alleycat Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Artist: Whicked Hayo Title: Soundbreakers Label: Night Oracle Tracks: 9 Mastering: Shulman Release Date: 25 May 2008 Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/release/1294229 Whicked Hayo are 2 guys from Belgium, Dan and Morad. Ever since I got my hands on Night Oracle's first release (aptly titled) The First Oracle, and heard Deadly Cargo, I was on the lookout, eagerly awaiting more releases. Ketuh's Psychic Imprint only made it that much harder to wait for their album... Then finally, a very nice person decided that I needed to have this album (thanks forever, you know who you are)! So, lets have a look, see if all that anticipation was worth it! Track 1- Tribe of the Whicked (vs Hilight Tribe) Im sorry to say I haven't heard much of Hilight Tribe alone, I do know who they are and that they are in fact a many-piece band, which I always thought was cool. So anyway, this track starts out with some definite Hayoisms, leading into a nice droning voice, giving way to breakbeat style percussions, ending with more vocals singing kirtan style chants. Nice intro, would also work well as an intro to a chill/downtempo set. Track 2- Area 07 Alright, enough slow stuff, say the guys! A clean pumping bassline on this one, pumping that madness right into the cerebral cortex where it belongs. A surrealized melody wafts around the crunched out squidge-lines, almost reminiscent of Azax Syndrome at his best. Nice one to start a set IMO. Track 3- Vertel Nekeer A faster track than the last one, but somehow seems a little slower. A good bounce on this one, still Hayo as all hell, but this one could almost work in an indoor club set (think of the first couple tracks on Electrypnose's 'Le Tireur...'). The percussion and bass make this one feel less aggressive than some of their other stuff. Sometimes, I almost get a hint of Sienis in there. Ends up with a jumping multi-octave bass. Great track, but not my favorite of the album. Nice to hear some variety though! Track 4- Mol Life Extension Creepy samples start this one, then that oh-so-clean bass that I know and love that just makes your head bob even if you've already been decapitated, makes your feet stomp even if you just can't take it any longer. No sitting down here! "Bathe the earth in electromagnetic radiation"! I've always thought of Whicked Hayo as perfecting the style that others made famous. Aggressive, headbanging, squidge your corroded brain all over the dancefloor type stuff, speaking to you from higher dimensions... Track 5- PC Naar de Reet Another pumping bass on this one, and more of that Hayo that they do... so well! Metallic sfx swirl out from more directions than its possible to perceive with the human mind. Man, I'd sure love to see Whicked Hayo play a live set! Maybe they'll come to the US soon... Cuz this is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I want to hear when Im in the mood for some brain twisting! Not really a melody on this one, but I really don't miss it. This ones all atmosphere. Track 6- Please, Don't Fuck With Us OK guys, I wont fuck with you, just put the potato and the... rhesus monkey... down, I don't want anyone to get hurt... This track starts with a very similar (if not the same) sound as the last one, making it a nice smooth transition. More of that lovely clean bass pumping along, jumping along, sphglumping along, driving me on and on to that higher state of consciousness... A sorta unnerving state of consciousness, but, since when does staying safe and comfortable lead to anything but... Being safe and comfortable? Progress and evolution are brought about by challenging the old 'norms'. So please, don't fuck with us. ;D Track 7- Tripsaus Mmmm.... Tripsauce bubbling on the stove... This is a kind of bass/percussion I think of as 'jumping', or like, I dont know, sprinting with cybernetically enhanced legs at something like 200km/h over mountains. I always love tracks with this sort of rhythm to em. More of the usual Whickedness, I can't seem to get enough... 'I don't know what they done to me, but, I remember, it was horrible...' Oh yeah, this is the stuff. Makes my brain tingle just listening to it, I can only imagine what 'assisted listening' is like! Which reminds me... Track 8- In Sickness and In Health Ahahaha, funny sample, goes with the title . A deeper bass than Ive heard on the album yet, and a bit faster too. I could describe the bass as some really big piece of living rubber, in 5 dimensions, flopping around! Puduhwuduhpuduhwuduh Sickly effected lead crunching and scraping around that big rubber tongue thing like some sort of extradimensional orgy. So far this is one of the top candidates for my favorite on the album. I know Im gonna be playing this one a lot! Track 9- Iets Anders A rockin fast one at 160 bpm. Sometimes to me, fast stuff sounds too gimmicky, sometimes, its just the right stuff for the right time! This is definitely one of the good ones, sure to get some heads moving. More of the usual, again (and thats a good thing). So, to sum the album up, basically, if you like Whicked Hayo you'll love this album. To me, they have this strange way of being totally perfect for crazy nighttime without sounding dark. I'd never think of this as dark-evil-scary, just, strong and energetic. At times their tracks sound similar to other artists, but, every time, they bring something of their own to the table, as if to remind us to listen with open ears, or we may just miss something incredible! Some of these tracks could even work during the light hours, if you wanted. A versatile sound Ive always been attracted to, like a moth to flame... Mastering work by one of the great mastering... masters... Shulman (I don't know many other releases in this style that he's mastered...) gives it a unique polish. Verdict: 11/10 for defying my expectations. Favorites: All. Especially 7 and 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyTouR Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 nice review thnx a lot amigo we r glad that ppl like the album !! stay tuned for more infos... www.night-oracle-records.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideffect... Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 If this isn't knocking woods I don't know what is, nevertheless from all subgenres I listen to, Dark psytrance is the one I gave at least attention. The only dark album I liked a lot this year, was from Furious called uncanny beats I think. So I have no idea what is new or already been made considering dark psytrance (evolution) … Whicked Hayo are the first Belgium psy artist releasing a dark album. I should be more objective at the other hand so why not give it a try. I don’t know how psycho dark has become but I can say ‘soundbreakers’ has an actual fucked atmosphere. There is not even a bit of happiness . From baseline, sounds to samples ending in an atmosphere of darkness and hardcore, psytrance. The baselines are, what is my definition of dark psytrance, when it started evolving, Hard, fast, dry…. Although recently many other dark artist are using a more fullon tinted baseline Whicked hayo stays to the program and brings us how it should be. Each track has almost the same dancefloor killer level, They have good advancements. Some have a climax compared too others what are more a continue of psychedelic sounds floating around. It’s a controlled chaos, not overloaded. They keep it busy. The climaxes what is more the pattern of a melody is not that special. It’s noticeable how they prefer the psychedelic level to melodies. Once they start playing those layers of little sounds crawling from one speaker to another the fun really starts. Balancing on the border of psycho. There are maybe 2-3 climaxes in this release what I don’t fancy but dark lovers will maybe experience as a very good dark climax. Enfin, the baselines (kick,base) are different in each track, they use different patterns changing two until four times a track and that’s when we become to what whicked hayo is at it’s best. Breaks ! Some just suck you away, impossible to predict and create variety at a high level. Such a moments contribute to the psycho, psychedelic and speed level, counting on the fact something new is yet to come. Ad the specified way they play their sounds and we have a full album, with a nice versus Hilight tribe intro which we all know. If you like it loud, hard, fast, tough, rough this is what you are looking for. Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen dream Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 funny it gets reviewed all the way on the other side they're not originally from belgium though, dan is originally from romania and morad is coming from morocco i think. i once visited dan when morad and i were in school together, it was by this time morad dropped out of school to fully kick it with whicked hayo i think it's the first time i see flemish slang-named psytrance tracks i'll provide the english translation track 3 - tell me (it's slang for like "go ahead" when somebody needs to tell you something) track 5 - PC fucked up (literal translation: pc to the ass ) track 7 - tripsauce track 9 - something else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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