V/A - Five Tons of Flax

[Lemmiwinks]

 

1. Tecnotika - Mentalisten (7:12)

2. Black Machine - Wrong Way (7:47)

3. Epi Centrum - Epi Centrum (6:21)

4. Kali Frogz - Agent Orange (6:07)

5. Metalogic - Transit Flash 2004 (6:21)

6. Le S4b0t3ur - Sabotage (7:45)

7. Trimada - Underworld (8:03)

8. Gothica - Beats And Breaks (7:35)

9. The Star Shrink Shooters - L.I.S. (9:00)

 

 

OK, I’m not fully into techtrance but with time I have learned to appreciate stuff like The Delta, Spirallianz and so on. So I’m a bit disappointed that the Germans who used to make this style kindof abandoned it and decided to explore new ways. Nothing against exploring new sounds but I would’ve liked to hear some new “typical” techtrance stuff. Luckily someone recommended me this comp, I gave it a listen and I must say that I am impressed!!

 

Just some history behind the comp title: you have to read some RA Wilson or Malaclypse the Younger (supposing they are actually 2 different authors ) books to understand, it comes from the Principia Discordia. The full quote goes like this:

Greater Poop: Is there an essential meaning behind POEE?

MAL-2: There is a Zen Story about a student who asked a Master to explain the meaning of Buddhism. The Master's reply was "Three pounds of flax."

Greater Poop: Is that the answer to my question?

MAL-2: No, of course not. That is just illustrative. The answer to your question is FIVE TONS OF FLAX!

 

Ummm you probably don’t understand more from here, well just do some reading on Principia Discordia to get it

 

Anyway, on to the tracks:

 

Mentalisten feels like we’re back in 2000 and “The Delta sound” was the coolest thing to hit the psytrance scene Nice dark repetitive track, but a different kind of dark than what we are used to calling dark psy today.

 

Wrong Way again, dark mechanical techno with atmospheric pads, at moments it feels like there is a giant steam train passing in the middle of the dancefloor.

 

Epi Centrum brings more variety in the progression. Some nice arpeggios but I find other tracks on this comp nicer.

 

Agent Orange some research on the name shows that this was one of the deadliest chemical weapons used during the Vietnam war, which is still responsible for deaths today. So you can imagine that this is a VERY dark, evil track, but again, think Delta evil, not dark psy evil.

 

Transit Flash even more darkness here, the track starts with some killer atmospheres, then a monster bassline. Again, The Delta instantly comes to mind when listening to this one. Even the tension-release around 3:30 is almost a copy of the typical tension-release in Send In Send Back. Great track IMO.

 

Sabotage brings in a lot of distortion and some twisted synth sounds. It is one of the most original tracks here but also one that I like less...

 

Underworld starts off pretty calm actually, you’d almost think of a new age track, then the atmospheres get progressively darker, there is a noise like a giant gate slowly opening and then the bassline starts. Pretty atmospheric track, but it also reminds me a LOT of X-Dream’s Irritant

 

Beats and Breaks brings in a “modern” rolling bassline. This is the track that fits least in this album but I still like it because of the twisted atmospheres. It really sounds like halfway between what used to be called dark psy in 2000 and dark psy in 2008.

 

LIS call me stupid but I’m always a sucker for long atmospheric pads. Listening to this track really feels like taking a walk in a dark forest while having a dark trip. I can almost imagine everything I look at taking a sinister look when those pads are playing. Also some little noises in the background sound like some lizards or snakes crawling at my feet, it is SCARY! Also the best track on the album IMO.

 

THE GOOD: At a time when people are concerned with reviving oldschool we easily tend to forget that other great subgenres of psytrance are also on the verge of extinction. Thanks to Mechanical Dragon for reviving techtrance

 

THE BAD: Like with most “revival comps”, new artists seem more preoccupied with sticking to old proven formulas rather than trying new stuff out. But as long as the end result is good, who cares

 

CONCLUSION: Absolutely killer techtrance comp. People like me who have started to miss the old Marcus projects will enjoy this one 8/10 (only 8 because of lack of originality)