Alarach - Neurotrope 009

cthulhu303, Feb 16, 2007

With the usual Acidonafios pressing me to get this release, I was quite curious when I found it in a store. Upon listening, I decided not to get it, to the complete lack of comprehension of said Acidonafios.
Then, six months later, after hearing a track in a mix that was identified as Acid Drop, I proceeded to get it at last, puzzled regarding my previous choice. When I played it for the first time, I immediately remembered why I had not bought it to begin with: it all sounds a bit too amateur.

Yes, the music is alright, but the master did not do a very good job. It sounds fine in a mixed set of average sound quality, much less so through a decent setup: the sound mostly suffers from an annoying lack of depth, it is sometimes muffed, or some instruments are left in the shadow of others. The cutting engineer must also have been slightly absent minded while working: Acid Drops intro runs twice (first time for a few seconds, cuts, then starts again) and the kickdrum is pressed too wide, resulting in the needle feeling nauseous at every beat (boo-rrr boo-rrr boo-rrr - same problem again on Delirant Subject) even with the tonearms mass set to heaviest, which is not very good for either record or needle, now, is it? Both inner-tracks are better cut (precisely because they are inner-tracks, presumably), except that the locked groove in which Tapa-D-Nom ends up in is so poor it sounds more as if the cartridge had gone off to stupidland, all of a sudden. I dare anyone hearing this and not knowing to not be convinced something has gone wrong.

To conclude: yes, Alarach had good ideas on this, but let us say the technical constraints of the support do not do them justice.

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