Chakra (2) & Edi Mis* ‎– The Promised Land

If you've successfully acquired the track X-File (be it the Monkey Mix or the original version presented here), then I seriously doubt there's anything worth your time and money on this CD surface. While these pioneers might have struck it big time with the opener, as impressive and classic as it may be, the rest of this album, Liquid Troll apart, is just the opposite. Liquid Troll builds up nicely though, and introduces a sticky, acidic climax. Nothing graced with unprecedented virtue or skill, but this type of old school is always nice to hear, especially in 2011.
Basically every other song rehashes the same lead with different keys. Not similar, but quite the same. The good thing is that (luckily) both Chakra & Edi Mis eschew following the typical israeli formula and tend to keep their sound on the dark side. However, would it be Israel was it not for the cheese? No.
And these guys know how to bring it. Don't get me wrong, it's not Todra or Sonichaos, but when you start an album as strongly as these guys do, just how many glorious missteps can you take before the pain is gone?
Barbarian is anything but, and the only thing barbaric about it is the redundant length and the identical lead used in Club Mad. Speaking of which, that one actually samples Jim Carrey playing The Riddler in one of the Batman movies. The track is not as bad as the actual film, but the final lead kicking in slightly before the eight minute mark is up there with Cyan and Holy Men for the "worst one of them all" award.
And so it goes... I don't intend this review to sound like a pathetic rant or something, so let's give the breakdown. Overall, this isn't a bad album, but compared to stuff like "Project Genesis", "Multimoods", "Pigs In Space", "Trust In Trance" - all of which are twice as easy to get hold of and half the price - this is hardly worth the effort. Out of the eight total sounds, five sound like reworks of each other. With the exception of the truly memorable X-File, which is very worth owning, this album is taster's choice. If the opener convinces you to the max, I have no doubt you will want to go on and check the rest of this album out.
Personally, I scooped this one many years ago when first hearing X-File. To my disappointment, there's nothing remotely that good to be found here. In return, that should not stop you from giving "The Promised Land" a shot, just don't expect this album to take you there, and don't be a sucker unloading a fortune for it either. As adequate as it may be, paying big bucks for mediocrity is __________________ (fill in the blank).