Otto Matta

I was totally astounded when I first heard this album. It felt like the effect of all the old-schooler requests over the years, through the minimal era, the tech-trance era, the progressive era, and the full-on era, for the scene to get back to its magical roots. It was so fun to hear an album that did old-school better in many cases than the old-school! But the more I listened to it I started to find some things that bothered me. One, I didn't like all the blatant references to Pleiadians. My favorite releases are so because they seem to have come from out of the blue, with little reference to anything else. Two, I didn't like that all the tracks started to blend into each other, and that each track tended to lack character and personality because they were all following a similar programme. The third and final thing that bothered me was that I'd have to wait a while to hear the second Filteria album, which, since some time will have passed, will certainly show more individuality, maturity and style in the music, and will surely be one of the greatest things our genre has ever heard.

I'm all about a Ka-Sol album. I agree that's it's odd Christer hasn't released an album of his own. Last I heard, a year or more ago, there were tentative plans for Schlab to release a Ka-Sol double album. I like that idea even more. The tracks on Schlab 7 are amazing. Two disks of that might just stop my heart. Christer Lundstrom for Mayor!

I've listened to it once so far, and I can't say I entirely understand it, but I trust that, like many people here have stated, it gets better with more listens.

I'm assuming that Ka-Sol has not released an album yet(?) If not, does anyone know when we could expect one? I've loved almost everything I've heard. Would love an album.

Just noticed on the Celebra Brazil flyer in the Chrome Western Edition CD case that the Pleiadians album will be Etnicanet's fifth release. Nice to see it's a solid plan.

Agree about Equator. Great album. Lower your shields and surrender your ships.

Are there hidden intros on any other albums???

I find, looking back at my musical tastes from over the years, that I've always enjoyed songs, even pop and rock songs, with a four-on-the-floor beat, although I didn't really know it at the time. It's insteresting to me to look back at my favorite songs and find so many of the beats to be similar. I thought most dance music was gay until I discovered psytrance, and I immediately fell in love with what I had seemingly waited a good part of my life to find. BeRzErKeR - I highly recommend you look into Schlabbaduerst ReKkords for that evil and sinister sound, especially Volume 3.

Hey Z., I think we have a contender. Yes, washington, it is dead for goods.

Yeah, I thought it was weird when the term "full-on" became an actual sub-genre, when years ago it was used to describe the intensity of a track. These days full-on seems to describe filled-out minimal music (the response to all the bitching about minimal when it was really popular) with a big, fast beat and loads of sound effects rather than melodies.

I guess I was probably there at the wrong time (2-4am or so). What I heard was hard beats and lots of sound effects but little on top. I guess I need melodies to dance (unless it's tech trance). Sorry I missed your set. Next time I'll keep an ear out for your stuff, and I'll be sure to say hi.

"Schlab," that is.

monkey - Play some Shlab in Asheville and I'll DEFINITELY be there!

monkey - Good to hear from you. I went to my first T.O.U.C.H. Samadhi party the other week (at the Bullseye building). It was great to see an organized event in this wonderful little town. The people, the deco and the vibe were all very nice. I couldn't, however, really enjoy the majority of the music since it was mostly progressive. Any suggestions?

I find it funny that such an aggressive and loud genre can be so related to religion, Hinduism and Buddhism in particular. If anything, I relate many of the Eastern melodies to Eastern culture, and that's about it. I don't find God through psytrance.

No prob, pzeffan. Always remember that the life of the successful artist is 10% creation and 90% perspiration. Self-promotion is key.

Cut it out, Towelie, you silly shit. pzeffan - You might want to take a look at the Schlabbaduerst website. The way Dave has gotten his dark trance music out there is by making his own label and putting a lot of his own music, as well as that of other artists, on complilations. He's doing a pretty damn good job at getting his name out there and having people listen to and appreciate his music. Schlabbaduerst ReKkords

Hey pzeffan. I'm experiencing a very similar culture shock. I recently moved from Chicago to Asheville, NC (we're practically neighbors). How about placing an ad in the local weekly paper ("Looking for trance/industrial record labels/promoters/artists...")? There might be some small underground industrial label there that might be interested in your music. You might also give Metropolis Records a shout. Think they're in Canada. Otherwise, if your music is really good you can always give the international labels a shot. I noticed, for instance, that there's an American artist or two on Sundance's Vibraspirit23. The key, I guess, is to get your music into as many hands as possible (self-promotion), whether or not they're labels. Meanwhile, it seems every major city has their own scene, big or small; you simply have to find it. Did you do a Google search for "nashville psychedelic trance"? Good luck.

r2 - Okay, I'll give a review when I've listened to the albums sufficiently. I've actually owned Twin Sharkfins for a few years now; Tigerhill is one of my all-time favorites.

Another good one, khogg. *** I hate those kids at horror psy trance parties. You know, those kids who dress like hippies and smoke all that refer and are constantly tripping on something or another trying to "find transcendence through music." They're taking over the scene. What's with all the dreadlocks and thoughts of peace and understanding? The scene is dying, I tell you. I can almost never find any crystal meth anymore, and guitars and horror movie samples are almost totally gone from our music. What happened to the days back on the shores of India when we could get effed up on meth, wear a broad sword under our cloaks and worship the knights templar while dancing to some good (evil) horror trance? Those were the days. Screw the hippies.

BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! LOL, Hels.

Agree.

I got volumes 2 and 3 in the mail today (thanks D-Dave) and listened to both of them immediately. Although I haven't listened enough to give a proper review, I have to say that this stuff, fresh in the phones, is a different experience than the run-of-the-mill. It's raw and dark and hard and crazy-tweaked-buzzy-growly, and completely unexpected, fulfilling and infectious. I'm very impressed. Long story short, I'll be putting in an order for more Schlabbaduerst stuff very soon. Thanks for a great review, DP. Sounds pretty damn good. And thanks for the good tunes and a fresh perspective, D-Dave.

Okay. I apologize, Chrisa. I was assuming that you were trying to distribute Schlab's music. There's a lot of that around here and some of us are a little touchy about it. Me, I'm expecting disk 2 and 3 in the mail any day now - so I can't chat about it just yet.

To talk?