MrAnarchy Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Artist: ProxeeusTitle: Weird TalesLabel: Goa Madness RecordsRelease date: 02.11.2016Track list:1: A Lone Mi Go2: The Shoggoth In The Mirror3: Something Lurks On Yuggoth4: He Waits Dreaming5: Tekeli Ii6: What The Moon Brings7: Let's Goof8: The Mad Poet Of Sana'a9: Fhtang No MoreWho Is Proxeeus? Well, Jerome Lesterps is his name and he is a guy from France. Pretty new to the scene but he has made quite the name for himself and that is "The dude who has some serious 303 issues."In the summer of 2015, he released his debut album called "At The Mountain Of Madness" on Ektoplazm (download it for free here: http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/proxeeus-at-the-mountains-of-madness) A release that standed out and had a few of my favorite tracks like Vimanas and Chandra Knows. I, unfortunately didnt have the honor of hearing him live but I did listen to his gigs online and just by looking at him you can feel the serious vibe that he emits! I like that.Now that we've introduced ourselves, lets get back to business! The album cover has the Lovecraft motif (like the previous album as well) and I actually got introduced to Lovecraft's literature quite recently so this set the theme for me perfectly!As you people know, I'm not good with technicalities so I'll write how tracks make me feel as I'm writting this as I listen to the album for the second time. Bear with me! The story begins with A Lone Mi Go and it kicks of with quite the energy. A catchy razor sharp electric melody gets introduced with a lot of ambient noises that set the mood vey well for the rest of the album to come. Next comes The Shoggoth In The Mirror. Just like in Lovecraft's short stories, everything goes awry very quickly, and so does this album! The track has a dark and hypnotic pounding tone and is riddled with acid and the track ends with a BLAST! There is something calling to us from the depths and who are you to resist? Something Lurks On Yuggoth. The crawling chaos. . . creeping and building up as the track progresses. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A story of its own. He Waits Dreaming this track sounds so oldschool to me, which is of cource a good thing! On a few notes some sounds gave me the "NDMA - The Answer" feel, maybe Im tripping. But then again, what IS real? You have been seeing strange silhouettes and weird noises all day. The second half of the track gets pretty aggressive. Jerome definitely likes to end his tracks with a blast. With Tekeli Ii I hear how Jerome's sound matured compared to his previous album. There is a lot stuff to hear yet it's all tidy and organized. Just pay close attention at @4:55! Words are starting to fail me... What The Moon Brings... Well it brings a perfectly balanced combo of melody and acid. One of my favorite tracks! Let's Goof is pretty straight forward. A dance-floor oriented track I think. Didnt like it as much but its still great. The Mad Poet Of Sana'a has an easternish melody. He had an obsession with instruments made of glass and metal and had used them to combine them into yet weirder objects. He was known for doing strange magic involving electricity and people were as much as in awe as they were afraid of him... The album ends with Fhtang No More. A more melodic and brighter track, and a last stand against the eeriness. A hope for dawn.Jerome is a bard that sings his songs through the TB-303. His tracks are interchanging constantly. A lot of peaks and a lot of lows. A lot of thought was invested into the ambient which is then followed by a lot of entropy. A balanced chemical reaction which is then disrupted just to be returned to its calm and stable state again. Favorite tracks: 2!, 3, 4, 5!!, 6 Edit: I tried to figure out what my favorite tracks were, but I literally think that all of them are standouts except Let's Goof which isnt AS amazing as the rest.Its a wonderful album and a worthy successor! Grade 7/7 from me! You can buy it here:http://www.beatspace.com/9800/Goa+Madness+Records/PROXEEUS/Weird+Tales/detail.aspxhttps://goamadnessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/weird-tales 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antic604 Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Great review! If you could add a poll for those shy with the words but eager to leave feedback it would be perfect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAnarchy Posted November 4, 2016 Author Share Posted November 4, 2016 Edit: Poll added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtftruck Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Great review, looking forward to dive into this album! Will add feedback later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspartic Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Wow, what a big step forward from the previous album. At least that's how I experience it. Proxeeus is all 303 you can get. Acid blips, acids screams, clear kicks.... all harmoniously blended together. The album is an energy boost from start to finish. Perhaps some more pads, or atmospheric breaks could make a next album more complete, but that's me. Proxeeus has his own style and so far it's just freakingly good!! Every track on this new album gives me a boost of energy, it's so addictive. Well done Proxeeus! You have a new big fan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antic604 Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 I agree that the progress from the debut album is clear and in the right direction! Having said that, I still think the tracks are somewhat held back by pretty static and simple rhythm section (bass + drums) while some of the non-acid melodies are IMO just plain annoying: repetitive, off-tune, often to fast and chaotic; even if markedly improved over the debut (e.g. Let's Goof). I also miss some key changes in there, that'd add more "drama" to the arrangements and contribute to better storytelling. The acid lines are obviously top notch, varied and tonally diversified which is great for such acid-focused release but - surprisingly - despite this it's pretty flat in terms of carried energy, i.e. the peaks & valleys (so to speak) are not sufficiently distinguished. Still, I'm glad I bought it & am looking forward to further developments! 3/5 (or 4/7 in Mr. Anarchy's scale) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAnarchy Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 I agree that the progress from the debut album is clear and in the right direction! Having said that, I still think the tracks are somewhat held back by pretty static and simple rhythm section (bass + drums) while some of the non-acid melodies are IMO just plain annoying: repetitive, off-tune, often to fast and chaotic; even if markedly improved over the debut (e.g. Let's Goof). I also miss some key changes in there, that'd add more "drama" to the arrangements and contribute to better storytelling. The acid lines are obviously top notch, varied and tonally diversified which is great for such acid-focused release but - surprisingly - despite this it's pretty flat in terms of carried energy, i.e. the peaks & valleys (so to speak) are not sufficiently distinguished. I actually get where you're coming from (I usually dont since I dont have such good ears ). A few of those flaws I heard as well but I decided to give it the biggest grade because I enjoyed it immensely. Couldn't stop listening to it for days. Empirical bias I guess but I still think it deserves it IMO. Thank you for your review antic as always! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antic604 Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 @MrAnarchy, thanks! You know, this style (more trance-y, static progression), can obviously work - e.g. BPC's "Micromega" or Electric Universe's "One Love" are perfect examples - but in order to get there the pacing must be just right, the intensity / energy of consecutive layers needs to be gradual, the cut-off / resonance / drive on filters needs to accentuate the progression and - in case of "One Love" - the melodic underpinnings need to be very solid. I think Proxeeus goes all-out a bit too soon and is then left with nowhere else to go, which leaves the tracks slightly "flat" in terms of energy. Also, if you're not confident about a melody or chord progression - avoid them, although (admittedly) this part gets difficult when you hear certain sequence for the 50th time. Still, I hope this is taken as a constructive criticism because - as I said - the album shows a huge progress, regardless 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Eye Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Just got this yesterday so it hasn't really sunk in yet. ...but that bassline in "He Waits, Dreaming" is very much Doof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 When the first synth lead appears in the whole album mang... So good. @MrAnarchy, thanks! You know, this style (more trance-y, static progression), can obviously work - e.g. BPC's "Micromega" or Electric Universe's "One Love" are perfect examples - but in order to get there the pacing must be just right, the intensity / energy of consecutive layers needs to be gradual, the cut-off / resonance / drive on filters needs to accentuate the progression and - in case of "One Love" - the melodic underpinnings need to be very solid. I think Proxeeus goes all-out a bit too soon and is then left with nowhere else to go, which leaves the tracks slightly "flat" in terms of energy. Also, if you're not confident about a melody or chord progression - avoid them, although (admittedly) this part gets difficult when you hear certain sequence for the 50th time. Still, I hope this is taken as a constructive criticism because - as I said - the album shows a huge progress, regardless I agree, although he has many tracks that avoid this pitfall. However you never get to notice that in the live sets, honestly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trance2MoveU Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 *Whew!* Power, aggressive, melodic...this album is goa trance napalm even if the tracks sound very similar. And they do. He's not trying to weave an elaborate tale or mix genres. He's coming out swinging like a boxing octopus. And if your face just happens to be in the way then so be it. This is the hulk in full beast mode until the final two tracks when he turns back into Dr. Banner to sleep it off. One thing that I always wondered...how come he never shredded his pants into bits when he transformed? Am I to believe that everything but his junk grew? And who the f*ck wears purple pants anyway? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkraver Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Doesn't he get those stretchy pants to avoid shredding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitrinos Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 He's coming out swinging like a boxing octopus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goa pride Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 i voted 3) Lousy this is not melodic goa trance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAnarchy Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 i voted 3) Lousy this is not melodic goa trance Who said it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrAnarchy Posted June 8, 2017 Author Share Posted June 8, 2017 Just gone back to listening to this one. Damn, it deserves more attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitrinos Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Really good album, all tracks are good! I'm quite impressed, I have to say. I agree, this is even better than the debut. This has to be one of the best acid-drenched goa albums ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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