"V/A - Fractal Energy 4"

[Trance2MoveU]

Artist: Various
Title: Fractal Energy 4
Label: Fractal Records
Date: February, 2011

1 People Have The Power / Sidhartha vs. Tryon
2 Shattered Dimension / Geko
3 Storm / Outer Signal
4 Version Two / Khopat vs. Brainwash
5 Sky High / Magneto vs. Freeze
6 Global Strike / Alienn vs. Ignition
7 Flying Forward / Karmacrop
8 File Exchange / Magneto vs. Freeze
9 The 4th Dimension / Supercell
10 Mind Blow / Hyperactive vs. Exodus


Ahhh, sequels. They have been around as long as anyone can remember and do their darndest to cash in on the initial success of whatever came first. Just like clockwork you can bet Hollyweird will shovel them out and with Swiss accuracy you can almost bet that they will be sucktackular.

 

The Next Karate Kid...Even Ralph Macchio didn't want a piece of this...Ralph Macchio! They're praying on the cover, praying nobody sees this.

 

Teen Wolf Too...Just soak that image up.


Conan the Destroyer(you know it's bad when Arnold is the most accomplished actor in this steaming pile) Interesting side note: Wilt Chamberlain who claims to have nailed over 20,000 women in his book is the bodyguard charged with protecting the virginity of the princess. I'm not making that up.

Just put a new bell and whistle on it and trot it back out there with the same formula to make some more cash. Some are ridiculous. Did you know that they are planning to make a sequel to the 1983 hit Vacation? Hey, f*cktards, they did that already, it was called European Vacation. And really, a sequel to Showgirls. Showgirls? If I kicked you in the nuts and it hurt, why would you want me to do that again?

Umm, yeah...I would would gargle with some bleach if I were you. Have you ever been to a strip club?

With the same idea, here comes DJ Solaris with the 4th installment of the Fractal Energy Series. This title has gone the way a lot of the movies have done. First one was great, 2nd a little worse, 3rd one...ok, it's getting a little tired and now, here we are. The tracklist looks tasty, but will we be dealing with a LOTR situation or will this be Police Academy 9: What the F*ck am I still doing here?


People Have The Power- Oh. Hell. Yes. This is how it's done. Sidhartha has been laying it down for quite a while and The Twilight Solution by Tryon in 2008 was one of the best albums for me. Dark vibe throughout, rambling bass line and echoing synths that come at you in waves. Lasers fire in massive bursts and the energy here is immense. This is twilight music to the core and a superb track.

Shattered Dimension- Amir from Israel scored a pretty good hit with Poison Flowers in 2009. With some techno influences he gets right into it with some sweet synth sounds that play over a repeated riff. Very groovy and danceable and his 1 bar breaks are pretty inventive. The long break was entertaining with nice effects even if I couldn't understand the sample. Hi-tech for sure and a karate kick lead to the face. Nice work!

Storm- This duo has had more smashes than a guy who works for Taco Bell. Their album Fabric of Space had its fair share of great tracks so these guys are pretty solid. The bass line thumps as effects round out the edges. The distorted lead is minor key delicious and then he adds a modulated synth making the track pretty noisy. The break has a cyber vibe as he twiddles the filter cutoff, but the best part is the end where he ties it all together with lasers and layers. Good stuff.

Version Two- "Be careful...there is much energy in the room beyond. It stems from nothing that lives."

If that does not sum up these projects I don't know what will. These guys have had a couple of great tracks, but more often than not I'm underwhelmed by their production. Hell I'm still recovering from the trauma suffered at the hands of the last Brainwash album Maximum Diarrhea. There are stops and starts and buildups but with the heavy acid lines it is much more enjoyable than previous work. It's pretty intense with the throttle mashed down the entire way. The break seethes with evil though as the tension rises and effects fall. The buildup out of the break though reminds me why I wanted to strangle this guy in the first place. He cannot help himself. Way better than the album...wait, like that would be difficult. I think someone needs an intervention.

Sky High- Oh yeah, I'm still rockin' Earthquake. Aren't you? I heard this guy was in jail in India a while back. Guess he got out. Their effects set the dark stage for quite the stormer. Acid whizzes by your ears and you would swear he was on the wheels of steel. The intro and the first break have a cinematic quality as an outer space leads tramps out its melody. The lead out of the second break is metallic and it weaves its way through a variety of stops and starts. I'm not a fan of the sound, and honestly it killed whatever momentum it generated. Not bad, but I have heard way better.

Global Strike- Alienn is one of my favorite artists and his album Cosmic Matter is f*cking awesome. He doesn't make bad tracks, he just doesn't. Lasers, effects, and that deep bass line rock with a metallic lead. When the acid synth that is Patrick's signature comes in you know it's an Alienn track. Where did I put my dancing shoes? The only thing I didn't like was of course, the buildup, but it was mercifully short and doesn't really detract from the power in this track. Great stuff.

Flying Forward- Khopat + Sidhartha should mean twilight gold. Should. The bass line rages at a rapid pace as acid splashes all over the place. Layers start stacking and the lead melody has a carnival atmosphere to it. The break sees a lead grow out of the darkness, get detuned a bit, and of course be part of a small build up. The end kicks some major ass though, like that Australian kid did to that small bully. Where is that clip?



See dude, you can only push someone so far...good for him.


File Exchange- "The psychedelics opened my mind to whole new spaces of myself."

Magneto and Freeze? It's like Comicon up in here. Computer sounds echo above the bass line as the track builds. I like the lead (kinda goaish) as it churns amidst some acid flashes. Relentless for sure, as it keeps hammering away with a slight key change. It gets buildupy also (seems to be a theme) but it ain't bad. Well the final build up was kinda bad. I like how it keeps shifting focus and melodies, you know out with the old....Good job.

The Fourth Dimension- This is Beat Fehlmann (yes you read that correctly) and every track I have ever heard from him has been subpar. He was also on Gaia Tek 2, 3, and Fractal Energy 3. Everyone deserves 4th chances (right Mel?) and well...maybe it's 5th chances. Hold up, it's not turrible, but it's like all of his other stuff...it just is. Nothing special. Either he is a co-owner of the label or...I don't know how to finish that last sentence. This is like being on the front lines and the platoon fires rocket launchers and machine guns, and then he gets up and throws a rock.

Congratulations DJ Solaris, you have redeemed yourself and made up for volumes 2 and 3. The tracks here are high energy and twilight tastic. Some were of the weaker variety, but most were good and several were downright excellent.


Psyshop

Beatspace

SaikoSounds

Goastore

Mdk

[spifer jo]

nice review as always!!

 

this is back to the good times of the first compilation...

 

Track 01(!!) and 06(!) are my favourite.

 

and i agree with you on the remark about the Tryon album "the twilight solution", it's quite underrated.

[survey1]

I like this compilation very much.

 

Global Strike is the standout for me, great track, version 2 has great moments too, the rest is good also.

 

I PSY