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Portamento - The Portal


Penzoline

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One more thing - I think that at least 1/3 of the appeal of this album comes from wonderful mastering of Colin OOOD, who managed to make it punchy, very clear and highlighted all the tweaking perfectly.

 

Completely and utterly agreed. Colin's work is way under-appreciated.

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Im totally digging "Controlled experiment" .. hit me in the gym yesterday while doing some back exercise and had to stop to appreciate what i was listening to .. damn that melody / fx just gets inside my brain ... what a trippy track.. cant wait to hear this outdoors. :D

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Im totally digging "Controlled experiment" .. hit me in the gym yesterday while doing some back exercise and had to stop to appreciate what i was listening to .. damn that melody / fx just gets inside my brain ... what a trippy track.. cant wait to hear this outdoors. :D

 

 

hahahah! cool comment; totally in love :D

 

 

than: check our latest edition "m-run - some run just for fun" (https://shop.cronomi.com/) shall make your gym exercises even more ...energetic :P

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  • 4 weeks later...

Funny I used the search and I didn't find a review,

But there are (what is a good thing off course)

 

Still I took the effort of writing a short one myself,

cause I had the idea this release certainty deserved one,

so why not post it...

 

 

Portamento ‎– The Portal

 

 

Posted Image

 

 

http://www.discogs.c...release/3089702

 

White Dwarf

48 Hours

The Portal

Monkshroom

Injected Spawn

Biosphere

Vitamin E

A Grain Of Sand

Controlled Experiment

 

short review:

 

This album drawled my attention when users mentioned it in the top 5 neo goa artist topic.

So I couldn't resist to check it. Off course I had a quick peak. I've listened to it 3 times with the results that this will be a short review.

I didn't had the time to follow trance in 2011 (for the first time) so this release slipt through my hands...

 

Portamento has talent. The beginning of the album reminded me a bit of cosmosis older works because he seems to be a fan off the 303 pattern.

Any melody he uses is structured that way and can go from controlled chaos to some melodic madness.

To be melodic it isn't that morning at all compared to the goa talent we are passing through the latest years.

I think that's a huge value if you want something different

If he uses more then 3 different main sounds it'll be much so sometimes you have sustain put then again what he does with his sounds is good.

Fast crunchy sounds shifting at a high speed. No long stretched waves but an Constance off overture.

The baseline has it's strength as we know it these days but the undertone (the line?), the drive is tuffer and provides a more stubborn atmosphere.

Portamento chooses the typical oldschool pattern to categorize his tracks.

Each track he goes a bit more insane, faster and chaotic but all combined in a harmonic and controlled concept.

This is good goatrance and something different from the blissful straight to the stars morning goatrance like I mentioned before.

NO ambient track what is imo good...

 

Good job, a second album will probably do it!

 

And well done Cronomi Records...

 

I'm curious...

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:

 

This album drawled my attention when users mentioned it in the top 5 neo goa artist topic.

 

 

 

And well done Cronomi Records...

 

I'm curious...

 

 

First off all thanks for the kind words!!! :)

But do not forget, that many of our artists aren't (what they say - never got the name actually) "NEO goa".

Like Artha, Portamento, M-Run,...make since end 90's music and goatrance or psychedelic techno.

Tracks on the CD's are sometimes really old(skool) stuff.

What might be new is they bought new gear or software or the mastering approach is diffrent from "those days".

 

Any how: feel free to check M-Runs album :) our latest gem :)

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Aloha Ward, no problem,

 

I know, I don't use the term neo goa either but since many people are using it,

peer pressure got me somehow while reviewing I guess...

 

I've noticed you've got something new released, my ears are open :)

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  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Recently after 2 years of exploring other genres I came back to psytrance and this album immediately put my body in the 'attention' position. Easily one of the best albums from the last few years. Nothing cheesy, just great ideas, production and pure energy.

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  • 11 months later...

Artist: PortaMento

Release: The Portal

Year: 2011

Label: Cronomi Records

Cat-#: cronomi005cd

Rating: 4/5

 

Tracklisting:

1) White Dwarf

2) 48 Hours

3) The Portal

4) Monkshroom

5) Injected Spawn

6) Biosphere

7) Vitamin E

8) A Grain Of Sand

9) Controlled Experiment

 

Now here is one really nifty CD indeed. It keeps up a good standard throughout and as mentioned before the bass and the kick is rumbling rolling and does not let up. Very nice to have this level of energy in a CD while the producer still is able to keep it restrained enough to not let it spiral out of control. I'm a sucker for the X-Dream late 90s sound and this certainly captures that sinister dark psychedelic atmosphere.

 

Overall very nicely structured, the music comes together to create an intense dark psychedelic journey. Playing it safe again though a bit, keeping to one path... this CD does not contain any surprises at all. But at least I'm feeling that there is some sense of joy in these productions.

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  • 1 year later...

I can't recall when it happened last time (it's been years), but I like every single track on this album! At first I was caught off guard, but after many many listens it's safe to conclude that this is the best album I've heard in the past 5 years :)

 

The style is very unique. It calls back to the days of old X-Dream and Logic Bomb, but with a more acidic 303 Goa journey and more focus on layered melodies. Some people might dislike the fact that there are no big climaxes and epic melodies... but the melodies are differently there and always present, they're just not in your face screaming for attention. Even though it doesn't follow this standard trance formula, there is a distinct pattern: basically every track is split up into two parts of progressively increasing complexity, with a small pause to catch your breath in the middle. I don't find this to be a negative quality, the artist has found a pattern that helps him communicate his ideas and it's working very well!

 

At this point I don't have to think too hard before reaching for a Cronomi release. They are making exactly the sort of music that suits my tastes, and I'm looking forward to hearing more :D

  • Like 1
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Yeah it's a shame Cronomi releases so rarely.

 

I think it goes hand in hand with maintaining certain profile and/or quality. There are labels who release (a lot) more frequently but there's a downside...

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  • 10 months later...

 

 

Well, than you are gonna love our release end 2016 ;)

Expect a suprise after the Artha CD :)

:o Double Trouble!

 

As if Artha wasn't enough :wub:

Get the Artha CD out soon, like soooon soon. Tomorrow would be awesome ^_^

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Well, than you are gonna love our release end 2016 ;)

Expect a suprise after the Artha CD :)

Im totally fangirling. I want more releases from you guys like right now! :D

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