Asura - Lost Eden

[Guest Chiller]

Asura - Lost Eden

 

 

Artist: Asura

Title: Lost Eden

Label: E-French Sound

Date: 2003

 

Track listing:

 

01. Prologue

02. Lost Eden

03. From The Abyss

04. Raindust

05. Land And Freedom

06. Fahrenheit

07. Requiem From Nowhere

08. Incoming

09. The Battle Of Devas

10. Le Vol D'Icare

 

Review:

 

Ohhhh! what wonder of music is this one. If you liked the first album of Asura,

you will love this one. I dont know how many times I have heard it already.

The whole album is a journey to the ambient world. Track 2 "Lost Eden" is full

of feeling and emotion and track 6 "Fahrenheit", with single 4 minutes is a

masterpiece of the Trance. non apt for people with emotional problems. This is

for sure the album of 2003.Go to get it NOW!

[Guest DJ Zen]

Nobody had ever dared to release a musical album about our "lost paradise"

until now!

Here is a conceptual album far beyond any religion. Even if you'll hear some

religious chants and samples, this album is first and foremost a

unique journey offered by 3 real talented musicians: Flutes are performed by

C.Maze, basses and guitars by A.Ackerman

and vocals by these 2 artists, and ***.

 

Track one: "Prologue" is a nice short intro with ethereal pads and some flute

with short speech

Track 2: "Lost Eden" that you surely heard on "Chiller Waves" (A.P recs) or on

"Module 1" (3D Vision recs.) is the great

masterpiece of this album, slow beat with wonderful melodies and chants. I let

you discover it if it's not already done, nobody can

stay cold in front is this!

Track 3: "From the Abyss" is deeper and slower than the 2nd track. It's full of

nice female chants and gentle melodies -

so gentle it gives this fantastic and unique Asura warm ambience.

Track 4 : "Raindust" is following with warm ambiences as well as its slow

"urban beats" and nice chanting. For me it's the

perfect "beat of love" )

Track 5: Land & Freedom" has a very nice long flute introduction. It reminds me

a bit of the movie "The Lord of the Rings".

After 2mns 30 a voice sample says "there's a land without time" and the beat

goes on, slow surrounded by piano melody and

some nice tabla/djembe beats...A wonderful view on a summer field!

Track 6: "Fahreinheit" starts with gentle guitars, some chords that remind me

Spain. After 1mn 30 an emotionnal synth melody

arrives shortly followed by a downtempo 4/4 beat...A track that also reminds

me, in a sense, of the 1st Asura album...Wonderful one,

too short... it's a shame, but very nice to start a morning set as an

introduction!

Track 7: "Requiem from Nowhere" reminds me also of the 1st album, but it's

deeper, slower and there's the evolution of time.

Very nice ambiences with voices, pads and tribal beats. I think it's the most

melancholic track on this album. Very nice

to finish an ambient mix in the afternoon or maybe just before sunrise )

Track 8: "Incoming" starts more rapidly with synth lines and a superb flute

melody.Tribal beats follow as well as a

kind of synthetic didgeridoo and some chants and voice samples. Short again,

but nice!

Track 9 : "The battle of the Devas" is a total masterpiece. Here we go with

some classical male chants followed by other

male beautiful melancholic repetitive chants and female voice pads. A break

follows and then there are samples

from the Far East and another male chant starts followed by Turkish choir.

There's didgeridoo, synth lines, and 4/4 beat after a while.

A wonderfull story about the battle of the Devas for those who know that story!

Track 10: "Le Vol d'Icare" is connected to track 9 so there's a great flow

which will transport you with Icare.You'll fly far beyond

our know world, in a journey of peace and love...

 

Summa summarum, this album has to be discovered.It's a gem.More than one hour

of pleasure and far transportation.

Play it for relaxation, between friends or after a long day...You'll be

refreshed!

It's about Ambient with a big "A" and even if it's close to psychedelic

chill-out it's also a bit "new-age" oriented, not so much

but enough to please anyone between 7 and 77 years old )

 

10/10

[PKS]

Asura is out with their second album. Their first album Code Eternity, came out

on Infinium Records in 2001. They got a lot of good critics out of that. In my

opinion a pretty over estimated album, but good enough if you are after some

easy digestible atmospheric chill. Asura are now A. Ackerman, C. Farewell and

C. Maze. On their first album, A. Ackerman wasn`t in the band, but now V.

Villuis is not in the band anymore. First of all, I have to say that this

isn`t very psychedelic. It`s more plain ambient chill out. The first track is

some sort of intro, lasting for only a couple of minutes. Pretty nice start on

the album. Dramatic sound picture, with only floating sounds and some dramatic

voice samples. Track 2 (Lost Eden) has probably a lot of people heard already.

It was also released on the chill out compilation Module 01 on 3D Vision Relax

and on the Chiller Waves compilation released on Analog Pussy Records. I find

this track pretty easy digestible, but nice enough with a lot of Turkish

vocals. Track 3 is slower. I like this one better. Some beautiful vocals, nice

chilling bass and a very floating sound picture, totally chilled. Track 4 goes

pretty far away from what I had expected from these guys. A lot of vocals,

almost a pop song. Not my cup of tea, but maybe something for you if you are

into chill by for example Morcheeba. They have also added some Turkish vocals

like track 2 in this one. Track 5 is more ethnical chill of the kind you find

in every tribal shops in the western world who sells incense and hand made

things from Thailand etc. This is like the music you would expect to hear on

some meditation group or something. Nice and easy.

 

Track 6 starts totally slow, with some guitar sounds and only floating sounds.

Then some down tempo trance rhythms comes in. This sounds a lot like the music

on their first album. In my opinion, I think this sounds a bit simple. Sorry

to say this, but it sounds a bit like cheesy euro trance in slow motion! Track

7 is a long track. This is slow ambient, and pretty beautiful. It sounds a bit

dramatic and sad, but that can be pleasant too. C. Farewell has made this one

alone. Track 8 starts off with a nice flute. Here you get a lot of melodic

trancey stuff. It sounds a bit like melodic old school goa trance in slow

motion. Track 9 is the longest track on the album, lasting for over ten

minutes. On this one they have sampled a classical choir and the Turkish

vocals again. This sounds also dramatic. In the middle of the track, you get

some didgeridoo too, before the down tempo trance rhythms comes back. The last

track on this album is really nice. The best track on the album in my opinion.

Pretty varied, with a lot of pleasant sounds. Afther this one you also get a

little hidden track! A short floating outro. Nice finish for an average album.

 

You get some nice tracks on this album, but if you are looking for deep

psychedelic music, this isn`t the right choice. Asura makes easy digestible

chill, and with all the high quality chill released lately, this isn`t my

first pick for my relaxed evening.

[Guest Le Lotus Bleu]

Lost Eden is a very good album & eclectic which means several influences

appearing all along the 10 tracks such as:

 

- climatic ambient (1,2,3),

- modern rythmic kinda mid-tempo drum n' bass (4),

- classical music (1,5,6,7),

- world music (1,5,8,9,10),

- gregorian chants (7)

& psychédelic chill-out (1,9,10).

 

Favorites:2,3,6,7,9.

 

recommended

mark: 8,5/10

[Guest Lord Of Destiny]

I have recently ordered this album..it can arrive any day now! i can't wait!

(I'll have to though..) I listened to the (2.5 minute) samples on

www.saikosounds.com, and they sound extremely promising also i downloaded

one of the tracks already, and i certainly like it

[Guest Lord Of Destiny]

Alright so i got the album..quite awhile ago already really..and i must say it

is not really the masterpiece i expected..it is, in my opinion, a bit simple,

and a lot of the tracks are quite short...such a waste! they could have made

them into such beautiful tracks! Also the relatively small variation in

instruments kinda disappointed me.

So much for negative critics, this album does have some nice tunes for

example that cute synth sound in "From the Abyss" or the piano in "Land &

Freedom". Especially the last couple of tracks (9,10) are quite nice.

(although i can't really appreciate those "tenn njen njay" people in track 9).

It's not at all a bad album, but for me just not anything special. 6/10

[Manuser]

Raindust got one of the nicest melodies i have ever heard, this melody is quite simple but so so beautiful, unforgettable..

[abasio]

An excellent release.

A lot of vocals in this album but they are very well used & definately add to the atmospheres that are created.

A really trippy album IMO. Not in my usual sense but in a travelling sense. I always get the feeling of moving from this album even when I'm still!

[Jon Cocco]

ASURA - LOST EDEN
2003
REVIEW





Track listing:

01. Prologue - B ...... Good. For an opening introduction it sets the mood just right for the album. Unique, intriguing.
02. Lost Eden - B+ ...... Strong and solid feeling and emotion. Uplifting. Lush, attractive sounds and harmanies.
03. From The Abyss - B ... More focused on ambient. It's nice, although less engaging...the female voice is good.
04. Raindust - B- ...... Sounds too similar to somthing off a Moby album, the womans voice.
05. Land And Freedom - B+ ... Asura is great at stronger, more layers songs like this one.
06. Fahrenheit - A- ...... Awesome work. One of the top best short trance songs ever.
07. Requiem from Nowhere - B ... Sounds a too little close to something I've heard before once beat kicks in.
08. Incoming - B- ...... It's alright. The high pitch swishy sounds toward the end always irritated me.
09. The Battle of Devas - B+ ...... Good sound, direction, voice transition, buildup, development, melodies.
10. Le Vol d'Icare - B- ...... Pretty good but not as engaging and great as an ending track could have been.


Lost Eden is the second main album by Asura. Their debut, Code Eternity is one of the greatest Ambient Trance of all time.

This follow-up is very different in some ways. For starters, this isn't mainly Ambient Trance alone. There are trance and ambient songs which both fuse together at times. There is also a handful of good songs, several achieve and involve greatness. The variety is wider relative to the debut; several more tracks exist here. The styles range from Ambient, Trance, New Age, World, Mid-tempo, down-tempo, classical, and maybe few more. It's really quite a mix at times although some tracks utilize genre(s) better than others.

Fahrenheit is the best song or one of the best songs here. Praise goes to its strong crystal melody wave, melodies, buildup, and climax. I love it. I've heard this song so many times. Never have I not been impressed or gotten sick of it. Not once to date. It's so addictive and catchy this song. But why the short length??! There is easily enough length on this album for a longer, full version. I never understood this. Unless the song became repetitive or that much less engaging after the short 3:55 running time, a longer great song would have been fun to hear.

Requiem from Nowhere is another good song here although once the beat kicks in I'm reminded of that Lobby room scene song in the first Matrix movie.

I like the chilled, short intro. The world influences are good. And one song, Raindust, sounds too similar to something off a Moby album. Really, these guys have too much potential and talent to sound obviously sound like someone else. The song isn't bad but lacks originality. I hope Asura stick to further developing their great sound on future works. This is what I miss which was so great on the debut. Asura makes many tracks both in and with different styles. Some songs sound less unique than others. The first album sounded like nothing I ever heard and it was great and fresh sounding thoughout.

One thing seems consistent, a nice beat which plays and keeps my attention to the rhythm. This is a great aspect that crossed over well from my favorite album by them, Code Eternity.

In conclusion, this is a good album. It could involve more power, energy at times but too many aggressive or climactic songs like Fahranheit may have gone against the more chill mood and tone throughout. Regardless, giving the beat at times just a little more umph (after buildup) wouldn't hurt, long as they don't over due it like who ever finalized the poorly produced second album of the once great artist, Muses Rapt. This is much better than that. Asura can make good music without sounding cheesy, repetitive, or lackluster. They can also make stronger songs as Juno Reactor is known for doing and I believe they can make more "great" songs. On various levels I feel emotion while listening to a handful of songs here. The variaty is better than the first but the album is less epic like the first. I don't feel like I'm going through different galaxies, rather listening to a compilation of new songs by Asura. Some are decent. Most are good, very good. At least one or two is great I feel. Nice work Asura. Nice intros too. But it would be amazing if you incorporated some, if just a flavor of GOATRANCE elegance into your art somewhere in the future. Lost Eden is a good album to drive, relax and listen to.


LOST EDEN, LAND AND FREEDOM, FAHRENHEIT(!), THE BATTLE OF DEVAS.


B+

[sleepingzombie]

just listening to land and freedom ... tears falling from my eyes ...

[Snapinho]

I seriously love this album! Maybe I'll write a short review later... but this album reminds me a lot of 90's mellow house/trance, but without the corny vocals. Some are still here, for example in From the Abyss "be there... be there... free your miiiiiind" but it's done really really well.

 

Very atmospheric emotional ambient-trance, is how I would describe this. Really nice!

[Malevol3nt]

Woah I've just listened to this album and I'm Exstatic!! Awesome album. Definately goes to my toplist of ambience

[Trance2MoveU]

One part Jean Michel Jarre, one part new age style reminiscent of Enigma, and one part dreamy soundscapes. Actually there is a sh*tload of the latter. The sophomore effort of Asura is a floating one where the project even manages to make a track full of house vocal affects (Raindust) sound trippy. Sounds of melancholy are everywhere as is the attention to detail. Requiem From Nowhere is probably my favorite with it's head nodding beat and pads of sad. Even the short track Incoming has a heavy thud of a kick and a goa "ish" melody that is hard not to love. A very, very solid album.

 

I think this guy might have a future.

 

Mdk

[Jon Cocco]

Man I was harsh on this when I first heard it, giving it a B. This is one of the best albums, one of my favorite albums. Several of my friends consider this their favorite of all the Asura albums to date, followed by Life2.

 

Thank you Asura for consistently making strong releases over the years. Truly uncommon and passionately beautiful, talented energy is reflective throughout each and every Asura release.

[Starkraver]

This is indeed a great album.!

Favourites are 5,6,9,10

 

I felt few tracks ended abruptly.

( I'm very much used to the mixed albums when it comes to downtempo/Ambient releases. That part is missing. )