Sphingida - Origin [Sentimony rec.] Sen CD 003

[Sentimony]

Artist: Sphingida

Title: Origin

Genre: Psy-ambient

Media Format: CD, Digipak

Catalog No: Sen CD 003

Release Date: 20 December, 2007

Design: ReisMitScheis ArtGroop

Mastering: Prok

Total Time: 79:42 min

 

 

Link: http://sentimony.com/e.releases.sencd003.htm

 

01. Sunset Sign ..::(demo)::..

02. Submerge ..::(demo)::..

03. Spaceward ..::(demo)::..

04. Toxic Memory ..::(demo)::..

05. Fountain Of Youth ..::(demo)::..

06. Gigs Faka (vs Roof Raiser) ..::(demo)::..

07. Springled Planet ..::(demo)::..

08. Alone In Aqua Endless ..::(demo)::..

09. In The Algae ..::(demo)::..

10. New Age Lullaby ..::(demo)::..

 

The history of Ukrainian based project Sphingida starts in 2005. During the first year the band consisted of 3 members - Julia Levchenko (synthesizers and vocals), Igor Orlovskiy (programming and effects) and Miroslav Kryj (solo and bass guitar). Later Miroslav left the project. From that time the bands structure didn’t change.

 

The guys were working hard on their style, production, were experimenting with different musical instruments and technologies and as the result received positive response from their audience and producers. After a year of creative raid Sphingida found their original sound and started to take part in various psychedelic trance and ambient parties as a live act and with dj sets.

 

The members’ musical tastes lay in a quite wide range and besides psychedelic trance the project works in other musical directions such as ambient, experimental chill out and easy listening in general. In each track you’ll find mind blowing mixture of gentle melodies, rigid synthetic sounds and dynamic rhythms. Wise merging of styles and creative approach to the music make the sound of Sphingida absolutely unique.

 

MySpace:

 

http://myspace.com/sentimony

http://myspace.com/sphingida

[buzzman]

Think you need to put this in the commercial section my friend

[abasio]

How about a review then

 

Artist: Sphingida

Title: Origin

Label: Sentimony Records

Released: 20th December 2007

Style: Trance/Downbeat

 

Tracklist

 

1 Sunset Sign (8:31)

2 Submerge (8:45)

3 Spaceward (7:51)

4 Toxic Memory (8:31)

5 Fountain Of Youth (7:29)

6 Gigs Faka (vs. Roof Raiser ) (8:30)

7 Springled Planet (7:55)

8 Alone In Aqua Endless (7:05)

9 In The Algae (9:59)

10 New Age Lullaby (5:06)

 

Sphingida are Igor Orlovskiy & Yulia Levchenko from the Ukraine and they present to us Origin, their debut album. Origin is a mix of slow (ketamine) trance and downbeat, touching on progressive and with a lot of ambient atmospheres. It is a triumphant debut for this Ukrainian duo, the quality of every track is very high, it’s different from most other stuff out there and it is packed full of atmosphere. People often ask me to recommend them some upbeat music that has the same atmospheres that it seems you get more with ambient and chillout music. Well, this is a perfect example of that. The more upbeat tracks retain a lot of ambience, with soft background noises, drones and space for the music to move. The music is very visual and descriptive and right from the first few notes it painted a story in my head. Sunset Sign (T1) starts with an ambient intro and it feels like I am standing on a cold seashore, gulls flying overhead and watching the waves crash against the shore. When the beats kick in it does nothing to shake this atmosphere which is quite impressive as they are very strong beats. The rest of the album is similar, strong beats that don’t ruin the atmospheres lovingly created in the background.

 

The stories painted in my head are numerous, ranging from standing on my own sea shore on a grey drizzly day watching the ocean go in and out to floating through space being surrounded by ripples of energy tearing through the fabric of space, to standing on an alien planet and floating through the air among the clouds. All the tracks are very involved, deep and hypnotic. A lot of the melodies used are fairly simple but they gain their dreamlike power from this simplicity, creating atmospheres you can get lost in rather than shouting look at me I’m a melody. Subtle might be a good word but they are still quite noticeable and enjoyable for the people who need melodies in every track they listen to. The synth work is very impressive, sometimes being very slick and smooth sometimes being rough and abrasive but always being very acidic and trippy.

 

My favourite tracks are Spaceworld (T3) which makes me feel like I am floating above some alien world not dissimilar to our own but still with that feeling that things are just not right; Toxic Memory (T4) which is a fantastically descriptive track and makes me feel like I am standing in a war torn world with brown skies and the synths feel like the acid rain falling down from this polluted sky stripping me bare; Springled Planet (T7) which also makes me think rain but this time it’s a cascade of sonic downpours, big fat alien rain that manages to fall all around me but never on me and In The Algae (T9) which is more downbeat but feels like solar bubbles rippling through space and time altering the reality of the fabric it touches.

 

Recommendation: People looking for atmospheric trance or trancey ambient should definitely check this album out. It could be that this album has passed under most people’s radars as it is on a fairly obscure label without any particularly famous artists I myself only got it a short time ago but it has been out there for over a year and a half already but I think a lot of people would enjoy this album. It is deep, trippy and very high quality stuff. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this Ukrainian pair and highly anticipate future output from them.

 

Favourites: 3,4!,7,9

 

originally written for www.isratrance.com

 

Track By Track

 

1. Sunset Sign

Sunset Sign starts us off with a soft ambient intro with sounds of wind blowing in the background. It feels like I am standing on a cold seashore, gulls flying overhead and watching the waves crash against the shore. When the beats kick in it does nothing to shake this atmosphere which is quite impressive as they are very strong beats but amazingly they don’t dominate the rest of the music. The main melody is a nice warm sound quite in contrast to the other cold sounds in the track. I think this feels more like a sunrise with the music getting warmer as the track goes on and the sounds of birdsong (twisted alien birdsong) appearing later in the track.

 

2. Submerge

Submerge has stronger beats and we are getting more into slow trance territory, ketamine trance as I call it. The beats are so strong but it is still very slow and plodding. The music itself is quite simple with ambient drones and a repetitive melody with a few nice little sounds punctuating here and there but it is very hypnotic and the progression seems to be constantly rising without ever going up. Like being trapped underwater and trying to swim up to the glittering surface but never being able to break the pressure that keeps you down.

 

3. Spaceworld

Still very much in Ketamine Trance territory with strong beats and some nice synth work. This track has a very bright melody in the intro that kind of fades away in favour of atmosphere and light stabbing synths. The atmosphere is quite big and open and I do get a feeling of being up there in space, maybe on some alien world from orbit looking down but with no sun in sight. The melody comes back in and at this point I feel like I am gliding towards the surface, the alien landscape becoming clearer and clearly very similar to our own with only mild differences in perception.

 

4. Toxic Memory

This track does indeed feel like a toxic memory, it seems a little harsher than the previous tracks and more acidic. The synths are trippier, the sounds more abrasive but it retains a sense of mysticism with the background ambience so that it feels like I am in some kind of lucid dream. It feels like a dream that is great when you have it and terrifying when you wake up with a start from it. The synths get more involved later in the track eventually feeling like acid rain falling from a war torn sky. This is a great track, extremely descriptive and less beat orientated. That is to say that there are still strong beats like the last tracks but they are somehow less obvious due to the strength of the rest of the track.

 

5. Fountain Of Youth

This track starts off with a really ethereal melody, it seems attached to nothing as if it just floats through the ether without disturbing the air or making waves but somehow makes it into your mind’s ear anywhere where it takes root and lets you float away. More chilled out beats more in a breaks style than 4-4 and some great sounds that fly around almost magically. It progresses or seems to at least without ever really changing. This is an interesting track without being so obvious why.

 

6. Gigs Faka (vs. Roof Raiser)

I can’t quite get a handle on this track. I either really like or just think “meh!” It’s a little darker than the rest of the tracks and very acidic in parts with strong K.trance beats with cool key changes, synths and nice melodies but I think it is a mood piece. When I am in the mood this track is great, when I am not it can be forgettable.

 

7. Springled Planet

From the very ambient intro with birdsong and drones like wind come the big but not so heavy and still slow beats and a light little melody that feels like it is cascading down like a sonic downpour. Imagine standing in a field on a distant world with strange new colours all around you and thick rain that falls down like ours but doesn’t touch you or get you wet. Each drop seems to fall all around you and you still feel safe and warm. Nice break beats, cool melodic sounds and a chopped up vocal wail that seems to be coming from beyond a hidden veil round of a very nice track.

 

8. Alone In Aqua Lonliness

We quicken the tempo again with this track getting up into the Progressive BPM range. I get a feeling of Smell Of Spräck by 12 moons with the constant breathing behind the music. It is all very creepy in a non scary way; it just feels like there is something lurking behind the music. The beats are about as strong as in that 12 moons track and in similar fashion seem to get stronger after the break down although I am sure it is an audio illusion. It’s a cool track but I like Smell Of Spräck much more and I can’t stop comparing them.

 

9. In The Algae

A more downbeat offering here, the most chilled so far on the album however the beats are still strong but while they are punchy and still quite fast they seem to have a feeling that is not a powerful as the previous tracks. There are some fantastic bubbly sounds like solar bubbles rippling through the fabric of space and time displacing reality as they go leaving a trail of silver residue in the dimensions they pass through. Wet synths seem to follow them, slipping in and out of your mind like snakes in the ether. A nice melody is very simple a repetitive and quite far in the background creating a warm atmosphere. A very nice track.

 

10. New Age Lullaby

The final track is the most downbeat on the album with the beats feeling much lighter and giving the music a lot of space to move. The melody seems like it comes from a child’s music box, either that or what you hear in a horror movie just before the child ghost stalks the protagonist. As childish as this melody seems, like the horror movie it seems very fitting. This is a nice track, a little too noodly in places for me but it rounds of a great album very well.