Helios- Aires Rising

[Trance2MoveU]

 

Artist: Helios

Title: Aires Rising

Label: Geomantic TV

Release: July, 2007

 

Track Listing

 

01. 7:35 Helios feat. Cosmosis Feel the Love

02. 7:46 Helios feat. The Loomii One With Nature

03. 7:59 Helios Mentalasys

04. 8:01 Helios feat. Pure Pressure Atomic Sun

05. 7:58 Helios feat. Deeper In Zen Auradawn

06. 7:43 Helios feat. Chromatone & Random Burrito Envy

07. 5:55 Helios High Use Ward

08. 7:51 Helios feat. Morphonix Incanterpolation

09. 7:45 Helios Dream Time

 

Aires? Really? I feel like such a fool. I've been saying Aries, you know, like the God of War? Now I don't know who Helios is, discogs refuses to tell me (what did I do to them?). He or they seem to be buddies with Chromatone and Random, and that's a good sign if you like high energy psy. Geomantic TV has put out a bunch of stuff including a few DVDs. Never a bad idea to branch out into different media. This seems like Helios has a lot of help from his friends, and they seem to be powerful friends indeed. The artwork seems cool, which shows stick figures dancing on top of the world. Well, what appears to be South America. So, let's get to it!

 

 

Helios feat. Cosmosis Feel the Love- Ahhh, I can already feel the Cosmosis influence at the start, as some squirty leads shuck and jive their way around the track. The break sees a growly lead emerging from it's hiding place as guitars fight for position. I liked the lead near the end, but it wasn't dominant enough. This was a decent track to start the journey, but not enough meat on the bone for me.

 

Helios feat. The Loomii One With Nature- The Loomii? You guys need to stop with the weed. I see they or him (I have no idea) had a track on the underrated Highway 420 compilation, which ironically is about weed. The guitar at the break kind of gets me to be one with nature, in a 60's free-love get a job and a shower you dirty hippie kinda way. However, I find the track thin with not a lot going on.

 

Helios Mentalasys- Helios decides to tackle this one on his own, with Mentalasys. You guys and your made up words. Killin' me. This one starts of with a darker edge. The bass line is assertive, but there is nothing really to focus on and a lot of air that could be filled with sounds to flesh out the track. I did like the lead near the end that seemed to come out of nowhere. The percussion underneath it all is pretty funky as well. Pretty good track.

 

Helios feat. Pure Pressure Atomic Sun- Once again no idea who Pure Pressure is but they start off with some nice bass work. But once again, this track falls into the same pitfall as the previous ones: not a whole lot to distinguish itself. It chugs along like a train with no passengers but it keeps going because it still has to get to the station. Pass.

 

Helios feat. Deeper In Zen Auradawn- I look forward to this one in the same way I look forward to reviewing Deeper in Zen's new album Silence. This track has a really cool name. Auradawn. I see an image like the cover of the Vangelis album the City. Go look it up. It's like those words belong together. Like applewood bacon. Hickory smoked. Yeah. This one is already a step in the right direction. Once again the bass work is nice and the track moves along fluidly. The pads give an ethereal feeling, and the leads guide your ears ever skyward. The break shoves the sun right into your mug. Beautiful! Best on the disc for sure! Great track!

 

Helios feat. Chromatone & Random Burrito Envy- That's funny. I didn't know they could do that, but why wouldn't they? This burrito has more meat and this other one is all beans. I guess the one that was all meat would make fun of the beany one. The beany one would fell bad, start hanging with the wrong crowd. Probably the tacos. They're bad news. But don't let them fool you. They seem hard on the outside, but on the inside it's just soft. Anyway, Chromatone & Random lend a hand, and this is full on all the way. The lead at 5:30 flutters about for a little bit, then disappears. It's a good mover, but there isn't a whole lot of craziness. I was expecting acid out the ass, but that's not here. Decent track, but nothing special.

 

Helios High Use Ward- The beginning is sort of mellow, mid-tempo with a catchy percussive riff. I'm feeling a little funky. When the bass comes in, it's a whole lot of funky. Where the hell did this come from? The break continues with the atmospheric sounds and then we jump right back into the funky pudding with both feet. This is the shortest track on the album, but it was highly effective. Very good track!

 

Helios feat. Morphonix Incanterpolation- So what the hell does that mean? This is sort of tech-trance with a nice bottom end. That bass is super-fat! My sub is begging for more, hungry s.o.b.! With a nice trip-hop beat and assorted atmospherics, this is pretty sweet. After listening to this track all the way through several times, I found out what the title means: super booty grooving! Great stuff!

 

Helios Dream Time- Well, the 2nd half of this CD has certainly been a surprise. We continue with a nice down tempo / break-beat / ambient track. I'm telling you this is the meat that Helios should be cooking. The beat was good, and while not as good as the previous track, still one of the better ones in the bunch.

 

In Summary: It's plain to see the way this album goes. It starts of very trance like with collaborations with some known and unknown names and winds up with trip hop and techno beats that the Chemical Brothers wish they had. Ill be brutally honest; I think Helios should stick to techno machinations. They are very good at it. The trance portion of the Cd is average maybe a little more, but where they shine is the latter part of the album. It will be interesting to see what turn Helios's style takes in the future. I would classify Helios as a work in progress, but then again aren't we all? First half of the CD: 5/10. Second half: 8/10.

Favorites: 8, 5, 4, 9.

Mdk