V/A - Collapsed Generations

[Trance2MoveU]

 

 

Title: Collapsed Generations

Artist: Various

Label: Spectral Records

Release: February, 2008

 

 

1. Menog vs. Shift - Evil People (9:07)

2. Khopat - We Will Fly (7:24)

3. Lost & Found - Sin Stereo Remix (8:18)

4. Menog - Kinhos's Hallucination (Tryambaka Remix) (8:50)

5. Delysid - Decoder (7:19)

6. Menog vs. Fiuzz - Collapsed Generations (9:28)

7. Audialize - Kinesis (7:58)

8. Hypnoxock - This Is A Chapapote (7:49)

9. Chilled C'Quence - Levels Of Rythms (7:18)

 

 

 

This is a label on the rise for sure. Releases include: Menog Reborn, Brethren's The Price of Prophecy (which has been reviewed), and the great Feel The Force. These are all high powered, energy full psytrance. The tracklist is impressive, as I can recognize most if not all the artists. This was compiled and mastered by Menog. So I am hoping for a continuing quality. The cover is.. well, it looks like...you know, I don't know what it is, but I do like it. The brown shade gives it that down and dirty appearance. Let's get to it!

 

 

 

Menog vs. Shift - Evil People- "Are there two kinds of people? The good ones and the bad?" This sample (which is much longer than what I typed) starts the track (and I can't wait for it to be over. I don't want my music lecturing me. ) and then uncertain pads drape over percussive elements. I would even go so far as to say the beginning of the track has a tech-trance feel to it. The track finally kicks in at the 4 minute mark with a nasty lead. It is very squirmy, and is joined by some acid. The groove at this point is good and what I have been waiting for. However, the sample continues to lecture me, and at this point I know I won't be listening to this track again. I hope that isn't a sign of what's to come from two of my favorite artists. :wank:

 

 

 

Khopat - We Will Fly- Vasco strikes again, with soft, reaching pads. The beat drops with a sweet groove, and I am airborne. Squelchy leads guide me through the clouds as another melody appears ever so briefly. Another twinkling sound shows up at the last break and I can feel the track building. I felt the end could have been filled out more, but nonetheless, it's still a pretty good track.

 

 

Lost & Found - Sin Stereo mix- It seems I have been reviewing a lot of Gerhard's music lately and I don't mind. He has done a lot of good work. Short percussive blasts leave me with an industrial feel, as a lead shoots skyward. The whole track starts rising, right into a break and then full steam ahead! The lead darts back and forth as yet another swims beneath it. I feel he is playing with me, not revealing too much. "I..am..Mother Nature." Yep, he building something here, and when the acid kicks in, I know I am in for a ride.

The last 2 and a half minutes of this track are fantastic. Great track! :posford:

 

 

Menog - Kinho's Hallucination (Tryambaka RMX)- Tryambaka (Tiago Pimentel) released his album The Colour of Time and quite the album it was. Review will come later. Here he takes a crack at a Menog track. The beat is front and center and quickly dissolves into a funky-ass groove! Acid blasts soon follow and leave me very sticky. The break descends into isolation, with a lead that is searching. The groove returns and delivers another short lived break. Lasers aplenty and I feel the distress in this track. The leads in combination give off a gargled sound and it becomes a little to much for me. Good track though.

 

 

Delysid - Decoder- Satiny pads herald the coming of a portamento lead, as it twists and turns above the bass line. There are some lasers which fly about, but I feel the lead just labors through this track. There are no highs or lows, just meh. I don't feel any energy in this track at all. The break comes and it's just more of the same for me. I'll pass.

 

 

Menog Vs. Fiuzz - Collapsed Generations- "Today...you're task is a simple one. The Gods, as a token of appreciation, may someday reward you with great earth changing powers." This track starts with some quirky percussion and epic don't-know-what-is-around-the-corner pads. The lead is atonal and that adds to my nervousness. The break has the sample above and the pads return. The track feels very large. That lead returns with added melody and combined with he groove makes me tap my toe. Pretty good track!

 

 

Audialize - Kinesis- I really liked Audialize's Last album Starship Earth, and always look forward to his tracks. This is very metallic sounding with leads that rise and an undercurrent of dread. The lead at 3 minutes snakes its way around the deep bass line, At the break, I hear unintelligible voices and another lead with portamento. A sliced up choir joins the lead for a short time, and after almost 6 minutes, I get my first taste of acid. It's thick and it dominates the track. The track fades into nothingness at its end. Decent track.

 

 

Hypnoxock - This is a Chapapote - "Past experience can never predict the future." I don't know who this is, and don't even know how to pronounce it. With all the effects happening here, it feels cold and unfriendly. The sounds gel together very well, and the leads sound great. Some are thick, some dance lithely above the bass line. The groove is plentiful, and the break has some nice break-beat action. When all the leads come together in the last 2 minutes, it is a great trip. Great track!

 

 

Chilled C'Quence - Levels Of Rythms- Now I didn't expect to see these two on this compilation! This is Pedro Matias & Fernando Rodrigues from Portugal and they specialize in Ambient and Downbeat. This is an electro track to my ears. Rich, soaring pads balanced out by low sounds. Those low sounds are huge! Some lightly dancing tones drift overhead, as a voice tells us about life. Pretty cool, but I still don't know how it fits here.

 

 

 

Conclusion:- I don't really know what to make of this disc. If you look at the tracklist, you must think this is going to crush dance floors and give us some great tracks. And it might. But for me, I felt like I didn't get the artist's best effort with the exception of Lost and Found's track. I was pleasantly surprised by the Khopat and Hypnoxock track. Aside from those, this compilation left me fairly indifferent. Please don't misunderstand me, I don't think any of these tracks are terrible. Perhaps I had just set the bar too high in my own mind based on what these artists have done in the past. Shame on me. 7.4/10

 

 

Mdk

[WJPorter]

I was about to write a review and Trance2Move2 beat me to it. So I decided to write one anyways since there are several points of convergence and different views as well.

Every time I listen to the album I come up with a different opinion. Most of the songs are about 8 minutes long, that’s a bit too much for my taste. I love the fact that Spectral compilations have an ambient track at the end (that’s where the Chilled C’Quence track fits! It’s a tradition!). Here’s my summarized version.

 

Menog vs. Shift - Evil People- I liked it. It’s thick and it has Shift’s metallic touch with Menog’s colossal atmospheres. Con: the anthropology lecture is too long and is not the kind of sample I would like to hear at any party.

 

Khopat - We Will Fly- The first lead melody, reminiscent of a Mortal Kombat movie soundtrack, made me raise an eyebrow. Then I started getting into the track and maybe I misunderstood it, but I find it extremely fun and humorous. It builds and builds and builds… Very energetic.

 

Lost & Found - Sin Stereo mix- The key change in the bass around 1:45 made me scream (in a good way). It has a really uplifting vibe for such an intense night time track. One of my favs on this compilation.

 

Menog - Kinho's Hallucination (Tryambaka RMX)- It’s thick, immense version of the original. It’s very acid and slimy; the kind of track that makes you clench your teeth. On the downside, it seems to last forever (8:47).

 

Delysid - Decoder- It’s not the best track but it would definitely work if played just before sunrise. It’s enjoyable. For some sick reason it reminded me of old Exaile on steroids.

 

Menog Vs. Fiuzz - Collapsed Generations- I don’t get this song. Layers and layers of loops and some eerie leads but something’s missing. But I have to agree with something: I keep turning my head and thinking “where did that come from?” Another one that lasts for ages.

 

Audialize - Kinesis- This is a pretty trippy track. It’s an OK song until the last minutes. Then it all makes sense: all the random sounds you hear throughout the song begin to layer and it seems genius. Well crafted track.

 

Hypnoxock - This is a Chapapote – I really liked the Hypnoxock track on RoboSapience (Materia). This is nothing like it. The first 5 times I found it disappointing but lately it automatically makes me shake my shoulders. Thin, sharp leads. At the peak every sound seems to move and stretch. There’s something oldschool about it.

 

Chilled C'Quence - Levels Of Rythms- Can’t go wrong with this one. I’ve opened several sets of many types of music with this song and it works every time. It’s very damn groovy with lots of entertaining earcandy. I wouldn’t know how to label this but it mixes great with progressive, though.

 

Conclusion: Agree with T2MU, no terrible tracks whatsoever. But there’s something missing! It’s nothing near bad, but I expected much more considering the names on the back of the case. Aside from the awesome downtempo tunes (check out the Zerosequence track in The door of wisdom), I’m not convinced by this label’s compilations. I’ll stick to Time Code and Nexus Media.

[Insejn]

Overall I think this is a good release, maybe even very good. It's not on par with Timecode and Nexus Media but it's not that far behind and I think Spectral have some talented artists for sure. The Tryambaka remix is solid and Hypnoxock (which I've never heard) delivers a good performence. Khopat is getting better and better and I'm starting to really like his stuff. Remove the last track and there are no bad tracks on this one, however, there are bunch of very good tracks but none that will blow your head away.

 

Final verdict: 7.5/10

[voice of all]

agreed with you guyz... i've been waiting for more from supermegagreat menog... he is so cool & mighty that compilation with his name on the front picture might be overwhelming and right in the face but here... some not bad at all tracks... something here and there... but... truly only partly... if it was not danny's compi i would say it is cd with eight strong dancefloor fillers... but in this case i should say: "not so good to be part of one of my favorite acts - menog"...