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Xnorophis - Eyes Album: Eyes Artist: Xnorophis Genre: Tribal, Progressive Size: 185MB License: CC Price: Free and Donations Track List: 01 - Multi-Coloured Angles 02 - Jungle Paradise 03 - Seeds 04 - Step Inside 05 - Organic Saints 06 - Fabel Keepers 07 - Violet Tower 08 - Ganga Sparkle 09 - Oblong Roads 10 - Torpedo 11 - Cilandra's Test Take a seat inside an intergalactic time machine and get ready to be taken back in time in this percussion driven tribal elemental. Starting with a very minimal tone, the simplistic hand-crafted loops are placed neatly together side by side to form an African-like soundscape. Interesting enough, the composition takes place in Canada, yet nothing in this piece reminds me of Canadian styles. As neat as all this may sound, the minimal style in the beginning is, well, very minimal. The first six songs progress with small percussion and bass loops switching off and on rather than melody, layering synths, or pads carrying layers to create a musical body. The first half of the album should be left out, in my opinion, because each song is more of a backbone to a bigger, broader idea. There is no meat to them, no intricacy, no unexpected visions, and they just are not all that interesting. There is a lot of room left to grow and a lot more expected. Don’t let that fool you from giving this album a try, however. At track 7, Violet Tower gives us that body we have been craving. Vocals are added, pads begin to carry the vision further into broader horizons, and arping melodies similar to the Goa roots of Psytrance are brought forth to put together a final frontier of passion the artist begs to express. A true tribal experience, however, should let me close my eyes and imagine an organic landscape full of sun and open fields. I want to imagine wonderfully painted patterns on the faces of distant cultures, people dancing around large bon fires as the smoke climbs towards the white dotted sky, the moon screaming a blanket of twinkling blue light into the hearts of the earth, and I want it to sound amazing. This album doesn’t do that, but the last few tracks certainly get closer to that accomplishment of pure tribal engulfment. The tracks Violet Tower, Oblong Roads, Ganga Sparkle, and Torpedo are the definitions of this album. They combine the ideas and techniques from every other track and turn a small idea in a better experience. The tippety tappety of the small drums, the Goa bass line, the progressive style, the hint of vocals, and an additional trance melody with more layers of instruments make these tracks great. To the artist, I think if you were to simply take out everything else and leave these in, it would make the album better. Quality over quantity my friend. My advice would be to take a look at these creations and form your future projects based on what you have learned from them. Try to examine different drum lines, instrument programming, and tribal atmospheres to take advantage of our minds and run them through an organic soundscape. Right now, a large portion of the album is generic. Focus on expansiveness, yearning to create a land that only you know into pure sound where we can escape and relax. Keep it up man!! If you want some inspiration, listen to the Steve Roach album “Strata”. The first few tracks are largely tribal ambient, taking your percussion inspirations you love and adding astounding atmospheric explosions of euphoria. I can see you taking a faster pace than this without the ambient style, adding intricacy to your work. 7/10 Download here on Ektoplazm (MP3, FLAC, WAV) - Review by FatKidWitaJetPak (Nick Sumbles) - Special Thank to Ektoplazm for the download bandwidth.