VA - The Underground Never Dies

[Bill]

 

VA - The Underground Never Dies

Forest Spirit Records

 

Tracklist:

 

01 - Shiibashunsuke - Both
02 - Fafazz - Liquid Consciousness
03 - Metaphyz & Shiibashunsuke - Abstract Frequencies
04 - Shadow Noises - Gone Forever
05 - Hagenith vs Zaiklophobia - Neurogenic Shock
06 - Froog & Polybius - Plastik Elephant
07 - DigitalX - Trapped
08 - Spagettibrain - If There Is There Is
09 - Meerkut - Ride The Snail
10 - Madianbrainns & Windowpain - Experimental Illusions
11 - Hanuman - Mother Ship On The Moon
12 - Zaiklophobia - Extreme Voyage

I picked up this year's "Forest Thunder" compilation and then dropped it pretty quickly.

Dark psy can be menacing, emotionally intense music and if horror movie samples about torture and revenge drip from the ink-black music it becomes a little too much, like it is a subliminal message to do harm to the neighborhood animals. No, thanks, but if the music is black and intense and wrought with the dark forces of life I would rather my imagination fill in the blanks and what my mind will conjure will be a lot more pleasant than samples about malice.

"The Underground Never Dies" does not preach anything of the sort, quite thankfully, it is a 12-track dark music odyssey that explores experimentation, intense dance-floor catharsis and the monsters that live in the shadows of life itself. Of course, that last part comes from my own imagination and that's the point, no where in any of these good-to-great tracks do any samples dictate action or direction of thought on the listener. You are completely free to go wherever the music takes you.

A couple of feedback replies on Ektoplazm are pretty strong in their support for Shiibashunsuke's "Both" which opens up the collection. I can see their point - distorted but beautiful piano melodies and some ethereal chanting truly reach levels of dark profundity but the 10-minute track is also laden with heaps of emotionally riveting experimentation and I found that as the track progresses it gets overwhelmingly messier. A mind-fuck, to be sure, but a messy one.

Fafazz' "Liquid Consciousness" is a breath-stealer, deliriously intense with earth-rumbling bass lines, delightfully growling effects and a hard-to-resist funk to its sound that holds appeal even for a casual listener. If one needed a good introduction to dark psy one need not look farther than this track, abound with enticing mental games, smart-sounding quantum physics samples, all wrapped up in an easy-to-understand full-on-type package.

Zaiklophobia's "Extreme Voyage" is a mind-erasing highlight, wrought with blissfully overwhelming twilight vibes, an exhausting experience even if sitting still while listening because the energy just keeps coming and coming and coming. The type of peak-hour catharsis that is so well delivered and controlled throughout that it makes the waves upon waves of energy more encouraging for movement. Grab a towel for this one, it is a beast, it is a blast, it is pure awesome power and you may not be able to stop yourself from dancing around in crazed recklessness.

Zaiklophobia makes a second appearance, teaming with Hagenith, on the pure forest vibes of "Neurogenic Shock," a perky and persistent winner, the wolves howl and the pace rollicks on DigitalX's "Trapped," a track abound with mystery and adventure, Spaghettibrain's "If There Is There Is" is alternately amusing and intense ("Oh, we'll get you off that smack, oh yes we will!") and Meerkut's "Ride The Snail" is an explosion of dark dance floor wizardry, nothing at all sluggish or slow-moving as suggested by its title.

This one is a wicked good collection for dark music lovers - imaginative, intense and fantastically rhythmic. As an added bonus, I don't feel like committing crimes against the neighbor's dog when it is all over.

Available for free play or download at: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/the-underground-never-dies