offer anything too profound. (2) Solaris is up next. Things are (slowly) getting a little more exciting. Has a nice groove which the first song lacks. There's a subtle build-up a little over half way through the track, eventually leading up to a sample from the movie Pi, "when I was little my mother told me never to stare at the sun." With a minute left in the song, they add some great percussive elements, but unfortunately they're of the too-little-too-late variety. (3) 1056 begins in similar fashion: deep kick, heavy syncopated bassline, squelching atmospherics, etc. Again, I find the cymbal patterns to be cause for interest; strong emphasis on the synthetic ride cymbal hitting eight times a measure, very technoish. However, my attention waned after about four minutes of this track. They throw in some jarring breaks right near the end, but not before I was thoroughly bored. (4) Black Lava tries to be hypnotic in a very rythmic sense, and succeeds somewhat. The percussions are very good (again) but there just doesn't seem to be enough going on (for me at least). (5) Traktor Activity, one of my favorites here (midway between extreme minimal and extreme full-on, symbolic of my taste perhaps? . Has the same drive of the previous tracks, but this time it's coupled with suberb acid-like atmospherics, an incredible percussion section, and (surprise!) some actual psychedelic efx sprinkled on top. The kick reminds me somewhat of Son Kite's Hifi Stomp Session. Probably the best dancefloor track on the album. (6) Object (live mix) kicks off, and you can already feel the difference in the music from listening to the bassline: warmer, faster, more psychedelic; the full-onedness is approaching! And is that a Spaceghost sample I hear? (Yes!). (7) Liquid Forms starts out minimal but quickly traverses into more psychedelic territory. A heavy, intense trip into dense, hypnotic sounds. The last minute is sheer aural pleasure. One of the better efforts here. (8) Are We Safe? Not from this monster of a track! Doesn't waste any time in getting to the point: fast, bouncy bassline, multiple distorted synths drenched in psychedelia. And then they keep coming, layer upon layer of acid-invoked madness. This track alone should convince anyone that Etnica can still make some badass music. My second favorite song here. (9) Blasting! starts out deceptively simple, but then the bass goes into overdrive and a commanding acid line takes control of the song. More sonic squelches of the GMS variety enter about halfway through. It may be familiar territory, but Etnica definately makes it sound good. The same can really be said for the album as a whole. Son Kite may be able to craft superior minimal dancefloor tracks, Spirallianz may have a better rythm section, and Talamasca may put out higher-quality full-on mayhem, but could any of these artists amalgamate these disparate sounds into one cohesive album? I sincerely doubt that. One could argue what then becomes the point of this album if every part has been done better somewhere else. I would counter that the piece in question is, to use a hackneyed phrase, greater than the sum of its parts. Overall, I could do without the extended minimal introduction, as the overlap portion is, to me, the most interesting. At first go, this gets a solid 7/10 from me, maybe more upon repeated listening. Btw, vinyl buyers, Traktor Activity and 1056 are being released on a 12" by Etnicanet Records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mick Posted February 4, 2002 Share Posted February 4, 2002 opinion ...very very dull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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