Kode Six - Kold Fuzion

[Trance2MoveU]

 

 

Artist: Kode Six

Title: Kold Fuzion

Label: Vision Records

Release: June 2008

 

 

1. Provenance

2. Delirium (Kode Six Rmx)

3. Data Shift

4. Excess Energy

5. Electro Motive

6. Katalysis

7. Kold Fuzion

8. Firebird (Kode Six Rmx)

9. Silver

10. Tekno Fiend

11. Librium

 

 

I recently received this and have been looking forward to hearing this disc. Kode Six are Francois Bureau & Kalan Bird from Montreal in Canada. Ahh, my neighbors to the north! Vision Records is the label that brought us the lovely Dark Side of the Mind compilation earlier this year. This duo also has a track on the Bio-Magnetic Therapy compilation that was not bad. The cover has a futuristic feel with a fractal like mechanism separating a city and a desert. Well, let's see what we've got.

 

 

Provenance- This is an intro trip-hop track that has quite the beat to it. Chopped up samples groove with the kick, but I cannot understand most of the sample except "but that's not what happened here." Very short, but my interest is peaked.

 

 

Delirium (Kode Six Rmx)- This is their take on the NRS track from the Symptoms of Compliance compilation. Now I had to go and listen to the original to see what the boys did to make it different. I'm a believer that if you remix a track, it should sound very different and just have the basic melody present in the original. And here we have the simple melody from the original to start, as a deep bass line takes over. I can feel the track rising, as leads dance between my ears. The lasers fire of warning shots and deep explosions erupt. The end is where I can see more separation between the two tracks, as more leads combine, but to be honest, I think they took a relatively boring track and updated it, making it less boring without creating anything new.

 

 

Data Shift- Another deep rolling bass line with slight bursts of lasers and wash type leads. The break shines with a chopped up voice sample, and I feel like something is brewing. The track runs out of gas, but just briefly, as the bass continues to hit. A low lead mimics the bass and then a metallic one takes its place singing its sad tale of woe. A distorted voice sample ramps up the creepy factor as more leads join the fray adding a groove that makes me nod my head. Good track! :clapping:

 

 

Excess Energy - "At the beginning of the 21st century, the Umbrella Corporation has become the largest commercial entity in the United States. 9 out of every 10 homes contain its products. Its political and financial influence is felt everywhere. In public it is the world's leading supplier of computer technology, medical products, and health care. Unknown even to its own employees, its massive profits are generated by military technology, genetic experimentation, and viral weaponry." Now that's a sample! Resident Evil if I remember correctly. As the track devolves, the bass line hits, and it sounds like the previous one. I don't care, it makes me feel funky inside. At the break, a lead struggles from the earth, as the track gains momentum and once it arrives look out! Wheeeeee! Now this is what I was looking for, a heavy kick, funky bass line and screaming leads. Not a bad track but that rising lead is used too much.

 

 

 

Electro Motive- With this track there is not a lot of buildup before the bass line asserts dominance. The leads are washes, rushes, and a nimble arpeggio. There is that rising lead again. The break gives me a spooky feeling with delayed sounds and a sinister lead. It grows more bold, venturing to a clearing. With the bass line giving it support, it becomes brave and a whirling dervish full of power and passion. Nice way to evolve! Great track! :posford:

 

 

Katalysis- This is another short one; an interlude if you will. See that I used a semi-colon. Don't know if I was supposed to though. There is a garbled speech talking about passing moments and choosing another path. Who cares?

 

 

Kold Fuzion- Title track, time to shine! The bass line rolls angrily as cold sounding alerts hum in the background. It takes on a character of its own, moving this way and that. Nice touch, adds to the tension. The groove is thick with sweat, as an eerie pad holds my feet in place. The lead snakes around my esophagus and I'm struggling to breathe as it takes me higher into the twilight sky. It releases me, as I get pelted with gobs of acid. The track has its way with me, upping the funkiness off the chart. The lead rears back as it gets ready to strike, and as quickly as it arrived it is gone. Great track! :posford:

 

 

Firebird (Kode Six Rmx)- This is a remix of the Rabdom L track off the Analogue compilation. Now I have to listen to that one! Ok, I'm back. Wow that was a ripping track. You boys got your work cut out for you. The bass line seems seems a little thicker than the original as more lasers spring from all sides. But, damnit, there is that rising lead again. And again. Please make it stop. Moving on, I hear the twinkling melody and there are nice leads to keep me occupied. I don't know that this was an improvement, but it was still a good track.

 

 

 

Silver- I am greeted by a guitar sounding noise and then the bass takes my ticket and I am on my way. The quasi break brings a scream, and then the leads take over. The guitar-lead comes back but there really isn't anything special about this one.

 

 

 

Tekno Fiend- This one starts with a high pitched voice speaking "Tekno Magic" amidst a chorus of lasers. Not my style, but I did appreciate the bass line notes and the lead syncing. Aside from that, meh. I think this could be classified more as club trance, and that was probably what they were going for.

 

 

Librium- A deep, rich bass line rumbles forward as heavenly pads try to bring me to the light. The break has nice effects, and the leads sound great. I hear a "Heroes" sample from the Dr., but I don't feel any emotion behind it. The track just kinda goes, but again, nothing ground breaking.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't a little disappointed. This wasn't a terrible release by any stretch. I guess you would call this twilight psy, and it is pretty groovy. You can tell these guys have a boatload of talent. Although the bass lines get a little samey, and I feel they could fill out there tracks with more layers, it is still pretty damn infectious. If there is one big thing I would criticize it's the rising lead heading toward a climax. It is used too often in several tracks and becomes predictable. In the Excess Energy track, it was used at least 6-8 times. Do something else to bring us to a break or a climax. While this was an ok album, I can't classify it as essential. I think once they hone their craft and mature as artists their 2nd album will be something to watch. 7.0/10

 

 

Mdk

[exotic]

This one is going to knock a few socks off!!!

 

more to come later

 

@Trance2MoveU - maybe you've reviewed too many albums man. this should have been your first of the batch . im sure your review would have been different then.

 

IMO

[Trance2MoveU]

It's not that I didn't like it, it's just that I expected more. Maybe that is my fault for having the bar set so high. I thought it was an ok album just nothing spectacular.

 

And as far as reviewing too many albums, meh, maybe. The reason I started doing it full force, was that it allowed me to listen to the music with a greater focus, and also the reviews section was dying. Since Death Posture left, there has been a real void. I just tried to jump start it a bit.

 

Mdk

[Ormion]

South African Psy from Canada, yummy!

Nice album for sure! Not a masterpiece, but for a debut it's really enjoyable.

I miss the super track here but the good, old fatness saves the day.

I need more listens to give a rating.

[GusSarcoffa]

This is a corker. Dark, pounding and aggressive with plenty of trippy sounds and samples woven throughout. Largely steers clear of that stupid "robots brushing their teeth" sound that so much dark psy began over-using a couple of years ago (thanks, Russia!). Anyone care to explain to me what is so dark and scary about robots brushing their teeth? Nevermind.

 

Anyway, I do agree that the rising lead is overused a bit but all-in-all this is a very strong release for fans of the dark and pounding style. Not a classic perhaps but a crowd-pleaser for sure.

 

EDIT: This one is not wearing all that well for me. When it comes up in the rotation I'm initially excited but 2/3 of the way through I'm tired of it. Many of the synth sounds are kind of plastic-y, and there's a sameness to the grooves. Not as good for home-listening as for the dancefloor, perhaps.

 

I do look forward to another release from these guys. They definitely know how to build up an energetic track. But I'd like to see them open up their palette a bit and bring in some variety to their sound.

[Trance2MoveU]

Welcome aboard Gus!

Mdk