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Mathew Jonson - Return Of The Zombie Bikers - 07-Sep-05 04:18 PM
Powerful delay-soaked electro funk with an Eastern-tinged melody squealing over the top and a massive, sinister bassline. The flip has a tweaky acidic melody that builds into a subtle groove, as well as some interesting vocal morphing towards the end.

Various - Psycho Cell - 01-Sep-05 10:30 PM
Dark psytrance compilation.

#1: Azax opens with some oriental samples, giving a mystical feel to the track. Soon a fat, monotonous bassline kicks in. Lots of playing with gaps between measures here. Voices and skinny snarls float around just out of your reach, building up the tension. The energy is released at 217", releasing a demented hook as snarls continue to swirl. An evil circusish melody rears its head from behind a Kill Bill sample, and the release works perfectly: "Nows the fucking time!!!" An evil extrapolation of the melody unfolds and the dancefloor goes crazy.

#1: Azax opens with some oriental samples, giving a mystical feel to the track. Soon a fat, monotonous bassline kicks in. Lots of tricks make this track funky: playing with the kickdrum, lots of builds peaked with samples. The tension is built by voices and psychedelic snarling just on your peripheral hearing. The high point of this track is a MASSIVE build with an awesome melody that will destroy any dancefloor: it teases you before finally breaking into an evil industrial-psychedelic run. The Kill Bill sample is used pretty well too, and youll remember the track for it. Warning: this could be considered cheesy.

#2: Kindzadza has quite a subtle approach to dark psy. Its controlled and layered, percussive and extremely trippy. His melodies seem to spread over the sound like butter, developing organically. This is very characteristically Russian, relentless and psychedelic, reminding me of Parasense. This doesnt retain the dancefloor power of its predecessor, but keeps the pressure pumping nicely.

#3: Seroxat next. Driving fat throbbing bassline. Well used and varied atmospheric squelch. Tiny squelchy hooks build. Samples build with less power than Azax, but I find the liquidness of the melodies more interesting, and the key changes manage not to be cheesy. The main sample is from Psycho, and designed to scare, its very creepy. "Theyre probably watching me!" This track is interesting and well-produced, but it needs something more to make it stand out.

#4: "Dont you want to play with me?" Para Halu introduce a watery bassline and wrap more wet psychedelia around it. Soon a twisty melody emerges and the track kicks into high gear. The kick dissolves, only to be brought back even harder as the melody goes white and abrasive. Woozy psychedelia swirls around. "Realities are beginning to collapse into one space... The whole thing implodes. Its only a matter of time..." I love the way this track sounds, its just liquid. The final third is a little disappointing, but overall this is a great track.

#5: Kemic-Al introduces a track. Strange bassline and kick that gets played with a lot. A lot of barely audible samples. This is quite trippy but has little energy; it seems messy and random. Theres a nice little melody in the final third, but the rest of it has little energy. Not a great track.

#6: Another Kindzadza track. Lovely throbbing kick and bass. Some nice metallic melodies fizzle around as the bassline starts to pound. This is in the same style as the previous track, the melody isnt as powerful, but its a lot funkier, with some nice key changes. This is solid Russian madness.

#7: Brain Waves - oh no, a Matrix sample! Nevermind... the bassline is _really_ gritty and evil, maybe the sickest on this compilation. Soon the sheer squelch begins to punish the dancefloor - this would seriously freak out trippers. No sound is allowed to stay too long, it is simply replaced by an even more freaky one. This rumbles along like a belter, never letting the energy drop. It is a little monotonous for me, but undoubtedly a weapon. Probably the darkest track.

#8: Driving tune from Seroxat, but quite derivative. Would go down well on the dancefloor. Nice siren sound at the end of the first third. I like Seroxats background liquidy clicks and clear production style a lot, and I like this track. Its not that memorable though.

#9: Another Israeli act - Psychotic Micro. The kick in this track is extremely fat and punishing. A cheeky sample about a graveyard. This doesnt really do it for me, but its a powerful track. Some nice modulation of the bassline towards the end. These guys keep the energy flowing very well, but the track is not outstanding.

Nice comp... Flows well and only one bad track. My favourites are Azax and Para Halu. The Seroxat and Kindzadza tracks are good too.