Sundial Aeon - Wolfsberg (Impact Studio Records, 2012)

[Templar]

Sundial Aeon - Wolfsberg

 

Impact Studio Records, 2012

 

 

1. Wolfsberg (Original Mix)

2. Wolfsberg (Crankshaft Remix)

3. Wolfsberg (Remix feat L-Wolf)

4. Wolfsberg (Kadasarva Remix)

5. Wolfsberg (Itoa Remix)

6. Wolfsberg (Lackluster Bodily Rigidity Remix)

7. Wolfsberg (Sonic Saturation Remix)

8. Iced-Melancholy Spectacle (X-Ceed Remix)

 

After the debut of Impact Records Studio, the Sundial Aeon guys did not lay low. "Wolfsberg" continues the themes that appeared on last year's "Mimesis" album, but focusing solely on the title track, thematically related to the city of Wałbrzych and the Owl Mountains mystery. The album was created in collaboration with both Polish and foreign artists of the electronic scene. The recipe for this release was to take the original track for a spin by several other artists. Repeating the same trick over and over again appears to be a risky venture, but when it comes to capable remixers and a variety of interpretations, one can be certain that boredom will not be bothering us.

 

As a way of a recap, the beginning of the disc is, of course, the original version of the track from the "Mimesis" album. Being an epic track, it leads us into areas of a monumental soundtrack, proving a match for both domestic speakers, as well as great soundsystems. Next it was processed by Crankshaft from Finland, delivering downtempo with a broken structure and a pinch of melancholy. It is ok, though not particularly thrilling, but the best is yet to come. Number three is a guest appearance by Thomas Wolk Lewanowicz a.k.a. L-Wolf, where we get an even more intensified and bulked-up version of "Wolfsberg". The result is a good, ever-thrilling track, providing an effective massage by its sonic momentum. As one might have expected after his participation on the "Mimesis" album, Kadasarva once again threw the most twisted track at us also here; a track set in a disturbing, sometimes aggressive and at times shpongle-ish style. In comparison with the rest of the remixes, we shall get a glimpse of barely rudimentary references to the title track's themes, which for some may be its Achilles' heel. It is also a remix that deviated the most from the original version, which gives an interesting tone to sense of the word "remix". Itoa chose a more relaxing approach. It is one of those tracks which are ideal for multiple loops during or after work. The track's light feeling will quickly run through a tired body and mind, as well as help to sort out thoughts and fly away someplace far. In the sixth approach the main track was formatted by another guy from Finland, namely Lackluster (Esa Juhani Ruoho), into and interesting and distinctive mixture of downtempo and breakbeat. After a typically chillaxed and sundial-ish intro, Sonic Saturation (Jacek Juszczyk) offers us an intense but not intrusive tour into drum & bass, deftly combining a dnb core with the main themes and once again showing different qualities of this album. After seven versions of "Wolfsberg" it is also obligatory to check out the bonus track in the form of a new version of "Iced-Melancholy Spectacle" by Wojciech Panufnik, a Polish producer and demo-scene participant operating under the X-Ceed alias. It is one of those tracks that I played to death. Brilliant in its simplicity, well-tailored for early phases of a psytrance event or energetic trance-dance at the chillout room. In short, the remixer delivered, quite unexpectedly becoming my favorite on the album.

 

Another encounter with Sundial Aeon was successful. It could have been full of clichés, given the processing of the same theme, but fortunately a clever solution was found and we were served with an engaging mixture of remixes of different musical flavours. Each of them stands its own as an individual musical illustration musical of the "Wolfsberg" theme, and together they form an interesting combination. There is trance, downtempo, dnb, breakbeat - and that's not all. Just like with good cuisine, which is dominated by the seemingly competing flavors, here, right next to each other, there are tracks with completely different colors and atmospheres - for example the adjacent tracks from Kadasarva and Itoa, which differ strongly from each other. Thus, this colorful musical melting pot is another thumbs up for Impact Studio Records.

 

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