Ormion Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Psychoz - 2012 No Return 1. Mistery 2. An Entrance 3. Tools Of The Trade 4. Valley Of The Lost Souls 5. Twisted Garden 6. Retribution 7. Over The Hills 8. Spiritual Beggars 9. Soulwax + Bonus Video Psychoz is Zoran Zlatkovski from Germany. His first album back in 2002 was in a completelly different style than his later works almost acidic Psy techno while now he produces darkpsy. I can imagine what you're thinking. 1) How cliché is the title and 2) another darkpsy album that isn't dark. Well the title may sound a bit cliché with all this 2012 madness of our days, but all the tracks give a feeling of an upcoming doom that totally justifies it. About number 2? Well prepared to be surprised cause this album is dark! Dark pads, haunted atmospheres and some spooky melodic lines. Especially the pads he's using can be very scary. The whole style is unique. No fx madness here or random sounds, everything is in place. Even the basslines are slightly more melodic than the usual darkpsy stuff. Like I said all the tracks have a pessimistic feeling, like something bad is coming. The bpm's are normal too, no 170+ madness here. Also the album has a 'ritual', ancient feeling in it unlike the futuristic sound that other darkpsy albums have. The production plays its part in this. It's dirty, noisy and although some high frequencies in some samples might hurt your ears it's perfect for this kind of music. It would definitely lose a lot of points with a crystal clear sound. Favorite tracks? An Entrance for sure. Dark and almost melodic. Amazing! The downtempo Mistery (which actually sounds a bit old school-ish), Valley Of Lost Souls and Twisted Garden. I actually like all the tracks here and the only thing that don't care is some guitars in Retribution. If you want something dark and interesting give it a try. It was a huge surpise for me! 8.5/10 Samples: http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/sam/sam1cd009.html http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=7742 ps: I can't open the video file. Anyone knows why? I didn't have any problem with previous Shaman Films releases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divine Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 the samples sound great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 This sounds interesting, catchy, and dark, Dark, DARK!!! I just ordered it. Review coming soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmiwinks Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 just got this the other day and I must say it is VERY good. It reminded me a lot of Ghregg on Earth: the tracks are filled to the brim with dark atmospheres. There are only a handfull of darkpsy albums that are suitable for home listening and this is one of them. Mystery sounds like some dark psy with the pitch turned down, it is great for giving you an apetite as to what's coming next. Already here you can feel that listening to this album will be a hell of a ride. An Entrance blows in your face with full force, great atmospheres and great little melody, this one actually reminded me a bit of some of Battle of the Future Buddha's works Tools of Trade takes you deep into EVIL territory. There are some very twisted pads in there, it feels like some mutant insects are flying all over the room. I sure wouldn't like to listen to this one when on acid... Valley of the Lost Souls is simply SUPERB, my favorite track of the moment, it is beautiful yet dark at the same time, "the beauty of the beast" as they say Twited Garden comes next with some more "pure dark" atmospheres and frequent change of pitch in the rolling bassline. This one is definately one for the dancefloor. Retribution is a nice crossblend between dark psy and electronic guitars. Guitars and psy don't often mix well but there are some rare occasions where they work together very nicely. This is one of them Over The Hills is the most experimental track here. It basically constanly increases tempo, in the end it gets to 200 BPM, even more... interesting experiment and I guess it could be used to make people feel wierd on the dancefloor but most of the time I just skip this one. Spiritual Beggars brings us back to "classic" dark teritorry. This one reminded me a bit of Penta. The last minute is pure evil holocaust, there is this floating pad together with a faster bassline, the effect is insane. Soulwax is a midtempo closer. It's too fast to be called downtempo, yet not fast enough to give you the typical dark trance feeling, then it slowly "undwinds" slower and slower, giving it a nice hypnotic feeling and the perfect "coming down" track. Again, some very nice use of dark pads. Conclusion Yes it is yet another dark psy album but a VERY good one. OK, once you start analyzing the tracks, most of what was done here has already been done before, yet the elements are so well used that I still wholeheartedly recommend it. And track no. 4 is AMAZING! If you don't listen to it, you are missing something!! 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Cocco Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 PSYCHOZ - 2012 NO RETURN SHAMANFILMS RECORDS 2009 1. Mistery ... 7:31 2. An Entrance ... 7:15 3. Tools Of The Trade ... 7:00 4. Valley Of The Lost Souls ... 5:40 5. Twisted Garden ...6:35 6. Retribution ... 7:28 7. Over The Hills ... 5:37 8. Spiritual Beggars ... 7:14 9. Soulwax ... 8:00 Forgive the generic title. 2012 No Return is the best DARK Psytrance album of 2009 to date. When it comes to dark psytrance, I like world-immersing tracks, not the typical machine gun beat psy-sounding repetition. I like a story with atmospheric and a developing, evolving story filled with strong work. 2012 No Return creates a dark world that pulls the listener deep into the clenches of darkness. Considering that I hadn't heard of the artist before, I wondered if the album was as interesting as the four-minute samples that intrigued me. 1. Mistery is a VERY unique opening that reminds me (as well, see above) of old dark/Goa tracks. The melody/sound work is catchy. The mid-tempo is great and the song does a good job creating allure, down the long, dark path we slide. Present is a catchy/deep, old-school melody that reminds me of what a more modern Sand Man - Witchcraft opening could be in our time now. New sounds are added as the one-direction (hence No Return) path progresses. The song reflects the listener, traveling towards a world of darkness that awaits. The song does good with allure as it sets us up for whatever fate awaits. Good opening track. B+ 2. An Entrance is the first song to really take us inside the dark world, past the long, provocative path of the introduction. As the ride continues, echoing sounds enlarge as if the vehicle is looming deeper below the caverns, to the horrors that awaits. A tune as if signaling the last of hope is heard. There are strong pockets of melody/work throughout (from around 5:55 to 6:22). However it's the story and how the song's direction that give a real chapter-sense and core to what could have been a candy coated apple. This is an engaging song. Great work! B+ 3. Tools of Trade takes us deeper inside the buzzing hums and savage horrors of the abyss into darkness. Coupled with a swirling/mystical effects as if we're traveling down a black hole filled (towards Hell), the song is visually distorted, dynamic, growingly infectious, and surreal, absorbing. The transportation speeds up; psy creature spin in concentric circles as if we're being sucked down a deep, dark vacuum. After a short female voice sample, an extension of horror continues. This is another great and warped track! B+ 4. Valley Of The Lost Souls is different from previous tracks in that it offers a HUGE focus on melody leads, however distorted and twisted; the work here is more arresting than previous numbers. Furthermore, an even greater dose of innovation, drive, and creativity seems to have gone into this track with strong success. I won't spoil anything, but the song has an incredible/unique sounds to it and remains strong throughout. Its a gem with twisted fun melody work that has been stuck in my heard for days. Excellent track! A- 5. Twited Garden is a strong follow up that is very interesting. Filled with spinning saw sounds that make up a cut-throat sound/melody pieced together with flowing ambient, chopped up/distorted voices, and more, this is a deranged "well done" and creative track! B+ 6. Retribution is more industrial edged, sound/guitar (at times) wise. Thankfully this as well as no other tracks are coupled with the singing that killed a track or two on Xenomorph's otherwise solid "third" 2007 album. This is a mind numbing, sharp, and angry, atmospheric track. I like it, but it doesn't seem to visit as many delectable places in the haunted castle as previous numbers. It's sounds are also more harsh, heavy, and in that sense less infectious to me. The cut off voice sample to the crazy rage, driving, rhythm, and piercing percussion is solid. Solid track. B 7. Over The Hills starts out disturbing, as if a nerve has been cut and the body/mind is left mentally disabled. Included in the track's chapter here is catchy, echoing metal *clang* sounds over the beat. The first third sounds as if the song could have been great as a mid-tempo number. I'm not quite sure the reason (or why) the beat speeds up numerous times in the second and third act. This is an easy effect, possibly intended to mask the song's weakness. Overall the speed provides an interesting appeal that becomes overdone; the song becomes dependent upon the fast machine gun sections. Maybe this is to represent the speed as one goes up (slower) and then down a hill (repeat). The sounds around the fast-forward speed however appear thin in comparison to previous tracks. The song has a rushed feel, to some degree. Previous numbers had more of a silent deadly albeit well developed, catchy, and dark-fantasy sound to them. But this is more like a technical, experimental track that heavily relies on pyrotechnics (special effects) over anything else (groove, dance-friendliness, a continues feel to surrounding chapters). In short, this is my least favorite track on the album. B- 8. Spiritual Beggars is like a freight train filled with wild and crazy souls. The final third may either get under your skin and/or lift you up (climax wise), or both depending on how one perceives the sounds. This thing is constantly building, developing, becoming more vivid and hellbent, delectable as it races by. But the last third is frighteningly well done. This could stand as a super song on a new Penta album (via his dark and dynamic Horn Please! style) and I would have maybe missed the difference. Unlike the previous number, the speed enhancements here, while not overdone enhance the track. The song is dynamic, fierce, wild, and overall a psychologically arresting, great track! A- 9. Soulwax initially appeared to have been inspired by The Matrix theme (at least to me) in the opening seconds of the song. However any sense of that quickly changes. The track appears slower in speed than previous numbers with exception to the opening, however the beat is relatively quick. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it feels like a fusion in between mid and uptempo. Coupled with bizarre souls (I don't know what's going on) escalating over the hills of under a Halloween night sky, the track is gripping from beginning to end. There is a strong ambient/tune foundation present that gives the song strength even when numerous layers are removed temporally before the letting lose of new sound paragraphs. Overall this is a solid closing to a great album. B+ In conclusion, this is an absorbing dark Psytrance release filled with strong atmosphere, textures, melody/sound structures, occasional cool voice samples, and more. Tracks are generally danceable, though it's clear the artist kept home-listening and story in mind when producing the album. The story is atmospheric, at times evil; the tone pulls us deeper into dark Alice Goes To Wonderland so to speak. 2012 No Return is a great album that gets deeper, darker, and more haunting as it progresses. My only gripe is that like most albums in general, this isn't filled with super songs back-to-back. It would have been fun to have more "super/amazing tracks," though the songs here are good/great. 2012 No Return is a nice addition until the next well reviewed dark Psytrance album comes along. Recommended for those into dark Psytrance. Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9. B+ Samples: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=7742 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/sam/sam1cd009.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Great review Jon. Nice to see that more ppl enjoy this album. It's a great release! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.