antic604

Oh, in this case I agree - I wanted to buy some CDs from Ghostly International in US and was shocked to find out their shipping rates for CDs ($40 for new Tycho CD!!!), so ended up getting some of their music digitally. But in goa/psy-trance world I'd say the differences are never so huge and most of the time you also have an option to get the files along with your purchase (Bandcamp, Psyshop, Beatspace). No, it's 320kbps mp3 For me - Bandcamp if it's available with CD, then label's web shop, then Psyshop / Beatspace. Streaming services don't exist for me (that's even more 'alien' concept for me than digital-only music...), but I use Google Play Store for general electronic (non goa/psy-trance) albums or releases that are only available in digital format.

Ok, so why are you complaining? I complain because - for me - digital & physical cost mostly the same. And how is that even possible - surely you can buy from Psyshop / Beatspace / etc. and I'm sure shipping won't cost that much when split over 2-3 CDs? Seems we're in the same "poor" segment of the world according to Google. "Lucky" us Just you wait until Brexit...

@T2MU - thanks for making the review! I was planning to write one myself, but somehow couldn't find the time... Anyway, this was a great surprise for me because 1) I didn't really liked the EP, and 2) I'm usually cautious of double CDs, because lot of them end up filled with ...filler material. Not so in this case, though! This is from start to finish a very deep, psychedelic and twisted material! It definitely sounds "old", but in a good way - you can literally feel the smell of the plastic and metal those analog & digital hardware was made of. One can tell that the sound wasn't sculpted with a mouse and a ruler, but instead it's very primal, raw and unpolished - compared to current standards - but at the same time so alive, beautifully imperfect and natural: some tracks sound like Total Eclipse, others like Planet B.E.N. or Children of Paradise, or Orichalcum & The Deviant. In this aspect it is very reminiscent of Nervasystem's "Timetravel" - has that genuine, primal sound. Also, just like that seminal release, Virtuart (& friends) won't overload you with dozens of layers, but they carefully choose 3-4 of them and propel you in a trance state, be it with their melodies, or acid lines, or strange FXes, or chanting, or drums, etc. Thanks to involving a lot of co-creators it's also very varied, even though there's a clear coherency to the album. It is so good in fact, that when I don't know what to play I just put this on, press "random" and I'm sorted - there's really no bad track here, which in itself for a 2xCD is an incredible achievement! The only thing I didn't liked was the front cover, reminding me of some tacky Tekken or Street Fighter game (you know, the "cool" and weird Japanese characters with fancy hairdos & silky clothes) - I just don't get it. I'm stunned that music like this wasn't released (to the wider public) back in the day, so DAT Records needs to be praised for digging this up <3 Thank you!!! 5 / 5

He is indeed

BTW, if you guys could check what price the Google Play Store shows for you and report? I believe they have a system that adjusts the pricing depending on where you are.

Well, I agree but at the same time I'm afraid current consumers of music (i.e. younger people ) look at it differently. In the past "an album" was say 10-12EUR/USD which translated in 40-50PLN in Poland. It's the same now, only the medium has changed from plastic disc to just files on local HDD or even "in the cloud". For them, they don't know any better - it's still "an album". They pay for the music, not the medium. Also, modern times made it "normal" to pay for digital stuff - subscription for your Netflix, Dropbox, Office365, Playstation Network / Xbox Live, etc. For them digital formats and associated cost are a normal thing, for me - an old fart expecting things to still be tangible - they're "inferior" or less valuable, because I don't get the "thing" anymore, even if that "thing" then lays shrink-wrapped on the shelve... But even in the digital world the prices can vary quite a lot - e.g. for recent Imba "First Encounter": - Suntrip Bandcamp store: 11EUR https://suntriprecords.bandcamp.com/album/imba-first-encounter - Google Play Store: 4,5EUR https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Tristan_The_Borderline_Generation?id=Bddytyg4iokc6eaw2i3robyqfra so you really need to seek the best deals. OT, but it's actually even worse in the world of console gaming, where digital is often more expensive (10-15%) than physical and to make it worse cost of physical games drops quickly, but digital does it rarely (unless the game bombs hard).

Great! So, there will be a CD?

Well, it's a matter of taste. I heard much worse and this one gracefully straddles the line between cheesy Nitzho and regular Goa.

Initially I purchased it mainly because it's a released by Polish record label, with few Polish artists, so obviously I wanted to contribute. But it's actually pretty great! I was worried - considering the multitude of nitzho-goa names - that it will be a cheese-fest, but there's nothing of that sort! It's properly melodic, very acidic, psychedelic, not excessively fast and gets darker on the 2nd disc. I really like it so far!

Since it's not about a release, you should post it in "Free Music Promotion" section. Innovative name https://www.discogs.com/artist/39498-Psyko-Disko Interesting track - wasn't particularly fond of the beginning (too noisy) and the end (the guitar was promising, but ultimately failed to provide anything rewarding - there's like 4-5 notes in total?), but the middle section was nice. The mastering is weird, but probably that was the idea.

Samples are up, which means it's coming real soon https://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/nar/nar1cd048.html EDIT: seems like it's out on 27/2, so not really "soon"...

Oh, I agree if you put it like that - it's actually nothing new for IM, because this sounds to me like a cross between Classical and B.P.Empire and all the elements were already there back then. It is nothing new, there's a bit too much of stop & go moments as well and they seems to enjoy displaying their technical proficiency, tilting the balance that way slightly. Still, when they hit the right notes it's godly, like the chord progressions in Return To The Sauce or the mad, twisting leads in Groove Attack (+ the Disney-esque chorus) or Gravity Waves. Let me put it that way - I never expected I'll want to buy another IM album, but I'm really glad I was wrong. Deleted the files and waiting for the CD to show up!

I'm actually curious about that - what is it exactly that you expect that isn't there? For me this is the closest we ever got to Classical or B.P.Empire in last 16 years: there's a lot of classical / theatrical (i.e. not typically psytrance-y) melodies in there, there's a lot of crazy sound manipulation, there's a lot of energy and minimal amount of singing. Is it a problem that they introduce all this while sounding a bit more modern, with dubstep or glitch techniques ("catering to modern EDM")? Not saying this is a 5/5 meterial or whatever, but the amount of negativity astounds me! This new album is the Infected Mushroom with rockstar image dialled all the way down, which - I thought - was all that we asked for, because otherwise their music was always top notch.

You're right, I might be projecting my "hate" towards Duvdev's image on his musical contribution. We won't solve it here

Purchased @ Bandcamp. Thanks once again!

Wasn't there half an hour ago, but I'm happy they've changed their mind

It's me who has to thank you

No, he was in IM from the start but came from a rock band, while Erez released two goa/psy-trance albums (as Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu) before they formed IM and you can clearly hear where IM's sound is coming from...

I was told by JaraLuca over Facebook that they won't be selling CDs via Bandcamp ...so one purchase less this month for me.

"Together"? How do you know - I don't recall ever seeing Duvdev in front of keyboard or DAW, so his input to the music is mostly by influence, encouragement, etc. If you go through IM's albums - all of them - the music itself is clearly very much like it always was: theatrical, baroque, very elaborate in terms of arrangement and tonality, stunningly produced (thinking of sound manipulation, not necessarily the mastering). This constant is Erez's contribution. What Duvdev brought to the table as soon as they become popular was singing / rapping and rock-band image. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because many bands work like that - e.g. Raja Ram's contribution to Shpongle is mostly talking while stoned + occasional flute part - but in this case I have no doubt that IM without Duvdev would be better. For me the albums after "B.P.Empire" don't exist, so I wouldn't mind if they never got "big" and "famous".

Yes, I know. Thanks

But is it a Bandcamp link? Or just a link to files in Dropbox or other network drive?

The release is visible (always was), but it's still in pre-order phase, so only Proxeeus' is available for streaming / download, while the rest of the tracks is not. I think you need to still "pull some lever" there

Agree with Onkel - rhythm section needs to be more upfront or maybe tone down the reverbs / delays on the rest of the mix? Other than that - awesome track!