Cybernetika - Neural Network Expansion

[Jon Cocco]

CYBERNETIKA - NEURAL NETWORK EXPANSION

2007 PROMO

REVIEW

 

 

Tracklist:

 

01 - Trickster (8:15)

02 - Microchip (8:32)

03 - Medical/Science Complex (System Shock Remix) (9:06)

04 - 2653 (10:08)

05 - First Contact (7:48)

06 - Nebula Decay (8:50)

07 - No Communication (8:18)

08 - Valkyrie (8:59)

 

 

01 - Trickster - C+

 

I like the porn girl moaning samples. They're cool and unexpected. Now people who I live with will think I was watching porn and trying to cover it up with psytrance. Anyway, outside of the female sounds of ecstacy I find this song uneventful. The part where the kickdrum slows down in the middle was important because I was losing interest until the the slow down and transition took place. I like the music, tempo, and speed at around five to six minutes into this more than before. Sooner or later when my attention becomes less a small little melody appears throughout the beat. It's okay but I overall find this song uninteresting and kind of lacking in ambition and ideas outside the obvious opening voice sample. This isn't an intro just because it's the first song per say. It is a full, main song on the album. For that I prefer to be engaged from the get-go.

 

 

02 - Microchip ... B

 

The energy, beat, and rhythm is stronger in this song compared to the opening which I like. There are few cool driving melodies. My favorite element is the chilling atmosphereric sounds. They really stand out and add depth. This is a good track.

 

 

03 - Medical/Science Complex (System Shock Remix) ... B-

 

I find this the second harder, more dance friendly song on the album. The short looping melody at 1:44 is pretty catchy. Other melodies make it seem less looped, the track sounds a bit more complex than it is which I like. Around the nice melodies is a strong beat, bassline, and a handful of psy-sounds. The melody from earlier makes a nice return at 5:28. This is a fine song. It's just that there really isn't that much going on here. Less stuff going on? Yes, for instance this song is fairly weak on layers, twists and turns, buildup, climax, action. It's basically a strong beat (or this thing would be the typical generic thud, thud, thud dance song fast!) with a nice melody thrown in and out on occasion.

 

 

04 - 2653 ... B-

 

The ambient notes stand out. They really add depth and feeling with the melod but they get a bit repetitive. The transition makes a nice break before a guitar at around 5:55. I like the voice samples here. They're cool. Part of me wishes the ambient notes didn't sound so repetitive as the song progresses toward through the second half. A fresh melody at around 7:50 is a nice touch. I think this is a fairly good song.

 

 

05 - First Contact ... B-

 

Wow this starts off DARK. Great sounds! This is more on the high octane side. It's fast. Again, there's an emphasis on one fast, driving melody and I like it. The drum rolls, the beat seems to get louder, speeds up/down, and there's lots of cool sound fx. I like the rhythm created here, the melodies. The song moves forward more due to the faster speed and sounds. A sound alteration or minipulation in the end creates the feeling of elevation before falling. I like when an artist plays around with cool minipulations; an entire track moving throughout elevation or elevations and wicked key changes could be an interesting idea for an kickass track. Pretty good this is, nothing spectacular.

 

 

06 - Nebula Decay ... B

 

This starts out strong. There are many hard, crunchy sounds. It's strong kickdrum is topped with industrial sounds and atmosphere, mixed with hi-hats, and many melodic bits and other sound fx. The melodies are pretty cool too. Much seems to be taking place on this thing which I like. It keeps me engaged. Even the basic sustained melody towards the middle makes the song feel more dramatic. The kickdrum combined with a low uh, uh, uh, sound gets repetitive. The kickdrum could use more sudden change-ups, combos. By playing around more with removing and bringing back the duh, duh, duh sound would probably make things more more dynamic, less montonous in that area. Good track.

 

 

07 - No Communication ... C+

 

There are some squiggly sounds around the beat until the melodies, more sustained which I enjoy here (along with the non-sustained ones) develop. Around that this doesn't hold my attention very well. I become more drawn in around 5:55 because of the sustained melody. Very little seems to stand out here. I think it would be great to get more into the meat and potatos of the track (musical, melodies like Talpa) earlier on and build, develop from there until you have an awsome dark and musical pyramid, psytrance song. The beat runs on for several sec's too long towards the end but that's a nitpick. Very little action and what I consider "development" takes place here. It's alright I suppose = decent, maybe fairly good at best.

 

 

08 - Valkyrie ... B-

 

I'm currently unimpressed with the first 4:30 minutes here. The melodies really save this song in my opinion. This track seems to improve as it progresses. I really do like the second half once with the melodies. They're catchy! The first several minutes do sound faster than they should sound, no? Anyway, the effect used to the melody making it skip towards the end sounds very good. I like when artists play around. More chopped up melodies like are cool. All in all this is one of the more solid tracks on the album.

 

 

In conclusion, this one of the better/best dark psytrance albums I've heard so far in 2007. I haven't heard any memorable ones so I don't know how big of a compliment that is. Regardless, I wouldn't have even payed attention to this artist had it not been for the good elements of having some catchy melodies and ambient notes. The atmosphere is very strong, solid at times and I like that. Most dark psytrance now days seem too focused on placing tons of strange sounds and sound effects around the kickdrum/bassline. I am beyond sick and tired of that. This has more depth and sound than much of todays dark psytrance releases. However I don't find this or any track here great as a whole. More character, attitude, and somereally wicked, unpredictable parts (a powerful buildup, climax?) wouldn't hurt once in a while. There are parts, moments when the beat goes free, leaving my ears with cool, echoed chimes, melodic notes. I like those spots and it would be awesome to include more melodies as Tandu, Sandman, and Menis did for instance, in furture work. I generally like the melodies on this album. There are also few parts that have "feeling." Strong melodic direction, emotion, or whatever you want to call it as on the last third of Valkyrie is good. I wish more songs had the feeling/impact like that at times. Overall this album is worth checking out if you're into dark psytrance. It's nice to see someone putting the melodies into dark psytrance when so many have failed to care.

 

 

Tracks I favor: 2, 5, 6, 8.

 

 

B-

 

 

 

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[László]

thx

[Cybernetika]

Hey Jon, thanks for the detailed review

Much appreciated, thanks!