Midnight Storm II-Electric Energy

[Ormion]

MIDNIGHT STORM II – ELECTRIC ENERGY

Nexus Media 2006

 

 

TRACKSLIST:

1.HYDRAGLYPH-Breach

2.SLUG & RABDOM L-Iron Curtain

3.MANIFOLD-Voinamirov

4.MULTISTATE-Grandma Death

5.SHIFT & AZAX SYNDROM-How Do U Stop It?

6.ABOMINATION-The Hunt

7.AZAX SYNDROM-The Covenant (Shift rmx)

8.ENERGETIC-Overdose

9.BRETHREN-Moshi Moshi

 

Mastered by Artifakt

Artwork by Scarah

Style: Hard Full On

 

 

This is the new release of Nexus Media, South African label with great reputation in Hard-aggressive SA full on. The first Midnight Storm was an excellent compilation and one of the highlights of 2005 (and one of the best comps of the last years IMO). Now the Nexus guys decide to release the second part of it and let’s hope it will follow the third volume.

 

Just like in the new Timecode the first track is a Hydraglyph one. Hydraglyph like to play with the SA psy standards and put many styles in their tracks. Hence, you’ll listen many dark pads together with mellow melodies and combined with hard basslines and weird samples. Just like almost every track by them Breach has a dark feeling but it’s suitable for morning times too. What to expect? Phat percussion and SA techno sounds, many breaks and lot of pads and of course the final melody in the last two minutes. I’ve heard better tracks from these guys (System Critical, Corrupt Audio etc.) and more experimental, but this is definitely a very good one.

Next track is the collaboration of two of the most known SA artists. Slug (with a fresh Pitch Hikers album) and Rabdom L (with the new Twisted System) worked together for the first time and the result is awesome. Iron Curtain is what SA psy is all about. It’s dark, but not in a scary or evil way, it’s powerful, fast, aggressive, slightly melodic and phat! Actually, this must be the most phat track ever! Everything in Iron Curtain is loud. From the kick and the hi-hats to the bass and the synth lines. You can clearly hear both of the artists styles: The phat snares and the aggressive bass of Rabdom L and the mellow melodic lines of Slug. The highlight is the last three minutes where the track explodes in a mayhem of sounds, melodies and kick breaks. Amazing!

The Manifold track now, is a great example of mixing hard noisy full on with emotion. They’ve done it before (Source comp.), they did it again. Ok, the first three minutes is full power with nice fx production, the next minute is an effective break and suddenly an atmospheric melody hits the floor. The melody is awesome and it will make you fly, but lasts only 20 seconds. Fortunately the rest of the track has some wondeful pads and nice, smooth bass. It never explodes but it’s gonna make you smile while dancing like a maniac. Quality stuff.

Multistate is the new group of G.Hamber (Xatrik) and G.Olivier. SA full on style with nice bassline and many dark samples. That’s only for the start, cause around minute 3 we get some groovy almost happy melodies. The whole feeling reminds me some Rinkadink stuff : tracks that have both dark atmosphere and a happy feeling. Not extra insane as the Xatrik stuff, but definitely powerful. Nice work guys!

Shift & Azax Syndrom….he, he. Well this is a collaboration I always wanted to see and yes it’s true. Okay, things are getting serious here. It’s difficult to describe this track, since there are so many things to describe. I could say that the track is a pure mayhem of psychedelic sounds, fast basslines, melodies that make you move, climaxes and a last minute where everything gets on fire. Build up over build up until it’ll be explode and then more power. Really, how do you stop it?

Let the hunt begins and more power keeps coming. Hard, fast Psy just like someone really hunts you and you’re running to stay alive. Pure dancefloor killer, with extremelly good bassline and phat synths. Maybe, I miss a more steady melody like in other Abomination tracks, but it’s again a great track for powerPsy lovers.

The Covenant was one of the highlights of the first Midnight Storm and this one didn’t let me down. Shift is a great remixer, he knows what to change and what to keep the same. Just like here: The similarities? The super fast bass sounds almost the same, the original melodies are here again and the power too. The differences? Some additional melodies, more samples and even more power! Until the fifth minute everything works great, but after that the track explodes in such a degree that is difficult to describe. For two minutes and twenty seconds the full power keeps coming and when you think it’s over it hits you more. Imagine that:The madness ends at 7’20’’ while the whole track lasts 7’24’’!!! Destruction…

Energetic are two guys never heard before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. The style here sounds more Israeli, because of the bassline and some typical full on synths. Thank God, the track has all the power I wanted to listen and soon the bass changes and the full power is unleashed. Kinda Chromatone style this is powerful full on in a way different from the South Africa style. Maybe the bass is too slow in the last minutes for such a track but it’s surely kick ass stuff.

Brethren are Phyx & Tickets, brothers and Psy maestros. This is the first track they’re release after the brilliant Legend Of Cane album. Moshi and boom! the bassline hits your ears together with all these industrial Phyx-style sounds. Then a nice, simple, but effective melody and a nice snare make you move, and the pure Trance feeling they gave us in their album returns with a morning melodic line. Obviously the last minutes are the most powerful, although it never exploded. Different style from the I.E.F. we’ve heard in MS 1, but similar with the more melodic album stuff. Great stuff again!

 

Overall, it’s an amazing compilation from Nexus Media since they tried to keep the quality level as high as they could… and they made it. Although I prefer the first Storm more this is a perfect release for this kind of Psy. If you’re looking for real full on and powerful Psy Electric Energy is made for you.

 

 

 

+ :

-Power

-No bad tracks. No average tracks

-The Azax-Shift collaborations!

 

- :

-None. For its kind it’s perfect

 

 

10/10

 

Fav:All (Highlights:2,5,7,8,9)

[Sawfly]

Great compilation, not as good as the first one though. It really picks up in the later part. Guaranteed Nexus Media stuff.

 

8.5/10

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Yes it does.

 

South African styled psytrance at its gritty finest. Dark and melodic with no cheese and more lasers than the new Star Wars movie. Grandma Death...is that a bass line rumbling that deeply or have I not eaten in a few days? This is one of those compilations where there are no let downs and no skipped tracks.

 

Essential.