Axis Mundi - One Foot in Fantasy

[Rotwang]

Axis Mundi - One Foot in Fantasy (Anomalistic Records)

 

 

Press Release:

 

This is the debut album of American musical project Axis Mundi. Having been increasingly immersed into the psychedelic trance environment for over ten years, it has been the culmination of a long-term goal for this work to be released. It represents a story of the personal life journey and the events of which have greatly contributed to where he is today, and where he is moving towards. With a basis in the music which Axis loves most, psychedelic trance, the sounds quickly branch off into other representations and influences, combining suomi and high-psychedelic trance formulas with IDM, Glitch, Breakbeat, and Gabber structures, as well as musical theory hailing from Eastern European gypsies, to the Middle and Far East. The album title reflects Axis Mundi's personal world outlook and the mood he attempts to achieve in his music, which is one of being caught between the cold, raw mysteries of the scientific and the mathematical, and the lush, colorful, ephemeral worlds of imagination and possibility, where the seeds of dreams are formed.

This is a bit weird (not to mention difficult to review - upon posting this thread just now I discovered that Saiko Sounds have changed their system of sample URL's in the time since I started writing it). On the surface it sounds like a lot of other darkpsy, with its reliance on cascading kicks, randomly-pitched buzzing and swirly vortices of atonal noise. But what sets it apart is the longer structure of the tracks, in particular the way they continually and violently rebel against the listener's expectations. There are tempo changes galore, and standard bridges consistently resolve in non-standard ways. The end result is pretty much the complete opposite of trance, but it's certainly psy.

 

 

Tracks (click titles for Saiko Sounds sample):

 

1) Does Not Play Well with Others 7:49

 

The album opens slowly, with a long passage whose tempo staggers around like a confused drunk. Then it gets faster. Then gets faster again. And then again. And then ends abruptly. It's entertaining in its weirdness but the overall impression it leaves is of sounding rather stream-of-consciousness, as if the artist made it by somehow directly recording the output of his own brain after consuming too much caffeine.

 

2) Turn your Mind Off 7:44

 

This is a track of many parts, which have little in common with one another; pretty much the only thing holding it together is a loud, hyperactive kick drum, which continually changes tempo - sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly. It's more like a collection of short tracks than a coherent whole, but it does have some very nice noises.

 

3) The Grudge of Dwarfking Goldemar 8:00

 

Compared to the previous two tracks this one has a fairly conventional structure. That's not to say it keeps doing the same thing for any length of time, but the various changes of tempo and mood that take place feel less out of place, and more like natural progressions from the build-ups that precede them. The end result is actually kind of danceable. The only weak point is the ending - it just kind of peters out.

 

4) Twigs of the World Tree 10:30

 

There's not much to distinguish Twigs of the World Tree from earlier tracks, so I'll take this opportunity to write about something that applies to most of the album (though it's more noticeable here than it has been up until now) and that is the artist's peculiar approach to melody. The problem is not simply the lack of melody (which is, after all, the norm for the genre) but rather the use of "anti-harmony" - it often sounds as though the artist has actively sought to put together pitches that simply don't mix. The results are interesting, even psychedelic, but it does make the music difficult to engage with on an emotional level.

 

5) Translated Location Configuration 10:41

 

A truly wonderful track up next. Perhaps not coincidentally, it's also the first track whose melodic elements actually fit together without grating. Like previous tracks it has many twists and turns, and speedups and slowdowns, and repeatedly subverts existing song-structure conventions. But somehow the end result manages to make sense - as if you may not have seen what was coming, but perhaps, if you had more imagination, you could have.

 

6) One Foot in Fantasy 9:25

 

Right from the title track's opening it's apparent that we're back into weird harmony territory. Apart from that this is relatively standard modern darkpsy fare, full of swishy noises and held together by an irregular kick. That's not to say it doesn't have its fair share of surprises, though.

 

7) Psychonaut's Gambit 7:26

 

Most of my comments about the previous track apply verbatim to this one. There's not much more to add to that, except to say that I particularly like the confusingly dense passage that starts about four minutes in.

 

8) Hermes was Right 7:53

 

More jarring harmonies galore here. Apart from that, this is possibly the most frantic-sounding piece on the album (none of which could exactly be described as "relaxing"). Don't listen while stressed, it will only make matters worse.

 

9) For Dakota 8:31

 

Along with Translated Location Configuration, this track distinguishes itself from most of the album by having harmonies that actually work, and much like that earlier track it's easily one of the highlights. After opening with a hippie-friendly Bill Hicks sample, it gradually metamorphoses into something that's two parts psy, one part drum and bass, and three parts awesome. It's not as ambitious as Translated..., but it's a lot easier to enjoy without having to be in just the right mood.

 

 

 

Overall: I like this - a lot, in fact - but I can see how some (most?) people would find the album's shtick annoying. If you're looking for something to dance to or trance to then look elsewhere; likewise if you want something to fill the silence without distracting you. But if you're after something challenging that stands out from the crowd then you should check this out.

 

Favourite Tracks: 3, 5(!), 6, 9(!)