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Vox - Innerpolarity (2007)

30 Янв 2007, 22:55

Vox - Innerpolarity (2007)

Label:Metapsychic Records
Catalog#:MPRCD02
Country:UK
Style:Goa Trance


Второй релиз нового сетевого лейбла Metapsychic Records.

Review by rino:
Damn, I still didn't assimilate properly everything that Pyramidal Trancedance had to offer me, and there goes Metapsychic Records with yet another free release! Am I glad? Bet your best arm I am!!! What makes me even more excited is that Vox happens to "hail" from my city, Zagreb. Now, not to write an essay, this man is a living legend amongst goa/psy trance fans around here. He's been DJing for almost as long as the term goa trance exists in Zagreb, and he's one of those DJs who always succeeds to make the most out of his sets, and play some seriously amazing tunes. Let's not forget that he's never been the kind to follow trends or settle for playing what's fashionable in order to get a quick buck. So yeah he's very respected, and has every right to be so. Now that his album is out, let's check if his production is as immaculate as his skills behind the decks...

#1. Analogue heaven- After only thirty seconds you know you in for some old school flavor here, but, hey, were you expecting anything less from Metapsychic? And when the eastern influenced melody kicks in after the first minute, the journey begins. The track has a slower tempo, not ambient though, just kind of a nice introductory track. As for the middle part of the track, you actually don't get that much to immediately grab you; it's more like some nice laid back melodies stream across the track, eventually accompanied by the eastern melody once more. But it's really a dreamy tune, not full onish (not the israeli type for heaven's sake) at all, and no melodic climaxes to be found here as well. But who's complaining? This more than adequately opens the album and really sets the mood: it slowly pulls you in and patiently gives you the time over its seven and a half minutes to prepare yourself for some retrodelic vibes... Nice one!

#2. Atmosfear- The second track isn't that much faster than the first one, but definitely picks up the pace. I guess the title suits it well for I consider this to really be an atmospheric track. Especially in that beatless interlude at around 01:20 when a slow melody molasses from left to right, and some tribal drums slowly creep into the track, giving it now even some mystical vibes. There really isn't a proper melody here up until about two thirds into the track, but I doubt you'll find one missing either: my guess is you'll be enjoying to this music, floating on your own cloud of emotions. When the melody kicks in, yes, it is old schoolish, and yes, it does give the track that one last final touch to really make it complete. Followed by the tribadelic drums again, which are more or less present throughout the track without making it sound corny or outdated. Old school: yes. Old in terms of uninspiring: no. Nicely continuing itself onto the album opener, this one should not leave anyone missing those old mystic and atmospheric elements in his music unsatisfied.

#3. Behind the wheel- There we go, an uptempo track, and as soon as the acid synth hops in you know that this can only continue in the previous tracks' fashion. The melodies resulting in a melodic climax at 03:16 are just well... hear for yourself! An old schooler's wet dream!!! All hell breaks loose and you're right back in 1997, dancing under the hot morning sun in the moroccan desert! I really like the rest of the track as well, and the thing to watch out for here is the quiet, background acid synth. It is really tuned down, but if you are listening on good headphones, you can really catch how cool it sounds. But the track actually doesn't get to show its full impact until about two minutes before it ends. A crazy, fast, I could say savage melody rips the track apart, and if by any chance you missed it a few minutes ago, now is your second chance to catch a plane to that desert I was mentioning! And the last ninety seconds... me like a lot. This is like an HDL express delivery back to ten years ago. No questions asked.

#4. Over the clouds- If the track is supposed to suggest where this CD is supposed to take me, I'm with it. I really like the beat on this one, as it makes me wanna dance right now as I sit in my chair. The not-overly done melodies only add up nicely to more effectively prove this track as a lethal DJ tool. As though the last track wasn't a good one too... You may argue and try to prove me wrong, but wait until four minutes when an ideal combo of a hands-in-the air melody and a neck snapping beat meet to show where the people are supposed to be: on the dancefloor, of course. But, if you're still not convinced, wait two more minutes, when another ace melody gets pulled out of Voxs' sleeve just to remind that it ain't the time to abandon the floor yet.

#5. Mayana- My god! How distorted is this? Wait! Is it distorted at all? Or did my headphones get messed up out of the blue? Or is it a repercussion of an error during the mastering process? Whatever it is, it sounds awesome. Ka - Boom! 02:38 is the code to a new time machine. Remember that. The melody sounds like a stentorian roar from a very pissed off Shere Khan, the tiger of The Jungle Book fame. "Back To The Future pt. 4", in audio format, if you want me to explain in plain terms. This is much harder than the previous tracks and the track's vibe is somehow darker, and well, grittier. And at 04:10 we have two demented melodies (layers?) simultaenously attacking the earrdrums, and I cannot help but think of (but not too much) some of Ka Sol's tracks when hearing them. Which is no absolute way a disrespectful comment to Vox. In fact, it surprises me with how much ease does he play around with those melodies. Not even these two have properly been arranged in my head, and we get some more. Jesus, the creativity of this track. The layers. The absurd intensity, and above all, the pure, uncut and unadulturated rawness. This is much darker than the rest here, but it simply blows you away. Remember when you heard "Ground zero" on Ypsilon 5's Binary Sky album? Remember how that track was somehow more pumping and uplifting than the rest of those mellow tracks from that release? Well, the same goes for "Mayana". Now not to start comparing tracks here (I said I wouldn't do that!), this is about as powerful as it gets. Melodic mayhem at its finest. Amazing track!

#6. Euphoria- The intro with the classical music. I fall for that one every time. Including this track. Every time like it's the first time I heard it. I just love 'em. And those acidic noises in the background here sound like something I have on those old Sound Of The Acid Core compilations. Meaning they are blazing, old school bliss. The melodies at around three minutes make me think that a certain Miranda Silvergren was his wife. That Phenomena(l) sound is all in tact here. Meaning, once again, that this is another one of those blast from the past moments. And when I hear again those lovely acidic effects, nostalgia has hit me like the Malasyan flue. And with this melody you're back in old school heaven. Then the title of the track becomes cristally clear. All you gotta do is let this hypnotic melody (or the whole tune for what I care) guide you to euphoria. Or utopia. Or pure ecstassy. Or however you call that state of mind when you're overwhelmed with joy. This is it right here! Like our watches and wall clocks stopped ticking ten years ago. And nobody ever dared to complain...

#7. City of black lights- I like this one, it has a nice, building, rising melody which doesn't immediately hit you with all it has, but rather nicely taking the time to develop as the track progresses. And it works just fine. Another old school gem. Think of this as a reunion with your high school mates ten years after graduation, and just for the sake of them good old days, y'all decide to play some tunes from the graduation party. And the continuing good vibes just keep on coming and coming and coming. Now, where this track seems to lose focus is during two shorter intervals smacked right in between those beautiful melodies. I feel that as soon as I really begin to appreciate the musicality of the track, it gets abruptly interrupted by these intervals and it happens twice. And the intervals consist of some lighter, far less epic melodies than the ones they interrupted. The track ends using those, but near the track's end, those lighter melodies do just fine in closing it. Where as placing them in the track leaves me unimpressed and really breaks the flow here. Some may think it does the track justice, I don't. Far from that it's horrible, just that when the melodies really pick up here and get me lifted, the whole thing suddenly takes two steps back. Very good track nonetheless.

#8. Inner polarity- And we've already come to the closing track. Which, guess what, is not an ambient tune. Continues in the same style as the previous ones. And starts off really nice with a cool melody (I must have used up every adjective I know to praise 'em rolleyes.gif ) just waiting to be released upon a hungry crowd plagueing the dancefloor. And just when I was about to (stupidly) say that the mid section of the track sounds kind of plain, those same crazy thoughts get shoved back in the most obscure parts of my brain, when at around four and a half minutes the melody once again proves to be a winner here! And your legs will probably seem to have a will of their own as they'll drag you back to dance. Whether you like it or not. This is the type of track that makes jumping around essential. Excellent was to close an album. Actually, I don't miss an ambient track here. Not even a tiny bit. Ending the album like this leaves you with those wonderful, feel good like vibes. You feel good, uplifted, joyful, and there is no point in trying to get calmed down by some downtempo music...

IN CONCLUSION: It's obvious that it's a bit too early to judge this album yet, and even more pointless grading it. This was more of I guess... Well, a track description I just really wanted to do in order to eventually encourage people to get his release. Because it seriously is good. For who? Firstly, old school lovers should have a great time with this album, as should any fan of melodic goa trance music. You liked the Metapsychic releases so far? You will probably like this one as well. While some may critize this album for sounding too old schoolish, my constantly hungry stomach for goa traance keeps on yearning for more! If a producer decides to make an old school influenced album, why not and try to journey along? I mean, if his musical preferences lead him in that direction, and he believes in the quality of what he does, it has got to be worth something, right? I really enjoyed this release, even though it sounds like it comes from some years ago, but that was the whole fun for me here. Primarily because albums such as this one convince me time after time that the trance sound I once fell in love with is still here, standing on firm ground. And that's not saying a little, from my part. This is the first album by Vox, and judging by the way he manages to arrange all these melodies, it seems as though he's been producing music since 1996, but only recently gathered the courage to share it with the rest of us. And while I could go on writting various albums and artists that Innerpolarity seems to have been inspired by, I will choose not to do so, because by doing that all I get is a feeling that Vox is trying to recreate the vibes and sounds of other artists from the past. And I don't want to do that. I want to listen to this album, and catch a vibe it manufactures on its own. Yes, parallels could be drawn betweem this and many other older goa trance albums, but rather than pointlessly looking for similarities and sound alike details, I'll let Innerpolarity speak for itself. And what does it say? It creates some really positive sensations and leaves me with a heavy smile on my face. It's actually a very accomplished piece, musically, which successfully captures the vibrations and the "music for the body and the mind" concept of the old, while still being able to explore some darker soundscapes, like "Mayana" for example. And I also find it a rather odd and interesting choice not to use a single sample throughout the entire album. Yes, you heard me: this album is front to back sample free, making it an even more exciting sonic journey for the mind. No vocal usage to distract you from the music, no drug reference samples, nothing! Pure, beautiful goa trance all the way! And I like it that way. My all time favorite release I.F.O was also deprived of any sample usage, and well, plainly put, it couldn't turn out better than it did. Actually, I really missed an album with just the music to grab hold of your attention. And if you let yourself in, you will be more than fairly compensated. Whoever believes that the true spirit of goa trance is still alive should get this. Whoever likes his trance in the year of 2007 to be melodic, uplifting and harmonic should not be without this.
Actually, there is little or no excuse for not getting this, considering it's a net release, and it's totally free and available to all. Show your support! And a little something for Vox: we want a live act sime time soon now in Zagreb. And a good one. We want a live act. Repeat after me: We really want a live act!!!