DeathPosture Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Phatmatix - Sorcery Artist: Phatmatix (France) Title: Sorcery Format: CD (digipack) Label: Yabai Records (Japan) Cat. #: YABCD-003 Distribution: Arabesque Date: 20 October 2006 Track listing: 01. 08’31” Deus Ex Machina 02. 08’02” Hysteria 03. 08’12” Sorcery 04. 08’08” Time Distortion 05. 07’30” Les Contes De Fées 06. 08’11” Metamorphose 07. 08’42” Bizarre Phenomena 08. 07’47” Vertigo 09. 07’01” End Of Silence Stream: http://tinyurl.com/yyufhg (all tracks!) Review: French tickler… On the Japanese label Yabai Records comes the debut from French psytrance producer Phatmatix. I’ve only heard a couple of trax from Stephane Rault but they’ve both been ace… Top drawer, eclectic psytrance stuff – so I’ve been pretty excited since I saw this album announced… These tracks took eight months to produce and the release of the album was delayed a couple of times… But now it’s finally ready to grace our ears… Let’s find out what this sorcery is all about… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: Deus Ex Machina ‘Deus ex machina’ is a Latin phrase that is used to describe an unexpected or improbable turn of events… The Greek tragedian Euripides was notorious for using this plot device – and now it’s also the opening track on the Phatmatix album. What we get here is a subtle morning groover cruising at a comfortable progressive speed… The piano lines are just lovely and work great alongside the housey vox and the bubbly melodies… Smile-cracking, subtle morning trance with enough quirky twists and turns to keep most people entertained… Simply lovely! #02: Hysteria “Listen. What are we talking about here? Getting high? No. We're talking about a journey, man. A subconscious safari. A mental expedition, ok? A mind trip. This planet has been raped, pillaged and fucked! And the mind is the only uncharted territory.” And where the first track was somewhat subtle, this one fully starts the party... The bassline may be simplistic but that’s the only thing ordinary about this – everything else is bliss… There’s never a dull second here and there’s constantly something new waiting around the next musical corner. I’m very impressed by the eclectic nature of this. It’s constantly evolving making it a very pleasant listen! #03: Sorcery The next track is an epic one of chaotic proportions. It starts with some choral work from one of the Star Wars movies laid onto some breakbeat’ish rhythms – and then it’s time to unleash the beast! Enter the bassline from hell, increase the tempo and let the acid flow freely… And trust me – this is a winning combination… Full-power, versatile night trance with more than a few surprises in store. Excellent! #04: Time Distortion The next detour is a more tech-ridden tune riddled with teeth-grinding blunt instruments and metallic-banging rhythms… And, wait for it, guitars! Yes, there are subtle hints of the Chemical Crew guitar-riffs here… Fortunately they are not too dominant and they’re outweighed by other, much more interesting stuff… Like the synth-work which is simply impressive here… Mostly this is great stuff, but I can’t help shake the feeling that I’ve heard most of this before… Not bad at all, but not as great as the first three tracks… #05: Les Contes De Fées This track was co-written with French producer Fred Sauvand aka. Triskell – and with these two guys in cahoots it’s time for some twisted fairy tales. The undecipherable French voice mutterings are mysteriously mixed in with a little English and thus assisting the eerie vibe… We’re still in fast-paced night trance territory and the music is still ever-changing and rich… The acid is all over the place and despite the darkish elements the groove is kept intact… Nice track! #06: Metamorphose “An illusion!” The next track features the native chanting of a shaman recorded during an ayahuasca session in Peru – and I’ll be damned if the mother serpent doesn’t appear! Yeah, this is spiritual stuff. As spiritual as you can get in night trance latitudes… I like the intense marching rhythms and the vast amount of trippy tweaks, turns and quirks… Easily the most intense and trippy track thus far… Both sofa- and dancefloor friendly. Class! #07: Bizarre Phenomena On this track Stephane is joined by French duo Digital Talk (Julien Fougea & Luc Achintre). And now the ayahuasca is really starting to kick in… The pace has been increased and we’re travelling at an incredible speed… Twirling acid-lines, distorted synths and crackling rhythms compromise the basis of the track which on top of that has an array of high pitched chords sprinkled all over the place… Haunting, spooky stuff… Very well produced and very dancefloor friendly, though parts of it are not nearly distinct enough to make it a stand-out track… #08: Vertigo Vertigo picks up where the last track left off… This is more in-your-face full-on night trance with steamroller potential… It’s like a big wall of condensed energy bursting thru the speakers causing havoc on the dancefloors… It’s good and it will definitely fuel the party – but I like some of the slower tracks over this… #09: End Of Silence “This is the end of silence…” After some very hard-hitting, intense tracks it’s time to turn it down a notch… This final track isn’t chilled at all, it’s actually pretty fast, but the formula used is more experimental. And I’m all for experimentation, so this track is a welcomed change. I like the contrast between the banging bass and the floating ambient-like pads… Nice stuff for sure! This is a lovely debut album. The eight months of production time really shines thru here and every single track is extremely well-produced. The vast majority of tracks are great and even though I’m not as enthusiastic about the faster ones they’re still great tracks… What I like most about this album is the sheer level of originality in each track. Every single track excels in being really versatile even though most of them are confined within a basic formula. The digipack design is also nice and the enclosed DJ slip will go down well with Case Logic disciples. Fans of Phatmatix’ earlier work will have a field day with this one. It’s good, wholesome psytrance brewed with a lot of love and dedication… Enjoy! Favourites: 1, 2(!), 3(!!), 5, 6(!), 9 DeathPosture External links: Phatmatix: http://www.phatmatix.com Yabai Records: http://www.881-rec.com Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/799232 Saiko Sounds: http://tinyurl.com/uv5zs Beatspace: http://tinyurl.com/y44do2 Discobole: http://tinyurl.com/y5tv4a Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/y5xp89 Wirikuta: http://tinyurl.com/yxjss4 Psyshop: http://tinyurl.com/sodxf PsyBuy: http://tinyurl.com/tkztg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psydmt Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 For sure this is a super phattie. The best release of 2006 for me. Love those dark spooky synth lines that fit so perfectly. If your a fan of good fullon dark psy trance like Digital Talk this is a step above. 9.5/10 buy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumpi Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 As I alreday said somewhere else this is deeply atmospheric and mystical, something you can't find too often these days. If it wasn't for the full on baseline in some tracks it would have gotten a 10 out of 10 from me easily. So if you're looking for full on for the night hours that actually tells a story then look no further!!! Highly Recommended!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andonis Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Ordered it based on saikosounds samples. Looks very good indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 For sure this is a super phattie. The best release of 2006 for me. Love those dark spooky synth lines that fit so perfectly. If your a fan of good fullon dark psy trance like Digital Talk this is a step above. 9.5/10 637915[/snapback] Bingo! This one jumps right out of the deck and is super-powerful! At no point was I bored with this one, it just kept changing and challenging the mind. I really enjoyed this one. I would even say it and Starship Earth are the best releases this year. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted November 18, 2006 Share Posted November 18, 2006 first heard Phatmatix on Mechanik Castle, been looking forward to this album since then! Not disappointed AT. ALL. His sound sure has gotten better since Mechanik Castle!! I wonder if he and Triskell will get back together for more Xtra Unit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideffect... Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 after panick lab o matic this one scores big time too, just what I like, powerfull sounds, strong, confident but not overloaded and too fast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Although this guy is French, his style is 100% South African. Phat full on with aggressive basslines, dark but not evil dark, nice melodies and powerful!!! This cd is indeed awesome although some tracks could be even more powerful and to explode in their last parts. But still is a great release. Fav tracks are Sorcery, Metamorphose and Bizzare Phenomena. 8.5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 At least a fullon album that is NOT irritating or boring.. It even has psychedelic twists, a bit similar to Electrypnose's, generally it's atmospheric, nice album... 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Metamorphose's middle melody is one of my favourite moments in psytrance...like ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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