rino Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Vox- Innerpolarity LABEL: Metapsychic Records YEAR: 2007 FORMAT: MP3 file SIZE: 154 MB BIT RATE: 320kbps TRACK LIST: #1. Analogue heaven #2. Atmosfear #3. Behind the wheel #4. Over the clouds #5. Mayana #6. Euphoria #7. City of black lights #8. Inner polarity Damn, I still didn't assimilate properly everything that Pyramidal Trancedance had to offer me, and there goes Metapsychic Records with yet another free release! Am I glad? Bet your best arm I am!!! What makes me even more excited is that Vox happens to "hail" from my city, Zagreb. Now, not to write an essay, this man is a living legend amongst goa/psy trance fans around here. He's been DJing for almost as long as the term goa trance exists in Zagreb, and he's one of those DJs who always succeeds to make the most out of his sets, and play some seriously amazing tunes. Let's not forget that he's never been the kind to follow trends or settle for playing what's fashionable in order to get a quick buck. So yeah he's very respected, and has every right to be so. Now that his album is out, let's check if his production is as immaculate as his skills behind the decks... #1. Analogue heaven- After only thirty seconds you know you in for some old school flavor here, but, hey, were you expecting anything less from Metapsychic? And when the eastern influenced melody kicks in after the first minute, the journey begins. The track has a slower tempo, not ambient though, just kind of a nice introductory track. As for the middle part of the track, you actually don't get that much to immediately grab you; it's more like some nice laid back melodies stream across the track, eventually accompanied by the eastern melody once more. But it's really a dreamy tune, not full onish (not the israeli type for heaven's sake) at all, and no melodic climaxes to be found here as well. But who's complaining? This more than adequately opens the album and really sets the mood: it slowly pulls you in and patiently gives you the time over its seven and a half minutes to prepare yourself for some retrodelic vibes... Nice one! #2. Atmosfear- The second track isn't that much faster than the first one, but definitely picks up the pace. I guess the title suits it well for I consider this to really be an atmospheric track. Especially in that beatless interlude at around 01:20 when a slow melody molasses from left to right, and some tribal drums slowly creep into the track, giving it now even some mystical vibes. There really isn't a proper melody here up until about two thirds into the track, but I doubt you'll find one missing either: my guess is you'll be enjoying to this music, floating on your own cloud of emotions. When the melody kicks in, yes, it is old schoolish, and yes, it does give the track that one last final touch to really make it complete. Followed by the tribadelic drums again, which are more or less present throughout the track without making it sound corny or outdated. Old school: yes. Old in terms of uninspiring: no. Nicely continuing itself onto the album opener, this one should not leave anyone missing those old mystic and atmospheric elements in his music unsatisfied. #3. Behind the wheel- There we go, an uptempo track, and as soon as the acid synth hops in you know that this can only continue in the previous tracks' fashion. The melodies resulting in a melodic climax at 03:16 are just well... hear for yourself! An old schooler's wet dream!!! All hell breaks loose and you're right back in 1997, dancing under the hot morning sun in the moroccan desert! I really like the rest of the track as well, and the thing to watch out for here is the quiet, background acid synth. It is really tuned down, but if you are listening on good headphones, you can really catch how cool it sounds. But the track actually doesn't get to show its full impact until about two minutes before it ends. A crazy, fast, I could say savage melody rips the track apart, and if by any chance you missed it a few minutes ago, now is your second chance to catch a plane to that desert I was mentioning! And the last ninety seconds... me like a lot. This is like an HDL express delivery back to ten years ago. No questions asked. #4. Over the clouds- If the track is supposed to suggest where this CD is supposed to take me, I'm with it. I really like the beat on this one, as it makes me wanna dance right now as I sit in my chair. The not-overly done melodies only add up nicely to more effectively prove this track as a lethal DJ tool. As though the last track wasn't a good one too... You may argue and try to prove me wrong, but wait until four minutes when an ideal combo of a hands-in-the air melody and a neck snapping beat meet to show where the people are supposed to be: on the dancefloor, of course. But, if you're still not convinced, wait two more minutes, when another ace melody gets pulled out of Voxs' sleeve just to remind that it ain't the time to abandon the floor yet. #5. Mayana- My god! How distorted is this? Wait! Is it distorted at all? Or did my headphones get messed up out of the blue? Or is it a repercussion of an error during the mastering process? Whatever it is, it sounds awesome. Ka - Boom! 02:38 is the code to a new time machine. Remember that. The melody sounds like a stentorian roar from a very pissed off Shere Khan, the tiger of The Jungle Book fame. "Back To The Future pt. 4", in audio format, if you want me to explain in plain terms. This is much harder than the previous tracks and the track's vibe is somehow darker, and well, grittier. And at 04:10 we have two demented melodies (layers?) simultaenously attacking the earrdrums, and I cannot help but think of (but not too much) some of Ka Sol's tracks when hearing them. Which is no absolute way a disrespectful comment to Vox. In fact, it surprises me with how much ease does he play around with those melodies. Not even these two have properly been arranged in my head, and we get some more. Jesus, the creativity of this track. The layers. The absurd intensity, and above all, the pure, uncut and unadulturated rawness. This is much darker than the rest here, but it simply blows you away. Remember when you heard "Ground zero" on Ypsilon 5's Binary Sky album? Remember how that track was somehow more pumping and uplifting than the rest of those mellow tracks from that release? Well, the same goes for "Mayana". Now not to start comparing tracks here (I said I wouldn't do that!), this is about as powerful as it gets. Melodic mayhem at its finest. Amazing track! #6. Euphoria- The intro with the classical music. I fall for that one every time. Including this track. Every time like it's the first time I heard it. I just love 'em. And those acidic noises in the background here sound like something I have on those old Sound Of The Acid Core compilations. Meaning they are blazing, old school bliss. The melodies at around three minutes make me think that a certain Miranda Silvergren was his wife. That Phenomena(l) sound is all in tact here. Meaning, once again, that this is another one of those blast from the past moments. And when I hear again those lovely acidic effects, nostalgia has hit me like the Malasyan flue. And with this melody you're back in old school heaven. Then the title of the track becomes cristally clear. All you gotta do is let this hypnotic melody (or the whole tune for what I care) guide you to euphoria. Or utopia. Or pure ecstassy. Or however you call that state of mind when you're overwhelmed with joy. This is it right here! Like our watches and wall clocks stopped ticking ten years ago. And nobody ever dared to complain... #7. City of black lights- I like this one, it has a nice, building, rising melody which doesn't immediately hit you with all it has, but rather nicely taking the time to develop as the track progresses. And it works just fine. Another old school gem. Think of this as a reunion with your high school mates ten years after graduation, and just for the sake of them good old days, y'all decide to play some tunes from the graduation party. And the continuing good vibes just keep on coming and coming and coming. Now, where this track seems to lose focus is during two shorter intervals smacked right in between those beautiful melodies. I feel that as soon as I really begin to appreciate the musicality of the track, it gets abruptly interrupted by these intervals and it happens twice. And the intervals consist of some lighter, far less epic melodies than the ones they interrupted. The track ends using those, but near the track's end, those lighter melodies do just fine in closing it. Where as placing them in the track leaves me unimpressed and really breaks the flow here. Some may think it does the track justice, I don't. Far from that it's horrible, just that when the melodies really pick up here and get me lifted, the whole thing suddenly takes two steps back. Very good track nonetheless. #8. Inner polarity- And we've already come to the closing track. Which, guess what, is not an ambient tune. Continues in the same style as the previous ones. And starts off really nice with a cool melody (I must have used up every adjective I know to praise 'em ) just waiting to be released upon a hungry crowd plagueing the dancefloor. And just when I was about to (stupidly) say that the mid section of the track sounds kind of plain, those same crazy thoughts get shoved back in the most obscure parts of my brain, when at around four and a half minutes the melody once again proves to be a winner here! And your legs will probably seem to have a will of their own as they'll drag you back to dance. Whether you like it or not. This is the type of track that makes jumping around essential. Excellent was to close an album. Actually, I don't miss an ambient track here. Not even a tiny bit. Ending the album like this leaves you with those wonderful, feel good like vibes. You feel good, uplifted, joyful, and there is no point in trying to get calmed down by some downtempo music... IN CONCLUSION: It's obvious that it's a bit too early to judge this album yet, and even more pointless grading it. This was more of I guess... Well, a track description I just really wanted to do in order to eventually encourage people to get his release. Because it seriously is good. For who? Firstly, old school lovers should have a great time with this album, as should any fan of melodic goa trance music. You liked the Metapsychic releases so far? You will probably like this one as well. While some may critize this album for sounding too old schoolish, my constantly hungry stomach for goa traance keeps on yearning for more! If a producer decides to make an old school influenced album, why not and try to journey along? I mean, if his musical preferences lead him in that direction, and he believes in the quality of what he does, it has got to be worth something, right? I really enjoyed this release, even though it sounds like it comes from some years ago, but that was the whole fun for me here. Primarily because albums such as this one convince me time after time that the trance sound I once fell in love with is still here, standing on firm ground. And that's not saying a little, from my part. This is the first album by Vox, and judging by the way he manages to arrange all these melodies, it seems as though he's been producing music since 1996, but only recently gathered the courage to share it with the rest of us. And while I could go on writting various albums and artists that Innerpolarity seems to have been inspired by, I will choose not to do so, because by doing that all I get is a feeling that Vox is trying to recreate the vibes and sounds of other artists from the past. And I don't want to do that. I want to listen to this album, and catch a vibe it manufactures on its own. Yes, parallels could be drawn betweem this and many other older goa trance albums, but rather than pointlessly looking for similarities and sound alike details, I'll let Innerpolarity speak for itself. And what does it say? It creates some really positive sensations and leaves me with a heavy smile on my face. It's actually a very accomplished piece, musically, which successfully captures the vibrations and the "music for the body and the mind" concept of the old, while still being able to explore some darker soundscapes, like "Mayana" for example. And I also find it a rather odd and interesting choice not to use a single sample throughout the entire album. Yes, you heard me: this album is front to back sample free, making it an even more exciting sonic journey for the mind. No vocal usage to distract you from the music, no drug reference samples, nothing! Pure, beautiful goa trance all the way! And I like it that way. My all time favorite release I.F.O was also deprived of any sample usage, and well, plainly put, it couldn't turn out better than it did. Actually, I really missed an album with just the music to grab hold of your attention. And if you let yourself in, you will be more than fairly compensated. Whoever believes that the true spirit of goa trance is still alive should get this. Whoever likes his trance in the year of 2007 to be melodic, uplifting and harmonic should not be without this. Actually, there is little or no excuse for not getting this, considering it's a net release, and it's totally free and available to all. Show your support! And a little something for Vox: we want a live act sime time soon now in Zagreb. And a good one. We want a live act. Repeat after me: We really want a live act!!! P.S.: A question for the guys at Metapsychic Records, if y'all read this: is there any chance we will be able to snatch this marvellous relelase in WAV format, like the Pyramidal comp? 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Aeros Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Download this here http://www.metapsychicrecords.com/ Boom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Buddha Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 what a nice rewiew out here. thanks for it Rino. the answer for u is : we can try to get a wav version of it but it´ll take a while to get it ( i dont have the wav files aswel) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E115 Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Considering such a review - the music itself is pathetic... try at least to make them all sound at the same volume level next time... absense of mastering seems to be metapsychic's innovation in trance... my-neighbour-made-it-on-PC music... with all respect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted January 31, 2007 Author Share Posted January 31, 2007 I downloaded this as "rar" but my computer doesn't recognize it as an audio file - is there an MP3 available? http://www.manshora.net/%7Erewt/Vox_-_Inne...ty-2007-MPR.rar http://metapsychicrecords.gajos.co.uk/Vox_...ty-2007-MPR.rar http://www.sendspace.com/file/tse334 http://www.filehosting.cc/?d=5F9B9009 OK, once you download it, it comes out as a "rar" file, the same thing happened to me. So, what you gotta do is the following: once that file has been downloaded (it should ba called Vox_-_Innerpolarity-2007-MPR), you right click on it with your mouse, and press the "extract here" link. That should extract the files from the compressed "rar" form, and create a folder with the whole album. The folder should contain the front and back covers of the album, plus 8 tracks, with the total of 154MB. The folder should be created right under your "WINrar" archive. WARNING: in order to do the file extraction, you need the Winzip program!!! If you don't have it, here is a link for a free download: http://dw.com.com/redir?pid=10605855&m...4-10605855.html You still encounter trouble, lemme know! Enjoy the music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 VOX - INNERPOLARITY 2007 METAPSYCHIC RECORDS Full Review Tracklist 1. Analogue heaven 2. Atmosfear 3. Behind the wheel 4. Over the clouds 5. Mayana 6. Euphoria 7. City of black lights 8. Inner polarity I wasn't aware of this album until it first appeared in a thread here on psynews. No buzz or hype really. It was released for free, or free to download curtesy of this artist Vox and Metapsychic Records who recently released Pyramedial Trancendence at the end of 2006, also free to download. I enjoy that more and consider it, Pyramedial Trancedence one of the best releases of 2006. Focusing on the Vox - Innerpolarity album I found little or few tracks that really stood out to me at first. Throughout my second full listen I liked it more than my initial concensus. PROS: - The older goatrance-esque flavor is apparent (on certain tracks more than others) and compliments the album. - The inspirations are clearly goatrance. There are several good songs here flavored with a pinch of the older sound. Generally speaking, every artist is different how he or she integrates such art from the golden days into todays music. There are times it works very well here. - Some tracks (2, 5, 8) sound very different and characteristic. The sounds combined in each one make them appear to have very different styles, directions. This also takes place with one or two others as well. Track 2 is more thoughtful and changes several times along its path until hitting a very relaxing fusion of sound just over half way through. Track 5 sounds influenced by old-style Pleiadians in it's intense or climactic leading melody. It sounds pretty crisp and compliments the song and album entirely. Track 8 starts different, darker, and engaging. I like how it builds and ends the album on a stronger note than the opening song. - It's free! CONS: - Some tracks (1, 3, 4) sound less interesting, engaging, and imaginative to me. Maybe that lower pitched bag popping-ish echoed sound mixed over the kickdrum in these three tracks contribute to distracting me from enjoying them more. It's not the most catchy sound. Less is better with certain things. At times there's isn't enough details and supporting sounds (juicy melodies!) to create more of a texture of sounds) around the main one. More tracks like 5 would be great. Give it that Pleiadians-esque depth (or more catchy swimming sounds) around those wicked, psychedelic melodies without compromising the leading sound. - Album lacks WOW moments, key changes, excitement, and climaxes. I'm not pulled into it's world. There isn't enough taking place to capture and trance my mind. It seems as if a limited or fairly [preferred] amount of sounds were used to create the melodies and other sounds on here. Some tracks have sounds too similar to others which makes these songs stand out less as individual tracks. - Certain songs carry a clear melody or two but supporting melodies and sounds are generally less strong to me. It would have been nice if more focus was put into the supporting melodies and sounds because I never hear or perceive the "swimming in melodies" flow that much great goatrance does. More work could have gone into some tracks here, making them more involved with sounds, rhythm, psychedelic, and powerful. In conclusion, there are several songs that stand out as being good and I enjoy those most. Part of me feels mixed towards this album because it seems to touch greatess in such small doses and yet never does it crash or have a bad track. I don't like the opening track but I like the closing one. Why? Because the melody 1:00 into track 1 sounds as basic as something I've done on my casio piano growing up. It's too easy and ordinary sounding. No offense. And that same song improves as it progresses but it never goes anywhere exciting or really good. On the other hand, tracks 5 and 8 both start off and evolve very well. I wish there were more strong songs here. Track 5 followed by 8 most stand out to me as more congruent in the artists ability to combine melody, sound, build up, and rhythm in an appealing, energetic, psychedelic way. I like the strong leading melody in tracks 5 but not certain sounds in track 3 and how they're used. The volume on a melody seems intentionally raised to make them sound closer to my ears but this makes the track unbalalanced sound-wise rather than more psychedelic. Tracks on this album generally aren't that atmospheric. This is definitely a melody driven goatrance album at it's core. I simply wish there was more memorable (and a stronger variaty of) songs, sounds, juicy melodies, emotion, atmosphere, etc. It's obvious this artist can make good songs and has the ability to do great work. 1. Analogue Heaven ... C 2. Atmosfear ... B- 3. Behind The Wheel ... C 4. Over The Clouds ... C+ 5. Mayana ... B 6. Euphoria ... B- 7. City of Black Lights ... B- 8. Inner Polarity ... B- Favorites: 2, 5, 6, 7. C+ DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM FREE HERE. http://metapsychicrecords.gajos.co.uk/Vox_...ty-2007-MPR.rar http://www.sendspace.com/file/tse334 http://www.filehosting.cc/?d=5F9B9009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 1.- Album lacks WOW moments, key changes, excitement, and climaxes. I'm not pulled into it's world. There isn't enough taking place to capture and trance my mind. It seems as if a limited or fairly [preferred] amount of sounds were used to create the melodies and other sounds on here. Some tracks have sounds too similar to others which makes these songs stand out less as individual tracks. 2.- Certain songs carry a clear melody or two but supporting melodies and sounds are generally less strong to me. It would have been nice if more focus was put into the supporting melodies and sounds because I never hear or perceive the "swimming in melodies" flow that much great goatrance does. More work could have gone into some tracks here, making them more involved with sounds, rhythm, psychedelic, and powerful. 1. Quite on the contrary, I'd say this album has some very nice climaxes, and WOW moments as well. OK, now when I say WOW moments, I'm not implying the "Alien Protein" or "The Lone Deranger" type of wowness, but in its own right, Innerpolarity, with the use of some meoldic climaxes, nicely evokes the mid-ninetess goa trance sound. That it's gonna get people's heads spinning 720 dagrees, I doubt it, even though I still think it's kind of early to state that yet. As for the statement "It seems as if a limited or fairly [preferred] amount of sounds were used to create the melodies and other sounds on here.", I do not know whether or not you are refering to the equipment for the making of this album(??). What I wanna say is that a certain piece of hardware can only produce a limited amount of sounds, and can only modify them to sound in a limited amount of melodies. Now, while I can notice some sounds reappear on the album as well, I tend to watch out more for the ways in which they are applied to the track and how they are incorporated in with its other elements, rather than trying to spot where do they seem like they've been heard before. Same goes for the melodies, I can definitely hear that some of them were constructed using the same base sound, but it's the way in which they develop later on and each take their own route, which made me look further than their common source. I don't know about you, but for me, "Mayana" is a track that can go on its own any day of the week! While it might be true that the album lacks a real stand out killer (except the above mentioned one), it gives it more of that continous voyage feel... Which I get when listening to this, and I don't mind that. To be honest, until I read it in your review I didn't even try looking for stand out tracks here, but now "Mayana" would be my most likely pick! 2. I would really have to disagree with this one. Actually, I thought that the choice to pick one or two strong melodies, and really focus on them, making them lead melodies by really taking them to the forefront and kind of neglecting the background effects, really reminded me of some old school goa trance. Remember Kabalah, One Love, Mystical Appearance In Goa, Waiting For A New Life and Screaming Butterfly and the similar tracks that really had those amazing lead melodies that would just mesmerize you, leaving you to just "go with the flow". That's how I tend to look at "Innerpolarity". Yeah, I know what you mean (I think that is), there is no musical complexity and absurdly well built up climaxes that some more recent goa trance artists have got us used to, but as example of that dreamy, trippy and happy old school goa trance, this is one damn good piece of plastic! Oooooops, my bad, no plastic here... it's an MP3 file Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisbee Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 good music. another fine release after pyramidal trancecendence but i have to agree that the mastering is far from perfect. some tracks are too thin in bass, some have recessed top. but the music and the spirit count the most so no need to be harsh e115 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moodswing Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Bad mastering indeed...Especially the first two tracks...One have to put volume levels up and down, which is a bad mark...The music anyway is good if a little unpolished...I think that there's no matter who has done the mastering job if the listener feels unconvenient while listening...I don't mean to insult anyone...Just expressing my sincere opinion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted February 1, 2007 Author Share Posted February 1, 2007 @ Cosmogenesis & E115: OK now, just let me add a lil' something about the mastering... Since (if I remember right) Metapsychic Records is a non profit internet record label, which exists for the sake of us listeners, mostly hungry and nostalgic of that old school goa trance sound, it is quite understandable that they cannot afford top notch sound engeneers to master their albums. I mean, the bottom line is that these releases are free, available to all, and that certain individuals actually worked hard so we could have them! Of course they don't sound like Ben Bernfeld mastered them, but I don't think that a single listener expected them too... I know I didn't. I mean, if i got my data all sorted out, Kanc is a DJ, who actually comes to Zagreb quite frequently and is well known for his amazing goa trance sets, but I have no idea whether or not he has a dagree in whatever it takes to be a soundsman. However, he did a fairly good job. As for Colorbox, well... the mastering on Pyramidal Trancedance was very well done, considering the fact it was a net only release. The man really tried hard! But, I mean, so what if the mastering is not perfect? Some of those crazy finnish producers purposly leave parts of their tracks messed up soundwise to create a certain effect and some special vibe, and I don't hear much complaining. Listen to some Schlabb releases as well... I love everything I got from them, but it's not that the mastering on their releases is perfect, meanwhile the music rocks like an earthquake up on the Grand Canyon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moni Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Please let me remind you that this section of the forum is for REVIEWS only. Feel free to use the General section of our forum for other discussions. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmogenesis Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 [Off-topic: E115 or A380, your new agressive reply proves me once again that I was 100% right about your provocative intentions there. So don't expect any answer from my part. ] Returning to Vox now, some people asked us if there is a possibility to get also wav audio tracks for "Inner Polarity". So, I contacted Tomislav, and, if we can do it, Martin will host them and post new download links to get this album in wav format as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurutrance Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I have just listened to this album around ten times and I sincerely find it great. It is true that I am a pasionate 90's goa trance sound fan but although I am not an expert in quality I can say that with regards to the musical tour it is impeccable and it has a very good quality. The biggest problem nowadays is that much more importance is given to the technical development than to the creativity. This album in particular is really creative indeed, with regards to mastering there are experts on the topic who are able to give founded opinions on the matter. But there is one clear thing to me, an album or song is not good just because of one aspect of the ones commented before but the combination of both. This album, in my opinion, deserves a 4.5 over 5. If we take into account that it is available for free on the net it should be given a 5 over 5. Best wishes and thanks to the guys from Metapsychic Records, especially to Vox for allowing us to enjoy ourselves listening to the romantic sounds of a past we reject to leave behind. bbOOmm!!bbOOmm!! Gurutrance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h.vox Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 ............ Actually, there is little or no excuse for not getting this, considering it's a net release, and it's totally free and available to all. Show your support! And a little something for Vox: we want a live act sime time soon now in Zagreb. And a good one. We want a live act. Repeat after me: We really want a live act!!! P.S.: A question for the guys at Metapsychic Records, if y'all read this: is there any chance we will be able to snatch this marvellous relelase in WAV format, like the Pyramidal comp? Oh my goodness. I never thought my work would cause people to write something like this. Thank you so much for this review, it is much appreciated, whoever you are Do not worry about the live act, plans are in the making, as is the WAV download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chatnik aka alien Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Man, thank you for this great album, you do a great job here, i have enjoyed in every minute. PLUR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h.vox Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 CONS: - Some tracks (1, 3, 4) sound less interesting, engaging, and imaginative to me. Maybe that lower pitched bag popping-ish echoed sound mixed over the beat on the second hit in all three of these tracks contributes to distracting me from enjoying the them more. It's not the most catchy sound to take place for so long. Regardless, at times there's isn't enough details and supporting sounds (juicy melodies!) to create more of a texture of sounds) around the main one. More tracks like 5 would be great. Give it that Pleiadians-esque depth (or more catchy swimming sounds) around those wicked, psychedelic melodies without compromising the leading sound. - Album lacks WOW moments, key changes, excitement, and climaxes. I'm not pulled into it's world. There isn't enough taking place to capture and trance my mind. It seems as if a limited or fairly [preferred] amount of sounds were used to create the melodies and other sounds on here. Some tracks have sounds too similar to others which makes these songs stand out less as individual tracks. - Certain songs carry a clear melody or two but supporting melodies and sounds are generally less strong to me. It would have been nice if more focus was put into the supporting melodies and sounds because I never hear or perceive the "swimming in melodies" flow that much great goatrance does. More work could have gone into some tracks here, making them more involved with sounds, rhythm, psychedelic, and powerful. In conclusion, there are several songs that stand out as being good and I enjoy those most. Part of me feels mixed towards parts of this album because it seems to touch greatess in such small doses and yet never does it crash or have a bad track. I don't like the opening track but I like the closing one. Why? Because the melody 1:00 into track 1 sounds as basic as something I've done on my casio piano growing up. It's too easy and ordinary sounding. No offense. And that same song improves as it progresses but it never goes anywhere exciting or really good. On the other hand, tracks 5 and 8 both start off and evolve so much better that I instantly wish there were more stronger songs here. Track 5 followed by 8 most stand out to me as more congruent in the artists ability to combine melody, sound, build up, and rhythm in an appealing, energetic, psychedelic way. I like the strong leading melody in tracks 5 but not certain sounds in track 3 and how they're used. The volume on a melody seems intentionally raised to make them sound closer to my ears but this doesn't makes the sound seem unbalaneced rather than more psychedelic. Tracks on this album generally aren't that atmospheric. This is definitely a melody driven goatrance album at it's core. I simply wish there was more emotion, atmosphere, layers, memorable and more juicy melodies, and a higher number of great songs. It's obvious this artist can make good songs and has the ability to do great work. Thank you for your review, it points to some things I was, more or less, already aware of. And some of your points, and not only yours, I will certainly take into consideration. Of course, nothing is perfect, and music, as any other art, can rarely be judged but through each person's own taste. I could have waited for even more time to release it, but then it would not get out at least a year more I think it is good that anyone can find at least two or three tracks he likes, I had a chance to hear a few releases from very respected musicians which contained only one or two good tracks, so, if you liked three or four of them, I am satisfied with it. I prefer more people to like fewer tracks, than just a couple of people that would like the whole album. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moni Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Like i said, please use the General section of our forum to discuss about this release. Use this section for posting REVIEWS only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmogenesis Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Like i said, please use the General section of our forum to discuss about this release. People can post comments in the VOX-Inner Polarity topic on the Artist News and Labels announcements section too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryion Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Vox wins spring ! (and prolly rest of the year too... oh wait i forgot about Ra. ok Vox goes 2nd of the year) Mayana... absolutely incredible. ty metapsychic and, ofc, Vox ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
advance Posted February 10, 2007 Share Posted February 10, 2007 @ Cosmogenesis & E115: OK now, just let me add a lil' something about the mastering... Since (if I remember right) Metapsychic Records is a non profit internet record label, which exists for the sake of us listeners, mostly hungry and nostalgic of that old school goa trance sound, it is quite understandable that they cannot afford top notch sound engeneers to master their albums. I mean, the bottom line is that these releases are free, available to all, and that certain individuals actually worked hard so we could have them! Of course they don't sound like Ben Bernfeld mastered them, but I don't think that a single listener expected them too... I know I didn't. I mean, if i got my data all sorted out, Kanc is a DJ, who actually comes to Zagreb quite frequently and is well known for his amazing goa trance sets, but I have no idea whether or not he has a dagree in whatever it takes to be a soundsman. However, he did a fairly good job. As for Colorbox, well... the mastering on Pyramidal Trancedance was very well done, considering the fact it was a net only release. The man really tried hard! But, I mean, so what if the mastering is not perfect? Some of those crazy finnish producers purposly leave parts of their tracks messed up soundwise to create a certain effect and some special vibe, and I don't hear much complaining. Listen to some Schlabb releases as well... I love everything I got from them, but it's not that the mastering on their releases is perfect, meanwhile the music rocks like an earthquake up on the Grand Canyon! You don't need top notch sound engineers to do volume normalization... foobar 2000 does ReplayGain for free and it does it pretty well automatically The thing about downloadable music is that it can be be fixed even after the "mastering". This is not a CD-ROM, but a bunch of MP3s. Here's hoping the .WAV (or better yet .APE) version files will be normalized... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 1. I don't know about you, but for me, "Mayana" is a track that can go on its own any day of the week! While it might be true that the album lacks a real stand out killer (except the above mentioned one), it gives it more of that continous voyage feel... Which I get when listening to this, and I don't mind that. To be honest, until I read it in your review I didn't even try looking for stand out tracks here, but now "Mayana" would be my most likely pick! I thought that the choice to pick one or two strong melodies, and really focus on them, making them lead melodies by really taking them to the forefront and kind of neglecting the background effects, really reminded me of some old school goa trance. Remember Kabalah, One Love, Mystical Appearance In Goa, Waiting For A New Life and Screaming Butterfly and the similar tracks that really had those amazing lead melodies that would just mesmerize you, leaving you to just "go with the flow". That's how I tend to look at "Innerpolarity". Yeah, I know what you mean (I think that is), there is no musical complexity and absurdly well built up climaxes that some more recent goa trance artists have got us used to, but as example of that dreamy, trippy and happy old school goa trance, this is one damn good Yes. And I don't think I was initially clear what leading melody I was being critical with on my review so I've UPDATED IT. The leading melody, the song that stands out the most to me IS Mayana. It's a very well done song and the leading melody which reminds me of old Pleiadians tops it off. I'd love to see deeper, more dynamic and catchy songs like that. I also like the leading melodies in tracks 6 and 7. The last song is pretty good too but the melodies I find less memorable compared to tracks 5, 6, and 7. Track 2 is softer but develops later on and I find it pretty good, nothing great but interesting and different in a good way. The track and overall melody or leading melody that I do not like is track 3. I don't enjoy that melody, the general sounds, and the entire song. It sounds unintersting, repetitive, and drawn-out on a not-catchy-enough rhythm and structure. Track 4 is OKAY and I find the opening song lacking, uneventful, plain, and boring. Lastly, some other less stacota sounds like chimes, bells, ambient notes, atmosphere and other melodies creating deeper, more mind expanding and developed soundscapes would be cool in the future. When I hear track 5 , I know this artist has potential to come up with something special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmogenesis Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 Wav version of Vox album available on "innerpolarity" topic on the "artists & label announcements" section. Soon other links will be created. Keep in touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 @ Jon Cocco: saw your update, nice to see you feel that way about the track as well! As for the WAV.files version of the album... like my birtday came up early this year! I'll modify my review if I manage to somehow feel different about the release as a whole after reliving it through, but on some huge living room speakers this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaFeel Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Beautifull pure new goa release...Well done my friend Vasillis!!!You do very good job with this label, all of you guys!!!Continue the excellent work!!!I like this label cause have underground profile and music!!! Very good discover!!!(i mean the project) My rating 8,5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaFeel Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 i forgot to say again about the amazing covers that you have!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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