Hypnotic: Cat# CLP 9674-2
Year Of Release: 1996
Track List:
1. Phasis -
Visitations (6:33)
2. Wave Shaping Age -
World In Trouble (6:45)
3. Omnicron - The Bushmen (6:12)
4.
The Dermatologist - Jupiter (Omm To The Stars) (8:56)
5.
Analog Communications - Wave Generator (7:40)
6. Morten -
Hypnotizing (7:20)
7. Judge S. -
Brainstorm (Scatanic Gap) (7:00)
8. Audio Science -
Sunstroke (11:39)
9. Cyberjam - Alphaflight (6:46)
10.
Artificial Flavor - Deep Noizer (4:56)
(2010 Update: Endlessly detailed and a drag to read. Why would I go to
such excruciating lengths to microscopically recount how each track sounds?
Well, this was actually the first sample review I wrote for TranceCritic,
mainly as one to show other writers exactly what kind of format we were
shooting for -specifically of an average 6/10 release. Plus, we were actually
wanting to go this heavily detailed method, which was just stupid in
hindsight; live and learn. Kudos to you if you can make it through all 2500
words of this -Lord knows I can't anymore.)
IN BRIEF: Hypnotic Records on the decline.
This third volume of music from Music Research's sub-label, Influence, brought
to us by Hypnotic (a sub-label of Cleopatra), is something of a mixed bag.
Influence's early releases were quite distinct in tone and atmosphere, drawing
themes from industrial music quite liberally at times, all the while maintaining
trance and hard acid elements. And while the latter is present in this
compilation (at times in spades), the former is not. I suppose some of trance's
early association with industrial had been all but wiped out by the time these
tracks were released but it's a shame to see that distinctiveness in Influence's
sound go by the wayside.
But enough about the past. Does this compilation do the
label justice? Well, yes and no. There is some quality stuff here but at times
on this album it seems like Hypnotic was scraping the bottom of the barrel of
Influence's library.
Like the two previous Influence compilations Hypnotic gave
us, this one starts out with a track by Norman Feller's alias, Phasis.
Visitations is a solid sounding affair, once it finally gets going that
is. As a low acid warble starts this track off, subtly playing with some pitch
effects. Bits of percussion progressively are added, making for a decent, if
somewhat long, lead in. In fact, it isn't until two and a half minutes into this
track that Visitations gains any real momentum. Finally, at around three
minutes into this track, a minor breakdown gives the main riff, a filtered
little stuttering trancey sound, some prominence. It plays around with a few
reverb tricks, adding ominous filtered pads into the background before
everything comes together again for a sinister sounding little number. Around
five minutes in, the song goes into another breakdown, and the initial low acid
line gets to play around again before building up into a great moment where the
pads are given prominence, accentuated with simple, driving bass punches. The
riff joins the fray again as the song plays out to its end, which is quite
abrupt, especially considering how much lead in this song had to start with.
Fortunately, World In Trouble by Wave Shaping Age picks up the pace right
where Visitations left off. After a hollow, metallic banging sound plays
for a bit, a quite creative and unassuming sample from
The Terminator (I'll leave it to you to guess where in the movie it's
from) leaps out at you, rousing you from whatever inert state you might have
been in. As the sample loops, a chunky bit of low acid joins at an urgent pace.
The sample fades back and a simple, beeping riff becomes the focus, a rather
paranoid sounding little thing. Driving bass kicks and other percussion are
progressively added as things settle into quite the hypnotic number here. The
riff fades back for a bit around two minutes in as some stuttering sounds and
acid effects play out for a minute and a half, never loosing momentum. A brief
breakdown comes about eventually, giving the riff full prominence. The song
builds back up to its original driving momentum, where the riff is then treated
to some echo effects, adding even more urgency to its already paranoid sound. As
the Terminator sample loops out at the end, the riff is given full prominence
once again to take us out. Great trancey stuff.
Unfortunately, it's with the
next track things start to become a bit suspect with this compilation: a return
of the rather mediocre The Bushmen by Omnicron. Why put this track on the
third of this series when its already been featured on
the previous one? And if you absolutely had to put a previous track on, why not
something better? "The Bushmen trance or curing dance..." Get ready to hear this
sample a lot in this song, more than I'd really care to hear. I'm not entirely
adverse to the idea of repeating samples throughout a song but very rarely does
it ever come across as creative; more like tedious, especially if it doesn't add
much to the track in general.
The song itself is quite driving thanks to some
brisk percussion, an energetic bass line, and stuttering voice pads. The main
riff, however, is kind of lacking in this same intensity, sounding rather muddy.
A few bridges with acid bleeps and a trancey ping that echoes across the stereo
spectrum add a bit of diversity around three minutes in but, for the most part,
it doesn't deviate from its main riff, which just doesn't have enough meat in it
to carry this song. Even the stuttering voice pads, always a guilty pleasure of
mine, can't help in making this track more interesting than a decent
transitional track.
If The Bushmen is an example of how to use a
repeating sample wrong, the next track, Jupiter (Omm To The Stars) by The
Dermatologist, is an example of how to use a repeating sample right. Of course,
it helps that this spoken sample is the word omm, which has an almost Zen-like
quality to it when heard or said. Strange, that. There's quite a bit of subtle
stuff going on with this track. The opening, crisp acid line is quite low in
pitch to start but it will be given a great workout throughout this song's
duration, peaking and subsiding in frequency with great embellishment. Sinister
and spacey effects come and go, playing off of percussion elements that never
overtake the main acid line in prominence... and here is where a problem lies.
The bass kick is rather flat. Were it punchier, this could have been a great
track that could pummel dance floors. As such, it merely functions to serve the
pace, which is a shame. At around six and a half minutes, the song stops and an
ominous voice utters "Jupiter." Interesting, but nothing is done with it
afterwards besides just pick up right where the song left off. It kind of takes
you out of the trance this song puts you into while listening to it quite
abruptly. What's the point of this? If something new were added afterwards, I
could see some logic behind it. As it stands, Jupiter is a fine enough
excursion into acid but leaves the listener wanting.
Sadly, Analog
Communications doesn't seem to be up to the task of upping the ante, further
dragging this compilation into mediocrity after its solid start. The opening of
Wave Generator is something of a mess. A chunky bit of stuttering acid
starts out, which is fine, but a flat sounding bass, hi-hats, and cymbals that
are progressively added just don't mesh well, making this sounding quite
cluttered. It isn't until two minutes in that things kind of settle down into
something resembling a song, thanks largely in part to a kick drum and snappy,
shuffling claps that gets things organized. The acid line carries on throughout
this track, given a bit of a pitch workout after the five-minute mark. Trouble
here is this line is so abrasive and prominent that it drowns out so much of the
rest of the track; you need a very good set of speakers or headphones to make
out any of the other details. Even an eerie little warbling riff that joins the
fray three minutes in can't get its head over the acid. Might make for an
alright transitional track if an acid techno DJ played the middle four minutes
worth but other than that, this song is just too cluttered sounding to be any
good. After three straight tracks now that haven't been too hot, it wouldn't be
at all uncommon for a casual listener to dismiss the rest of this compilation.
Fortunately, Morten's Hypnotizing manages to rescue it from sinking
altogether. After about a minute's worth of fairly standard lead-in percussion
(although there is a bit of playfulness in the use of stereo effects), a wobbly
bit of acid bass joins in. Half a minute later, some trancey beeps begin to
float about before the main riff, a rather simple, stuttering synth stab, rises
up in a minor breakdown. Things play out for a while as extra effects adding a
sense of urgency to the riff build tension. At about the four-minute mark, the
song breaks down into a lovely little bit where string pads float along with the
trancey beeps, all the while a female sample says, appropriately enough,
"Hypnotizing away." As the song builds up again, a chunky bit of acid grows from
the background, given full prominence once the rhythm sets in again. As the
trancey beeps and strings pads are added, it gives a sense of soothing calm over
the song's initial anxiety. Even when the main riff returns, the two polar
elements play quite nicely off of each other. On its own, Hypnotizing is
fairly standard sounding trance from this era. Coming off of two straight hard
acid tracks though, this one is like a breath of fresh air after sitting in a
suffocating room.
Now that our attention is brought back, it's time for Judge S.
to increase the intensity with Brainstorm (Scatanic Gab). A menacing
sound effect weaves about as percussion slowly fades in from the background. In
less than a minute, a booming gabber bass kick rears its intimidating head,
fortunately at a brisk enough pace as to not loose this track's integrity. The
sound effect switches up a bit, turning into actual notes instead of background
noise. All this is very subtle, mind; like the calm before the storm. By the
three-minute mark, an incredibly catchy riff plays out; very epic sounding
despite the low-key sounds used. A minute later, a quick percussive bridge ups
the ante as effects and extra hi-hats accentuate this riff. As the song builds
down its layers of elements, an acidy synth gets fed through a pitch bend,
repeating towards a minimal outro. Killer stuff, and not an easy act to follow
up.
Fortunately, the always intriguing Audio Science is up to the challenge.
Sunstroke starts out very low key due to a pulsing synth sound fed
through a low pitch; things don't really pick up until over a minute in where a
subdued synth pad weaves about as a very unique sounding bass kick pattern
(going something like 'thump thump-thump-thump-thump-thump thump
thump-thump-thump thump') is introduced. Extra hi-hats and claps in separate
stereo channels are progressively added, setting up a very quick pace. As the
synth pad leave, the original wobbling synth sound picks up in intensity,
getting doubled up and peaking briefly every so often at higher pitches but
remaining low for the most part. By the five-minute mark, the percussion briefly
leaves, giving some eerie stuttering voice pads a bit of prominence before
rejoining the fray. This carries on for a couple of minutes but never sounds
repetitive thanks to the ever-so-subtle pitch tweaks to the pulsing synth line.
Once we're in about seven and a half minutes, the song gives a new element, a
good ol' bit of tweaking acid, a bit of prominence. Finally, every element comes
together for a frenetic climax where the original pulsing synth gets fed into
quite a bit of echo effects. This is quite a long song compared to the rest,
clocking in over eleven and a half minutes, but it never gets tedious to listen
to. There are so many elements subtly lurking about that an acute listener can
have quite a bit of fun with it. The only real trouble with it is there is no
real defining riff, just a series of trancey movements. As such, this is trance
music in its most raw form: subtle, minimal, and hypnotic. Me likes.
Attempting
to outdo Audio Science at their game is not something recommended for a
follow-up track, and this compilation wisely follows this advice by delving into
something a little bit different than anything heard yet here. A moody pad intro
starts Cyberjam's Alphaflight out. Before long a couple different
twerping acid lines emerge, building in intensity. Soon enough this intensity is
released as percussion charges in with a bit of low, reverbing acid throbbing in
the background. Acid lines and effects weave about, creating what is actually
something rather funky sounding, a bit of a surprise given how this song started
out (at least, as funky as acid trance can get). Three minutes into the song,
the opening pads return in a breakdown, this time more intense as low-key acid
and sound effects play off of them for a minute. Once the rhythm returns, its
more driving than before and various acid effects play all about, sometimes
retaining a bit of the opening's theme, but for the most part doing their own
thing in a rather fun way. The song kind of pitters out at the end from a lack
of focus, though, seemingly having run out of ideas. This wouldn't be so bad if
the next track picked up nicely after this steady run of quality tracks.
Ouch!
What is this? Did someone record this track too loudly onto this album? Or is it
the song itself? Deep Noizer by Artificial Flavor does have a danceable
rhythm to it, I guess, but the sounds used here to make up its main riff (which
plays through the songs entirety) and various effects are so overbearing and
abrasive, I can't imagine anyone making heads or tails of it. Everything is just
so distorted. Granted, it's not a very long track, but I can't see anyone using
this for anything more than a joke. It certainly isn't an enjoyable listen at
home. What a lousy way to end an album. Since it's the last track, this is
pretty much a throwaway song. I've never been fond of the idea; wouldn't you
want to go out firing on all cylinders instead of leaving a bad taste in the
mouth?
Still, there is some great stuff to be had here; tracks like
World In Trouble, Brainstorm (Scatanic Gap), and
Sunstroke are worthy additions to any trance collection. But when a
compilation contains such weak contenders like Wave Generator and
Deep Noizer, it's hard to recommend an album in good conscious. However,
the former group of tracks are worth having, and given the rarity of
Influence material on CD (or MP3 for that matter), for the most part the rest on
here would be welcome accompaniments for a trance library. It's just a shame the
lesser tracks drag the overall impression here.
Score: 6/10
ACE TRACKS:
Wave Shaping Age - World In Trouble
Judge S. -
Brainstorm (Scatanic Gap)
Written by Sykonee. Originally published in 2004 for
TranceCritic.com.© All rights
reserved.
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