Juno Reactor - Labyrinth

[Bahamut]

Ok, third post here...since my opinion has again changed a bit.

What I like most of all is the tremendous energy in their music...and how they combine so much different sounds and melodies. This album is relentless, bombastic, overdone maybe... but still enjoyable for the most part. I really like track 2 as well, it's just crazy.

 

Not something to listen to every day, but sometimes when i'm in the mood for it it's a great ride.

Not something to listen to in your chair with headphones and full attention. This is something to play really loud through the stereo or home cinema set, while doing the housekeeping or something. :posford:

[metamorph]

Energetic and bombastic well descripes Juno Reaktor. They for sure deliver the emotional beat. This is maybe not their best album, but a good listen and worth having.

[mephisto]

Love Juno Reaktor, this one pretty good. In the ususal line of Juno

 

9/10

[Penzoline]

Juno Reactor - Labyrinth

01. Conquistador 1 (6:02)

02. Conquistador 2 (5:06)

03. Giant (4:00)

04. War Dogs (5:00)

05. Mona Lisa Overdrive (4:45)

06. Zwara (6:35)

07. Mutant Message (6:10)

08. Angels And Men (7:07)

09. Navras (9:06)

 

The review. The Story.

 

Back when matrix: reloaded came to the theaters and I went to see it, when it got to the highway scene and Mona Lisa Overdrive came on, I was stunned - what was this tickling feeling of sensation? At the time, I didn't realize(I was 13) that this sort of music was more bloated, than just in that section of that movie and it just basically fell off the radar for a long time. The only time I had previously even heard of something that gave me same sensation was a year before in xXx, Orbital - Technologicque Park so that also had fallen off of my tiny radar. Not to mention I don't think I even used the internet actively at the time, so there was no way of my finding similar music just like that.

 

September 2007, I watched Matrix Reloaded again, highway scene was on and I remembered I was supposed to search for the artist's other work a long time ago and finally, I closed down my DVD player on my computer, opened firefox and searched for it. Didn't take me long to get a hold of Labyrinth and taking a listen.

 

Conquistador Part 1

I didn't know what to expect, while I was listening I found it quite striking. Orchestral, tribal, mexican soundscapes coupled together. I never listened to that sort of stuff and it was well made, very enjoyable. Loved how it progressed slowly towards the opening of..

 

Conquistador Part 2

Shock and awe. What is this? This amazing, completely different to what I had listened before. It was fast, tribalish, orchestral and, what made it all work, electronic. This is what I love - this is what I want. That was back then, my eyes were completely opened. Still to this day I like it a lot. The orchestral mix with the goatrancey-tribal sound just plain works. And the acid that drops after every kick is just awesome.

 

Giant

Wow! Giant indeed. Somewhat followed in Conquistador part 2's footsteps, but goes for more an epic road with the huge sounds (Like jikkenteki mentioned, Dirty DnB) it has. It's not as good as anything else on this album, though, mostly because of the repetitiousness and I'm not too keen on the woman shouting. Luckily it only manages to reach the 4 minute mark, so it's definitely not too long for it's own good, albeit still not exactly good, but not bad. Filler.

 

War Dogs

More huge epic sounds, I like! I love it how it starts out so strong and leads up to a mix of Conquistador Part 1, Part 2 and Giant. Another extremely well made epic track.

 

Mona Lisa Overdrive v2

Finally, the true version of this, and I love it. This is the thing I fell in love with, this is the thing I love. Badass fast moving goatrance with a story-telling aspect. Awesome.

 

Now then, something I did not expect, at all..

 

Zwara

Holy fucking shit, how could it get better than MLOv2? Goosebumps everywhere. I really don't need to say more. It's the pinnacle of what War Dogs, Giant and Mona Lisa Overdrive v2 had been doing.

 

Mutant Message

This is a track that I did not like back then, it was slow and boring. After listening a lot of other stuff, being more open and going back to it, I must say I like this very much. The production quality exceeds all of the previous tracks. The track is a fascinating journey through some mysterious location in an alien planet. I must mention that the piano work here really adds to the whole thing. Also, the lead-up to...

 

Angels and men

is extremely well made. It was like an epic scene which lead to a shocking revelation. It's the second slower track on Labyrinth and the most moodiest track yet - Tribal drums, coupled with hints of electronic effects in the background and very fitting singing with orchestral composition. Amazing ending for an epic tale...

 

...or not -

 

Navras

Initial reaction, E p i c. This is the ending song for Matrix: Revolutions and I remember I stayed in the theater, while the credits rolled, so I could hear the whole thing. This is the perfect combination of epic orchestral with extreme ethnic influences music and still sticking to Goa-trance at times. Needless to say one of the only one's at that. The production quality is up there in the clouds. Wonderful is all I can say.

 

Labyrinth was my first ride in the far borders of Goa-trance. Epic orchestral coupled with electronic music. An awesome album. It's more appealing to a larger crowd (Some could just say 'commercial', but I don't feel that way)yet still managing to have roots in the genre that is not that easy to get into. Though, I must admit, this is not something that could be listened just like that, you need to be in the mood to harness it's full greatness. But even if you aren't in the mood and first time listening, it doesn't really matter.

 

Soon after I had done listening this, I needed more. I didn't know where to start looking, and as my friend had told me earlier of Last.fm's software where you put an artist's name and it would give similar results to it, I decided to go that way(The results were like mostly Infected Mushroom, Astrix, 1200 micrograms and other full-on.). And of course that eventually led me to listening Filteria - Sky Input at some point and getting completely hooked. That's when I knew there wasn't going back. This is what I love.

Things like these bring people in the scene and even if you don't like it, you should at least be grateful that it has the ability to do that.

 

So thank you, Juno Reactor, for showing me the road. Thank you.