K.O.B. - Identity Mash

Suntrip Records: 2017

For as instrumental as Filteria was in establishing Suntrip's early success, I sure haven't had much opportunity to talk about him thus far. I'm halfway through this exhaustive catalogue dive of the goa label and- Eh? You say I'm still not? Let me check that! *checks that* Sonofa... Okay, I'm almost halfway done, and barely scratched the surface of Jannis Tzitkas' output, the Filteria album Daze Of Our Lives the lone record of his I've talked up. And it looks as though I'm still putting off material from his primary alias, as the item currently slotted here is from his alternate alias, Kind Of Behaviour, aka: K.O.B.

It isn't a terribly robust alias, mostly appearing here and there on compilations where Jannis wanted to stretch a little further into the realms of proper psy, not just goa-leaning psy (or neo-goa psy-goa goa). It'd been a few years since the last Filteria album, and Suntrip seemed to be on something of a downswing in ye' olde year of 2017, so maybe the time was right to explore this other aspect of Mr. Tzitkas' muse, while the chance was there.

And what is the K.O.B. stylee? Ah, I just said, more psychedelic trance than his other stuff. Which means less emphasis on obvious melodies, more emphasis on wild sounds, and more gradual builds to whatever climax each track has going for it. So, a bunch of random wibble, then.

I kid, but its undeniable Identity Mash may take a bit more effort to get into than Jannis' usual fare. Which is fine if you're down for that – its a vibe that works at certain times, particularly later in the night, preferably surrounded by a forest. I'm sure there was only so far Filteria could go treading into headier, trippier waters before it started sounding like something completely different. Mind, it's not a huge departure in sound. The acid may sound a little squawkier, the sci-fi noises may have more prominence over synth leads, and the basslines may have a little more grit in them, but it's still mostly the same songcraft as heard in other Filteria productions. Rhythms continue being the driving force for these tracks, as they should be, clearly peak-time tunes for when the psychedelic substances start doing their fun little tricks on your brain matter.

Still, the old 'Suntrip Critique' does pop up, Identity Mash being yet another record that doesn't vary much throughout its playtime. At least, that was gonna' be my final assessment until Cousin It (2017 Mix) crops up near the end. Oh man, this is the sort of twisted, deep psy I would have liked to hear more from Jannis' supposed 'darker' alias. Just an unnerving sinewy pad, escalating rhythms, and subtly building acid. Very much at odds with Suntrip's typical neo-goa, at least until the label started dabbling more in dark trance after the turn of the decade. Shame there wasn't more like it on this album.

Ka-Sol - Fairytale

Suntrip Records: 2006

Isn't it fun going back to the early years of an established entity? The feeling-out days, where an identity is still being hashed out, so things are just a little askew from what we typically associate with said property. TV shows are the most prominent example: when Kramer wasn't so physically eccentric; when Flanders wasn't so Flanderized; before Riker had a beard (Sisko, too). Music labels are no less susceptible, many tossing their hands into the grab bag of genres as they figure out what super-niche lane they will come to proliferate. Unless you're one of those 'anything goes' type of prints. Then it don't matter if you started out with ear-bleed gabber, so long as you eventually come around to minimal deep-tech.

Suntrip was pretty clear about its original plans when it launched two decades ago: psy trance for the old goa heads, before all the full-on and prog changed the scene around them. And while they were mostly able to meet their manifesto out the gate, there were still a few 'wild' years before they properly purified their product. Seeing Aes Dana on their first ever compilation Apsara was odd enough, but shortly after that came this little outlier of an album, Ka-Sol's Fairytale.

So this is dark psy. Maybe not as demented and twisted as the genre can go, but definitely on that “creepy, mischievous things lurking in the woods at night” tip. Like, you already get that vibe from the cover art - less traditional psychedelic, more ancient European folklore. As I recall, there were quite a few chaps from the Scandinavian lands pumping out forest trance as much as prog-psy, and Mr. Lundström could have found a home on any number of labels supporting the stuff.

For some reason though, he wandered the wilds, only contributing tracks here and there over the years, before landing on Suntrip. A strange pairing, perhaps one made out of convenience: Ka-Sol needed a place to release an album, and Suntrip needed product to get their print established. Having already provided a track to the aforementioned Apsara (and among the best tracks that compilation had to offer), it made sense giving him the green light on a full-length record. Sure, Fairytale would end up sounding unlike little else in Suntrip's catalogue until the wa-a-ay later Carpe Noctum compilation, but how was anyone to know that's how things would shake out for the foreseeable future?

Anyhow, Fairytale is a solid slice of dark psy, though I can't help but feel it stands out more because of its stark contrast with the rest of Suntrip's discography. There's even a concession to the goa brigade here, in that as the album plays out, the psychedelic derangement slowly subsides, such that by the end, we're getting into more traditional forms of trance. Or is this meant to capture that transitional point of an outdoor party, where the night has given way to the first rays of dawn? Given Ka-Sol's rep' for live performances, probably so.

Various - Carpe Noctem

Suntrip Records: 2021

I took a month off because I was feeling burnt-out reviewing so many items within the same genres, so of course the very first item I'm covering upon returning is more. No, really, I'm cool with it, I knew this was in store for me. I just find it funny, is all. Someone else would ditch the music that was creating said burn-out, and focus on something else, but not me! But hey, looking at what other music I have in the pipeline, that will be the case, eventually. Just, y'know, gotta' go through some regular business to get there.

The good news is that, unlike many Suntrip CDs I've thus far covered, this one is different. Like, really different. 'An entirely different genre' different! Okay, sub-genre. It's still psy trance, but in a move I was totally not expecting, this one goes dark. Or maybe I should have expected that from a compilation titled Carpe Noctem, and a promo spiel fully admitting they're doing something different for their annual label showcase. They don't want to go full dark psy, mind, calling their take 'melodic forest', but the sentiment remains the same: trippy trance music for the punters in full motion during the hour of the wolf.

I also don't recognize many names here. Ka-Sol is one, because they were among Suntrip's earliest releases. With a sound that didn't quite mesh with the young label's future retro-goa manifesto, however, they moved onto prints more accommodating of their darker aesthetic. The other name I recognize is Battle Of The Future Buddhas, because once you see a name like that, you'll never forget it ever again. And wait, is that the Xenomorph I spy? Like, the dude who practically kicked off the dark psy pantheon way back in the day? Didn't even know he was still active. Well, that's certainly a get for your tentative steps into a different sub-genre.

The rest of the roster rounds out with names like Spindrift, Smuds, L.A.B., Proxeeus, and Dragon Twins (think I've seen that one too?). And the music is definitely dark psy, though not nearly as twisted as some of the stuff I heard out of Trishula back when. Okay, that Xenomorph track definitely is, but then I'd expect nothing less from an O.G., while the Proxeeus track Breaking Down The Barrier almost has me reminding of Procs, never a bad thing. Towards CD end, however, you can hear hints and feelers of Suntrip's usual foray into the more melodic and ear-wormy, which I guess makes sense if this is meant to represent the transition into morning psy.

Except the last track JaraLuca, which goes way back with Flashbacks. Like, before there was even really a thing as goa trance, when the genre was still in its primordial industrial roots. The acid is chunky, songcraft is straight-forward, and the rhythms are quite under-produced, deliberately so. It's the sort of track you'd expect on a long-lost New Beat compilation, not one released in the current decade.

Procs - Stuck In The Oven With Me

Trishula Records: 2005

I'd only heard one (1) Procs tune, but hot dang, was it ever a humdinger of a tune! His contribution to the Trishula Records compilation Mechanophobia was quite literally unlike anything I'd heard before – and to be frank, ever since. For sure many forms of weird and warped psy trance have passed my ears over the years, but Big Large Snoring Lamas was on a whole different level of psychedelic twisting. It's like, like... Anyone remember the opening credits sequence of the Beetlejuice cartoon? It was like that, a roller-coaster of fucked-up shit filtered through a Tim Burton / Danny Elfman lense. If his album from the year before had more of that, oh Hell yeah I'd be down to hear more!

For whatever reason though, I skipped on it when I was going through my dark psy phase way back when, and never bothered to keep tabs on any further developments from Mr. Stegman. I assumed it lost to the winds, eventually out-of-print when Trishula folded, the Procs story going with it. That wasn't the case, of course, Mickael sporadically shopping about his alias on a couple other labels, and even recently re-emerging with all his material available on Bandcamp (yay Bandcamp!). That's beside the point though, because on a random whim, I was perusing the old Psyshop shop (just before they shuttered, if you can believe the odds), and discovered they did indeed have Procs' debut album available! Wow, all this time, the original Trishula pressing? Bully on me, then.

I will admit though, a little hesitation in getting Stuck In The Oven With Me, for a rather stupid but understandable reason: I wasn't sure it would deliver what I wanted. One of the factors in my fall-out of mid-'00s psy trance was the annoying pattern of being lured in by really dope tunes as heard on a compilation, and a subsequent album from said producer of such dope tunes never delivering on those expectations. Dark psy was particularly annoying about it, but maybe I simply didn't do enough digging to find out if my batting average was just rather low.

Anyhow, I needn't worry as Procs' debut is fairly solid, even if there's only a few tracks that really gets into that 'Beetlejuice Roller-Coaster' vibe I was looking for (Mr. Baengrot Rides Again, Overtures From The Oven, Buforsk Normal). There's still a delightfully warped sense of sound being employed in most of these tracks, they're just presented in a headier, minimalist way that Trishula Records often showcased. I do like the ones with crunchier rhythms going for them (Gliffsing The Pop, Pogo Pedagog), and Samsonited even gets more melodic than a bunch of weird, twisted sounds and effects flying about.

Still, I was kinda' hoping for more than 'good enough', given how dope Snoring Lamas turned out, but I shouldn't go expecting older tunes to be on par with newer ones, right? Right. So then, about those Bandcamp uploads of later albums...

ACE TRACKS: February 2020

So, a little better this past month, but man, still quite a slog. The Real World work, she don't slow down, even when I think it's gonna' slow down, it just ramps up again. Nothing like a little global viral pandemic to get folks all panicky and buying up things and stuff that seldom sell otherwise. And it's funny, because changes are coming up in a few months again, wherein my status will be in flux, and the amount of responsibility saddled upon me will be significantly reduced in whatever capacity my new role will be.

And that's fine, that's totally fine. I get paid the same one way or the other, and if it means I instead focus on singular tasks instead of doing all the things, I'm all the more for it. I always knew I had some mild ADHD (really, in our modern, technologically advanced society, who doesn't?), but never realized just how much it can affect your casual day-to-day activities when you have all the things from work following you home. All you want to do is unplug and let things set fallow but, oof, still got some Balance mixes to listen to and analyze. And them Balance sets, they don't make things easy, nosiree. Well, except that Lee Burridge one. Could tell that was tapioca bland right from the outset. Fortunately, it's not part of February's assortment of ACE TRACKS!



Full play list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
Attoya - Based On True Events
Various - Base Ibiza 2003

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Oh, either of Attoya's, for sure.

Technically, the older Balance mixes are missing too, but most of the tracks are still available on Spotify, so didn't see any reason to list them as 'missing'. Like, that seems to be how the newer Balance options have been supplying their tracklists on Spotify: full unmixed version, and a separate playlist of all the unmixed tracks. It's a very good idea for DJ mixes, methinks, though obviously quite difficult to do with sets dating a decade older.

And not much else in this playlist, Balance once again eating up most of my spare listening time, though I squeaked in a couple extra items towards the end of the month. And what great, unifying wellspring of wisdom have a gleaned from my journey through Balance? There sure was a lot more space disco than I would have imagined, that's for sure.

Attoya - Based On True Events (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2007

(2020 Update:
Yet another one of those old reviews where I spend a huge chunk of the rambling pre-amble detailing a whole sub-genre of electronic music for the readers, just in case they weren't all that up to speed about the exponentially increasing micro-genres emerging within the psy trance scene. What 2007 Sykonee wasn't aware of is this was just the tip of a fractal iceberg, genre splintering occurring at almost the quantum level - this new nano-genre can both exist and not exist! Not that most would care, but for a scene indulging in reality warping psychedelics, the divisions are razor sharp, crystal clear, and down to the sonic yoctometre.

Attoya would release another album half a decade after this one (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Taking a quick skim through, they apparently took the positive words I had for their debut and explored them further. Whee, I loves me some wobbly, rubbery basslines in dark psy. Not sure where I could find a copy of that CD now though, save the second-hand market. Ooh, there's a decent price on Discogs now. No! Must... resist...!)

IN BRIEF: Results vary.

One of the funnier things about electronic music is how scenes often adopt pet names for their music, names that are seldom referred to anywhere else. Sometimes it’s nothing more than making use of a redundant adjective to describe a variation of a sound, and other times it can be a mind-boggling maze of slang terms (grime in its transition from UK garage, for instance). So, it’s hardly surprising a scene as old and esoteric as the psy trance scene is just as guilty of this too. However, it is surprising there are only two isolated terms to spring up from it: morning and forest.

Without getting too bogged down in technicalities, morning trance refers mostly to the melodic stuff, typically played, um, in the morning of all-night parties. Forest trance, on the other hand, tends to be the darker side of psy, played at night in, er, forests. For the purpose of this review, let’s focus on the latter.

Forest trance can be incredibly hit or miss. The apparent aim is to create an atmosphere where the creatures of the night are welcome to the party, like some kind of gathering in the middle of Fangorn; creepy tones, mischievous sounds, and foreboding moods are often utilized. However, while psy has a tendency to forego conventional song writing in favor of warped soundscapes, it seems producers in this field are all too eager to go overboard when they tap into the dark side; why care about immediate appeal when you can totally trip out your audience with those twisted noises, eh? All fine and dandy to a degree, but the end results are often tracks that end up a rambling, incoherent mess. Even when lost in a tribal frenzy, the need for a point to it all is still welcome.

And now, after some 300 words of introduction for our non-psy readers, we finally get to the Burshstein brother’s debut album, Based On True Events. Going by the name Attoya and hailing from Israel, the duo seem to fully embrace what this style of psy sets out to accomplish. If the cover is anything to go by, they wholeheartedly dig the forest trance mystic.

Sure enough, eerie sounds, disconcerting effects, and twisting synths creates the feeling that everything ain’t quite right in the woods tonight. Unfortunately, it’s rather aimless in the process, with Attoya producing tangents and moods for no reason other than they needed something to support the driving rhythms. Every so often, you get a lead that perhaps hints at a possible intriguing plot, but it soon dissolves into psy’s typical squiggly wibble; The System Of Multiple Language is a great example of this as the opening notes are delightfully paranoid, but are never touched upon again. About the only thing that keeps these tracks from descending into nonsensical noise are the basslines; they’ll leap off the rails of the standard dark-psy drone, creating unpredictable urgency in the process, but even then it isn’t done enough to maintain steady interest.

And then we move onto the second half of this album.

Heh, okay, I apologize for slightly leading you on there, but Based On True Events really does seem like an album of two halves. While there are moments to be had in the early going, that is all they are: moments. Even when the tracks are a bit more structured - as in Our Tasty Part for the best example - the end result is rather lacking, feeling like mere appetizers. That all changes after the mid-way mark.

Green Crop Matured is an apt title, as Attoya seem to have firmly grown into their sound from this track on. Yes, there are still some rambling moments, but not to the degree as before, and they are supplemented by musical ideas that build upon each other instead of compete for trip-out time. In fact, this tune is rather brilliant in execution, layering the intensity on in ever-increasing increments while maintaining a sense of flow from idea to idea.

After something a little more subdued, Attoya finish the album out with a couple brisk psy offerings, and quite strongly in the process. While nothing revolutionary, they are solid tracks, especially so when the basslines seems to freewheel with abandon at this late stage.

All being said, Based On True Events is a tentative recommendation. Despite a couple choice cuts to be had, a great deal of Attoya’s debut falls upon bog-standard psy execution, making this a pick-up that'll interest fans of the forest sound but very few others.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Tristan - Audiodrome

Twisted Records: 2000

A significant album for yours truly, though not for anything to do with the music within. Or maybe a little, though I don't put that on Tristan himself. Nay, Audiodrome was the first CD that I learned to not have any faith in Amazon reviews. It was still early in my 'online buying' days, that fancy new credit card I finally procured providing me access to the largest storefront the world has ever seen. What to buy, though, what to buy? Well, look at that, some handy 'recommendation lists' from Amazon users, and there's even one for trance. I like trance! At least, I think I still liked trance. If it's good trance, at least, and this particular list was reppin' some names that skewed towards the psy side of things. Ooh, Tristan, I know that name, appearing on that Trance Psyberdelic compilation. With adjectives like 'dark' and 'deep' in this reviewer's high praise of Audiodrome, I thought I might be in for another Black Album from L.S.G. Well, not quite.

So this album couldn't live up to the adulation of an Amazon review. Unfortunately, it didn't even live up to my expectation of a psy trance album. True, that's totally on me, as I was honestly unaware that a significant segment of the psy scene had embraced minimalism. In fact, Tristan's work is often cited as among the forerunners of that shift, Audiodrome held up as one of its best offerings. I can jive with that, the music on here definitely better than other examples of this sound from this era – one need only gander at that Alien Dust compilation for proof. Heck, some of Audiodrome is better than what's being churned out in this style to this day - ain't no abuse of triplets here, my friends.

And to be fair, only a couple tracks are of the slower, minimalist plodding variety. Even fairer, I respect Tristan's attempt at doing something quite different from psy trance norms. If anything, Valve is a precursor to the monotonous strand of prog-psy, so you gotta' give him credit for predicting it so far ahead of everyone else. I suppose Reptile Mind isn't too bad either, though constantly fails at shifting into second gear. Is probably the point.

That's not to say the rest of Audiodrome features a ton of tear-out trance, the remaining tracks generally minimalist as well. They show greater use of tension and build though, such that when those vintage psy-trance peaks hit, Tristan's getting maximum efficiency out of minimal sounds (and hey, if I need something more classical-goa, there's always Dreamtime). Naturally, I didn't 'get it' at the time, but have come to appreciate the songcraft in these tunes, especially in lieu of future repeated examples of how awful this can go. Audiodrome still isn't recommended for novice psy heads, truly a slow burner of an album. If you've been lurking about those 'forest trance' sorts though, give this one a go to hear its roots.

Overdream - Soundprints

Sun Station: 2011

This was quite a contrast coming off Olien's Sounded Paratronic. Both are 'dark psy', though they couldn't be further apart in the psy spectrum. Olien's brand of music is almost anti-music, foregoing traditional song structure for an endless barrage of twisted sounds intent on creating wacked-out imagery within your brainpan – and it's fucking awesome in doing so! Overdream, on the other hand, sticks to psy's typical structures, even brings in a few lobe-grabbing moments, and generally provides music that sounds competent but doesn't spark the same unpredictable energy Olien's works do. Essentially, this is the ‘twilight trance' sound, a darker version of full-on (or morning, or whatever), where things can go weird, but never so much that the mind turns to mush with aggressive beats and ear shredding effects. Yeah, I know, describing the difference between 'dark' and ‘twilight’ makes as much sense as the difference between 'goa' and 'psychedelic', but great wars have been fought in establishing these sonic boundaries within the psy trance contingent, much hippie blood shed and stained with acid tabs flowing through outdoor fields and forests. Very pretty laser blasts from the starships, though.

Anyhow, that ‘typical psy structure’ I mentioned often plays out thus: here’s a section with some cool sounds, now here’s another section with cool sounds, and then a third; maybe a forth if it’s a long track. That’s acceptable if there’s sounds you enjoy hearing, but trouble is there’s often very little melodic or harmonic flow linking these together (no, that steady psy bassline doesn’t count). Psy’s tendency to cram so much randomness into their tracks makes for a frustrating listen in huge quantities, and the opening few cuts of Overdream’s mini-album Soundprints falls prey to this trope too. A shame, since this Russian duo (Maxim & Olga Kurushyna) has sonic similarities to Olien, just not the same way with the deep atmospherics. Like some of the greats of goa’s past (Koxbox, Man With No Name, Etnica), Olien’s music is constantly evolving like an advanced lifeform, whereas most dark psy’s content to just add a new appendage or antler and call it a day.

Sorry for all that, let’s get to some proper reviewing, eh? Overdream emerged during the mid-‘00s boom of dark psy, and have maintained a steady career since, mostly in compilation duty. Ektoplazm also highly rates them, hence why this came downloaded during a trawl of the ever-awesome psy portal. If you like your dark psy, or twilight psy (or whatever), you should dig on the first three tracks – just, y’know, don’t listen to Sounded Paratronic beforehand. Personally though, the throwback goa cut Zurna does the trick for me. While that plastic rhythm can’t be mistaken for anything but current, the spacey multi-tapped pads and squelchy rubber-acid have all my ‘90s nostalgia electrodes tingling. As is wont for most psy albums, even in an EP format, there’s a downtempo dubby cut to finish out, Kaleidoscope Eyes with DubMyDub. It’s, um... well, it’s not Ott.

Olien - Sounded Paratronic (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2007

(2015 Update:
I think Olien ruined psy trance for me. I'll get into more details with these thoughts in my next review - how practical! - but the short version is my expectations for what the dark side of the genre could sound like never again matched what Oliver Bach produced here. I'll grant it was a rather small sample size I took in in the years following, so perhaps I've missed out on a few choice producers lurking the deep underground of the psy scene. Somehow though, I suspect not, the whole sub-genre of dark psy growing rather stale as the '00s went on, then taking a bizarre turn into extreme BPMs as 'high-tek' (or whatever). I'm sure it retains a following as most psy sub-genres do, but yeah, my mid-'00s flirtation was enough for my fix thus far.

Unless, of coarse, Olien makes a comeback! Like so many - too many! - producers, he seemed finished after Sounded Paratronic. As per the traditional story, he's released an odd track on compilations every so often, but has remained relatively quiet these past few years. Such a shame, his brand of sounds and effects still unlike any other I've heard. Like, I'm speeding through some alien metropolitan landscape where cyberpunk anime and pulp splattercore high fantasy dominate the scenery, all while tripping on LSD or some such. How could you not want to hear more music like this!)


IN BRIEF: Quite twisted.

For most folks, there are two kinds of music they look to get: tunes with a catchy hook, or tunes with an infectious beat. They simply have little time for technicalities like musicianship, creativity, and so on. Sure, every so often a song with all these traits will sneak into the public ear, but it’s quite the rarity when it does. So it isn’t surprising when music with other ideas in mind is dismissed as nonsense by Average Jane and Joe. After all, how good can it be if it doesn’t make you hum or tap your foot? Actually, at times it can be quite good indeed.

While only the basics of rhythm and melody continue to appeal to the masses, there’s a wealth of music designed for more specific tastes. Psychedelic music often has the listener’s imagination in mind, using soundscapes to trigger quirky images in the brains of the audience. When producers began making use of synths and sequencers in this vein, even the sky was no longer the limit. Psy trance was born, and has enjoyed its status as fringe music in spite of the ridicule it gets as just a bunch of wibbly noise. Still, ‘a bunch of wibbly noise’ isn’t the fairest description. There are plenty of catchy hooks and nice melodies scattered about this scene. However, there are also many producers out there who like to dig deep into psychedelia, leaving all but the fearless behind. This is Olien’s aim.

Oliver Bach describes his music as ‘layered psy’, and I do find this apt. On the surface, playing his album Sounded Paratronic in the background while I attended to other tasks, very little of his work caught my ear. The odd sonic trick here, a quirky sound there, but I couldn’t describe much afterwards. But when I sat down with the good ol’ Sennheisers... Good God, but does this music ever reveal itself to you! Or rather, I discovered there’s far more of interest going on than first impressions will show.

Make no mistake: there still isn’t much in the way of a catchy hook. And the rhythms, although definitely using different patterns between tracks, are seriously lacking in the funk. What Olien does remarkably well though, is create incredibly warped soundscapes that suck you in and tickles your imagination with twisted imagery. It’s like some sort of synthesis of organic, cybernetic, and alien textures.

Probably the closest comparison that springs to mind would be Oliver Lieb’s The Black Album under his L.S.G. alias. In fact, it would seem Bach gives a small tribute to his fellow Oliver in the opening track Amanit, as a few samples of various Lieb tracks can be heard in it. But whereas The Black Album focused mostly on the darkest of tech-trance ideas, Sounded Paratronic holds back from descending quite that far into madness.

The most intriguing thing I found with this album is just how it keeps your attention. I’ll admit my thoughts can wander when sitting back to music, often due to predictability. But with production geared for twisted imagery rather than typical song structure, Olien keeps you guessing what’s coming next. Granted, a great number of psy does this and I’ve often found myself subconsciously tuning it out anyways because what is offered just isn’t interesting. Not in Olien’s case though. Every stuttered synth, every rubbery bassline, every floating pad, every disembodied vocal sample keeps me hooked; such creative stuff to listen to it is. Hardly ever did I hear any of psy trance’s more annoying clichés crop up, and if they ever did, they were given a clever spin.

And probably the most important factor in making Sounded Paratronic an engaging listen is how it’s never overcooked. Psy often has a problem in trying to be too clever, too psychedelic. Sure, there are a couple times where it sounds like Olien is overdoing it (probably most notably in Cybersphere) but for the most part Bach keeps things focused on the imagery his music creates rather than indulging for indulgent’s sake.

Ultimately though, if you absolutely need to have your music contain typical rhythms and melody, Sounded Paratronic won’t interest you in the slightest. You won’t be singing Granularis in the shower and Calmar won’t have you break-dancing anytime soon (although I’m sure a few cyber-hippies won’t mind flailing to these), but then that’s beside the point.

Sounded Paratronic has a very specific audience in mind, and Olien has produced a well-crafted album for said audience. If you’re after a psy trance album that’ll play delightful things with your head, give this a go.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved.

Various - Phoenix Rising (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2007

(2014 Update:
Whoof, is this ever a painful one to read. Grammar's incredibly clunky, the preamble lead-in has little to do with anything, and it has a return of the dreaded track-by-track analysis, a format we'd all but stopped doing half-way through TranceCritic's run. A big part of the problem is my attempts at 'journalistic impartiality' while still struggling at playing the PR political game with Trishula, hoping for continual promos from the label. I also had growing doubts if I was legitimately enjoying this music, or it was nothing more than an escape from my lingering frustration over euro-trance's regular nonsense. I wanted to praise this music, but didn't always believe what I was writing. Listening back on this compilation, I can at least verify it does hold up for dark psy - Trishula were good at gathering talent with unique takes on the sound. Shame I wasn't more confident in conveying such sentiments back in the day.)


IN BRIEF: Trishula, twisted as ever.

Well this is different. Oh, not so much the actual music on here, although I’ll get to that in a bit. No, I’m talking about the cover. I’m so used to dealing with Hindu themes or psychedelic themes or alien themes that seeing one delving into Egyptian mythology is a nice change of pace. Okay, so there’s both psychedelic and Hinduism imagery lurking in the background, but it’s that flaming bird grabbing your attention on the cover, so it dominates the theme.

That’s Trishula’s game though. Mechanophobia touched on Judaism, so the label has no qualms with shying away from psy trance’s usual clichés. A unique sound has been bred in their roster, standing out from the crowded arena of wibbly glut. And by skewing towards the darker side of the genre, they seem intent on exploring twisted soundscapes rather than offer easy accessibility.

(I suppose this is about where I normally give my “psy trance isn’t for everyone” disclaimer, but is it really necessary anymore? Yes, this is fringe music. That doesn’t make it any less worthwhile for those seeking a little diversity in electronic music though. Deal with it.)

I think it’s safe to say Trishula’s roster is in top form on this release. These aren’t some bunch of Israeli ravers who’ve just been inspired by Infected Mushroom or Astral Projection, knocking out redundant full-on trance overnight, never to be heard from again. Rather, there’s a meticulous method to these producers’ madness; a steely control over their tracks can be heard once you get past the noisy surface (although Mind Distortion System does every-so closely flirt with excessive squibble on his offering).

And this is why, despite the brisk BPMs, Phoenix Rising works better as head-music than the dancefloor. These tracks would rather play wonderful twisted things with your mind, although should you give a little ass-shake in the process doesn’t hurt.

A nice bit of variety is on offer here for a collection of tunes that remain in the narrow field of dark psy. Attoya’s and Darkpsy’s tracks are more obvious than the rest, with immediate hooks and sounds you don’t have to concentrate to discover. Less so is Mubali vs Kindzadza’s Galactic Cannibalism and Mind Distortion System’s Underworld, both of which make ample use of squiggly synths that sound akin to binary droid speak (maybe). They’re odd, yet kind of fun too.

Meanwhile, Dark Elf and Detonatik try to show us psy has rhythmic worthiness despite claims to the contrary. Routeroot comes close but stumbles from a lack of direction with sounds that are over-aggressive in delivery; like listening to a cyborb meatgrinder, to my ears. Hot Bird Satelite soars though, with a kick-ass driving beat that intensifies as the song moves forward and trippy effects that add to the tribal-tech-trance feel.

A little further along, this compilation enters what I can best describe as The Cybernetic Swamp Section, as Detonator & Darkshire’s Mind Your Gap and Olien’s Drophole sound exactly like that. The former contains an assortment of eerie sound effects as a murky atmosphere envelopes your senses but it’s Olien’s offering that’s the highlight. Whereas Mind Your Gap dwelled on the critters, Drophole turns our attention to the lumbering beasts that move about. Strangely enough, there’s also a spaceport nearby too. Delightfully bizarre.

And finally, Phoenix Rising ends on a couple tracks borrowing elements of pop culture (I suppose Engine kind of did too with Riddick samples, but that saga’s still relatively obscure compared to Star Wars and Phantom Of The Opera). Normally, these sort of songs aren’t the best, often getting too caught up in playing “Hey, Recognize This Sample?” with the listener. In this case though, most of the samples used complement what the producers are doing, so Darkforces and Phantom Ki are fine closers.

And speaking of closers, that about wraps up this review. I guess it’s elementary from here, folks. Phoenix Rising is a solid compilation of psy. It executes with precision, doesn’t get bogged down in excess, and dabbles in enough variety to keep it fresh throughout. If none of this holds any appeal for you, chances are you haven’t even read this far anyway (and if you have, I haven’t the foggiest notion why).

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Various - Mechanophobia (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2006

(2014 Update:
This was my proper introduction to the then-current sound of dark psy, of which is plainly obvious as I'm often referring to it by an earlier sub-genre term that was common at the turn of the century. I honestly had no idea that the whole dark psy sub-scene had evolved into a ton of disparate night-themed sub-sub categories by the mid-'00s, but I sure did soon enough. At least there are still 'tekk' attributes on here, given the theme of the compilation. Hell, it's why I blindly picked it up to begin with. The CD's still fine for dark psy, but not one I pull out often. At least it introduced me to the awesome that is Olien though.

Oh, that opening paragraph? You'll have to wait until I reach the 'S's to find out what that's all about, if you don't already.)


IN BRIEF: Fear the machines.

Reviewing Armin van Buuren’s latest opus to the decay of popular trance left me a broken man. It took me into a reservoir of pent-up aggression which was finally unleashed, an ugly though necessary blemish on my otherwise tolerant track record. I needed time to let that scab heal, so I decided to indulge a little in that polar opposite of epic trance: psytekk.

For the uninitiated, psytekk is an offshoot of the psy trance scene. Fusing the cold mechanical aesthetics of techno and the warped soundscapes of psy, this style of music isn’t for the faint of heart. In the realm of psytekk, the machines are in total control, trampling whatever hope humanity may have without taxing a single circuit. Other times though, it just comes across as glitchy, minimal, sound-effects wankery. I suppose it depends on how much you buy into the themes the music attempts to create.

When compiling this release, Trishula Records decided not to pussyfoot the issue, and gathered a collection of the most current, uncompromising psy around. The cover art for Mechanophobia is quite clear in what kind of theme to expect here: the robots rule the roost, a barren landscape ideal for metal but nothing organic. Whatever life as we know it remains is paltry, insignificant, yet still struggling on despite the odds; a cool, if timeworn concept. Let’s see how it is put into practice here.

Our first track is from Mubali, produced specifically for this compilation. Also the titular cut, it gets us off on the right foot, consisting of sound effect samples any self-respecting Trekkie will recognize as background ambience of a Borg ship - and few things are as frightening as the concept of the Borg. The track progresses through an assortment of warped mechanical soundscapes while a stuttery, monotone bassline relentlessly growls with the driving rhythms. As with a lot of this kind of stuff, there really aren’t any noticeable hooks, merely passages where the sounds at work will find structure for a bit before moving onto something else. The final stanza does give us a brief hook though.

Japan Connection from Mind Distortion System is a little more traditional psy. The main hook that worms its way around is kind of a whispery shuffle while paranoid pads, stuttery psy synths, and quirky sound effects complement it. But, um, what’s with those pauses to play a sample of a folksy whistle tune? A clever joke that missed the mark? Perhaps, or I just don’t get it [edit: it’s from Kill Bill, 2006 Sykonee].

Anyhow, Polyphonia’s Ano Kato eradicates any trace of lingering goofiness from Japan Connection with an utterly uncompromising assault of menacing psytekk. No hooks or family-friendly rhythms here; just overbearing mechanical sound effects demolishing human sensibility. And the beats don’t let up either, pummeling away and growing ever increasingly aggressive as the sound effects do. Yeah, it’s a noisy, incoherent track that would definitely get plenty of “Turn that shit off!” complaints from those not hip to this stuff, but then Ano Kato isn’t trying to be anything but.

The Baba Jelly track aside - which has a goofier tone to it, including a pure ‘what the fuck?’ moment when a sample of some drunken pirate jig interrupts the track - much of Mechanophobia carries on in the same vein as Ano Kato: very driving, very mechanical, and very uninviting to the casual listener. You’d have to be completely absorbed in the atmosphere these tracks create if you hope to get anything out of them, as feeding you easily digestible melodies is furthest from these producers’ minds.

Unfortunately, the fact they all make use of the same sort of bass as outlined in the title track complicates things. Not only are the soundscapes uncooperative if you want something catchy, but the rhythms aren’t diverse enough, making things repetitive from track to track. Granted, there are slight differences the acute listener will pick out, and Olien’s Calamari carries some wicked resonance that’ll absorb you within its suffocating menace, but much of this will probably pass you by if you were to merely throw it on as background music.

The mold is finally broken with Procs’ bizarrely titled Big Fat Large Snoring Lamas. This is one of the most utterly demented tracks I’ve heard in quite some time. My best attempt at describing it goes something like this: a country-fair funhouse, controlled by insane clown droids, as seen through a distortion field while tripping on a hallucinogen. I don’t know if that makes sense, but Snoring Lamas is quirky fun anyways, just because the warped soundscapes and bouncy rhythms are still incredibly catchy without dipping into the cheese factory. Your attention will never stray, always intrigued by what bit of unpredictable madness will crop up next.

The compilation closes on Psyfactor’s Vodka Madness, a more typical excursion into psy trance’s arena than most of what we’ve heard throughout. It is still a dark, twisted track, but chunky acid hooks and oddball sounds form a more accessible foundation compared to everything else.

For those after a diverse assortment of tunes, Mechanophobia isn’t a remarkable compilation. It sticks to its theme throughout, and I suppose you can’t really fault it for that. There are a couple of shining moments which would grab a casual listener’s attention, but this is squarely aimed at the dark psy fans who enjoy their music as inhuman and non-musical as possible. The original industrial ethos lives on!

Mind Distortion System - He Claims To Be Not Human (Original TC Review)

Trishula Records: 2007

(2013 Update:
Well, so much for Trishula, only lasting to the end of 2008 before their output dried up. I don't know if they've completely shut doors, as their website is still up, so I'm assuming you might still find material in their catalog out there if you look hard enough. Might still be worth your while to do so if you find dark forest psy to your liking, as I've yet to hear much that stood out the way some of Trishula's acts did.

As for Mind Distortion System, this remains his only full-length, though he has released a smattering of singles on numerous compilations for other labels since Trishula's end. Dunno if they're worth digging for though. To be honest, I always found his contributions to the Trishula compilations the weaker offerings, and was somewhat surprised his album turned out pretty good. Wait... a psy trance producer, saving his best work for the album? What a twist.)


IN BRIEF: Crafty rhythms? In psy trance??

Having been associated with Trishula Records for a while now, ol’ Jara Nelson’s been patiently biding his time in the trenches for his kick at the album can. It can be a dangerous game to play, the waiting one - growing disinterest from followers of a project as the months wear on, as but one example why - but the psy scene’s long gestation periods (trends either linger longer or innovative new ones lack) work in favor of those who’s release dates are further along than others.

As Mind Distortion System, Nelson has carved out his own tiny niche in the psy world, but then that can be said of just about any Trishula artist, to be honest. This little label hailing from Deutschland has frequently impressed by skewing far from the norm when psy trance is often guilty of sounding far too similar from label-to-label, act-to-act. With tracks that often challenge the head, Trishula definitely has established themselves as a label worth keeping tabs on for fans of the forest sound. MDS is no different in this regard, so the better question isn’t how he stands against dark psy in general (quick answer: above), but rather amongst Trishula’s roster.

Like most of the producers on this label, Nelson’s tracks don’t reveal themselves to you all at once. However, I found his offerings on this album even more difficult than most. While I didn’t go in expecting something like insta-melodies, an easily recognizable song structure or pattern seemed to be lacking as well. Beats are laid out and various twisted sounds and effects worm their way about for the duration, with something resembling a hook popping up for a brief bits every so often. I can see many non-fans of dark psy dismissing this album very early on.

In fact, I was about ready to too, when something clicked. Rather than focusing on finding hooks or figuring out atmosphere, I did something that isn’t typically thought of with regards to psy: succumbing to rhythm. Sure, some artists are very adept at beats but the genre generally isn’t known for intuitive drum programming. Most of the time it’s there in service of synths and acid, and little else.

And this isn’t to say MDS’ tracks are ultra-funky or something to that effect - in fact, most of his rhythms are still very much stylistically in forward-drive and little else. But whereas other producers - especially in dark psy’s case - settle for monotonous drones, MDS seems to have extra spring to his. It’s as though a kind of giddiness crept in, and it makes Nelson’s rhythms that much more infectious.

So obviously, the tracks on offer here will make far more sense while flailing under a canopy of trees in the middle of night rather than being played in the background as you drink your tea at home. Still, there’s enough going on here to grab your attention should you let the primal portion of your brain dictate your listening habits. Never predictable, yet always with purpose, MDS cleverly keeps his tunes moving and shifting, letting the beats dictate the direction as squiggly sounds, shuffling synths, psychedelic effects, and disconcerting tones effectively provide a worthy trippy support. You most likely won’t be humming any of these later, but they’ll definitely leave an impression and, perhaps most importantly, will draw you back to rediscover some other twist you may have overlooked before.

Individually, these tracks deliver. As a whole though, He Claims To Be Not Human grows samey-sounding in the second half, as MDS tends to stick to the same themes throughout the album (having every track roughly the same BPM doesn’t help in this regard either). There are a few moments that’ll leap out more than the rest though. For instance, final track Gate Of Desire sounds like Nelson borrowed some of the synths of fellow labelmate Olien. Elsewhere, Koshka makes use of some chopped up spacey sounds, lending an almost ethereal tone to an otherwise sinister album. Oh, and remember that sped up sample of Disney’s Whistle Stomp that made a superstar out of a cartoon hamster? It’s back in Cartoon Hunter, but surprisingly given better context here, such that it’s actually kind of amusing to hear instead of fucking annoying like in its previous usage. Mind, it probably helps that it’s immediately followed up by a vocal that asks, “Won’t you fucking shut up for ten seconds,” not to mention the track itself is amongst the darkest brooders on this album.

So in conclusion of my graduate thesis- er, review of this here album, MDS’ role amongst the Trishula roster appears to be the guy that’ll more likely pummel your temporal lobes rather than tickle them with nifty hooks or enveloping soundscapes. Which is totally cool, in my books. Good rhythms are sorely neglected when it comes to dark psy, and to hear an album that provides solid groovy potential amongst the usual twisted atmospherics is a welcomed treat.