Morphic Resonance - Perplexity [Suntrip Records]

[MrAnarchy]

Artis: Morphic Resonance

Title: Perplexity

Record label: Suntrip Records

 

Tracklist:

1. Intro 3:03

2. The Creature 10:19

3. Return of the Bad Dreamer 10:02

4. Outer Limits (Limitless Mix) 10:00

5. Vektogram (Remix) 09:05

6. Twisted Reality 10:44

7. Hallucinatory Acid 07:01

8. Unreal 09:29

9. Ouija 09:57

Total runtime: 1h19mins (A pretty long album)

 

Morphic Resonance is Cristian Fernandez from Spain who is mostly known for his explosive style and face-melting 303 lines incorporated with melodies summoned straight from the depths of Hell. His first release was in 2014 “Chromatic World EP" released by Neogoa Records, but his fame started with the release of "The City Of Moons" in 2016. "The City Of Moons" was voted for the best album of 2016 and I was among those who voted for it. No small feat, I should say, considering the fact that the jury on Psynews is ruthless and nitpicky. In 2017 he released his remix compilation of Pleiadians/Etnica/Crop Circles tracks "Trip To The Stars" on DAT Records which brought mixed reviews; personally I didn't like it.

Note* I'm a big Alien fan and this album inspired my imagination in such a setting and I decided to share it. Hope you enjoy! If you don't, I'll leave a summery down bellow.

Now lets get to the business shall we!?

 

1. Intro: This short piece introduces us with the setting that Cristian has in store for us. First 30 seconds are riddled with horror movie sounds, similar to those at the opening of "Thing" from The Delta. Then comes the percussive beat that induces the feeling that something is... wrong. Danger approaches!

The Intro culminates into a distorted voice chant which altogether makes the intro very intense for what it is. It does its job of preparing the listener. I am ready! Show me what you got!

2. The Creature  :

"The perfect organism. It's structural perfection is matched only by it's hostility."

A short intro leads into a beat which is followed by background percussion and loud bangs, creating the feeling that you are in a space station that is falling apart. The first thing I noticed in this track that is different from his previous music is that Cristian has grown much more patient. He is no longer lashing out- creating chaos; now he is calm and collected in his story-telling. The maze of destruction is well thought-out. It's sophisticated and in it creeps the perfect organism! This is a decently long track and I felt that the balance between intense parts of the track and the brakes was very well balanced. Not for a moment was I feeling overwhelmed. From there it slowly builds up into a rampaging climax. I am already speechless. Great track!

3. Return of the Bad Dreamer:  This is where I started hearing hints of MFG influence in the form of evil melodies.  @4:20 () is the highlight of the track for me which features a cool spatially dynamic and intense segment. This is story-telling made perfect imo. There is great diversity in this track alone to justify the long runtime. I am impressed with how Cristian made such a heavily atmospheric track but also maintaining the fast tempo.

4. Outer Limits (Limitless Mix): A simpler track compared to previous two. First 2/3rds of the track are repetative (not in a bad way) and at the end track speeds up. Parts are separated with a few brakes which feature echoing and landscape-y droning sounds. The atmosphere is very sinister.

5. Vektogram (Remix): Here the album picks up the pace and again embraces complexity. What I love about this track is the juicy bassline. I honestly find it hard to stay still. Need to head bang and throw my hands around to keep up with the energy that is channeling, tunneling through. Also there is this small segment starting @6:20 and lasts 15 seconds that I absolutely ADORE. Easily some of the evilest stuff I've heard.

6. Twisted Reality: Ok, seriously guys. Please confirm that you too hear the MFG influence in the melodies in the beginning?! After that we're back at instantly recognizable MR's melodies this time with a bouncier bassline. @6:50 there is an interesting change in pace. MFG-estic melodies creep in again. Very enjoyable and it gives me throwbacks into oldschool goa which is always welcome. This is definitely one of the highlights of the album.

7. Hallucinatory Acid: Is more psychedelic than it is dark- relying more heavily on melodies than on horror-y effects to set the mood. Equally driving as the tracks before it. Can you keep up?

8. Unreal: This time I'm hearing Hallucinogen's The Lone Deranger influences. The part starting @ 1:40 is pure malicious bliss. A marathon of psychedelia, tenacious, non-relenting.  This track too sticks to the formula and ends with a bang.

9.Ouija: Starts with a foresty psy mood which then transits back to acidic melodies. Sonic spiriling vortexes open @5:50 with these cool buzzing sounds flying around you like bullets. Awesome effect. @7:15 we've got a building up climax that sounds like an alarm going off, then a little brake AAAAND then some more madness. Wow... what a bang to end the album with.

 

Summery: An extremely dark goa trance album by Morphic Resonance. What is immediately apparent is the fact that the tracks are much more carefully structured than those from "The City of Moons." Cristian seems more patient to tell his horror story this time around. It's a long album by today's standard but he justifies that with a lot of variety and story-telling. It is fast, aggressive, has no chill and it will pound the living crap out of you. You can hear the 90's artists influence which is revamped and then infused, incorporated into MR's iconic style. I feel that this album is a stand-out. Very memorable, unique, inspired, creative and well executed. This comparison is unnecessary, but I wanna say that IMO this album is better than "The City of Moons", which in itself was a high standard to pass over. I don't even have a nitpick. In my eyes,erm...ears, this is a perfect album and a strong contender for this years album of the year.

 

Masterpiece 7/7

You can stream the album on youtube and bandcamp, and if you enjoy it, support the artist and the label:

https://suntriprecords.com/release/cat/SUNCD49/

https://suntriprecords.bandcamp.com/album/morphic-resonance-perplexity

 

[gfp1]

thanks for the prompt review.

i'm curious what emotion this music evokes when people listen to it? it makes me feel anxious, confused and dirty like nothing else. it might be that i've only heard it in the daytime but it's not tolerable for long before i have to put on something more soothing (like the brilliant new Rival Consoles or Jon Hopkins albums )...

for me, goa psytrance is about activating the crown chakra. it's a connection to something of a higher essence, more pure and ordered than waking reality. this album is the opposite of that... it's grimey, turbulent and hellishly deranged. it's not about transcendent melodies and all about a brooding, punishing atmopshere... 

i don't like dark psytrance, and this is like dark psytrance on steroids... i will try to give this another listen in the middle of the night but i wouldn't dare expose myself to an album of this nature while in a delicate psychedelically induced state of mind.

[MrAnarchy]

8 hours ago, gfp1 said:

i'm curious what emotion this music evokes when people listen to it? it makes me feel anxious, confused and dirty like nothing else

I've always prefered dark psytrance over anything else. I like the serious mood it sets and I like the challenge. I generally don't seek peace and quiet in life so that doesn't bother me. What I feel while listening to this is intoxication with its aggressive and driving nature. On the other hand, I don't like bubbly and overly melodic goa so I guess we're completely different on that regard.

But yeah, this album descends into the deepest depths- depths rarely visited up to this point by this genre. Really, really dark stuff and I can understand why some might find it to be 'too much.' But I wouldn't use the word 'dirty'.  "The City of Moons" could be perhaps called that cause its so insane. In this one I can feel the finesse put into it. Yeah it's sounds god damn evil, but still, it feels to me like it's smarter than The City of Moons.

 

[Tsotsi]

17 hours ago, gfp1 said:

i'm curious what emotion this music evokes when people listen to it? it makes me feel anxious, confused and dirty like nothing else. 

Like MrAnarchy said the challenge of deeper styles can be a bunch of fun to dive right into. I'm not a dark psy guy though, the kicks annoy me to no end. Throw a Goa kick on though, that's another story.
I was too busy being impressed with the maturity of the music rather than the emotional feel of it. It doesn't take me off into a deep spacey floating trance but rather into the industrial depths of the world, but that's still a part of the world and my mind that I want to explore. I can't help but picture Cristian composing the album and being completely taken aback by his finesse. I feel that along with Triquetra's Ecstatic Planet we have seen two very mature pieces of work.

[Void Mantra]

Masterpiece, of course.

[Jaza]

Whilst this album is dark by goa standards, it's not super dark. The black holes that guys like Atriohm or Farebi Jalebi open are more substantial in terms of dark atmosphere. 

This is a very special album though. I had very high expectations - I guessed at the vibe this would bring after his set at Connection Fest 2017 (noting the evolution from those I saw in 2016) - and I'd say they've just about been met.

Christian has put a lot of work in to advancing his sound and it shows. Whilst the last album 'City Of The Moons' was amazing, two years on after enough repeat listens you hear that it did repeat itself a bit. But here in 'Perplexity' every track has an identity, and of the 8 full songs it's only 'Outer Limits' that feels like filler to me.

This album most excels in the darker, weirder territory it covers. Whilst 'Hallucinatory Acid' is fun, and the revisit of 'Bad Dreamer' is well worth its inclusion, I think the trio of 'Vektogram', 'Unreal', and 'Twisted Reality' (possibly the best) are my picks. Each contains a winning combination of brooding atmospheres, well-designed sounds to match, and full power sequences that will annihilate dancefloors.  While not as well-rounded, I also like 'The Creature', and hope for more experimental tracks like this in future.

Morphic is at his best combining eerie, darker atmospheres, and crunching, textured sounds delivered with force. This music is at its best when you almost (but not quite!) feel like you want it to relent. As much as I love his nods to old school goa, I really think he has the chance to make a name for himself and create truly unique experiences by further pioneering this extremely atmospheric, sometimes industrial feeling.  

Given the strides made in the past two years, it's crazy to think what sounds he'll be designing as we go in to 2020 and beyond. It is extremely rewarding to be along for the ride with one of the most exciting names not only in new goa trance, but in all of new psytrance.

Finally, I should note that both the name of the album and the cover art are extremely apt. Well played to Christian and Suntrip for that.

[Jon Cocco]

1. Intro
2. The Creature
3. Return of the Bad Dreamer
4. Outer Limits (Limitless Mix)
5. Vektogram (Remix)
6. Twisted Reality
7. Hallucinatory Acid
8. Unreal
9. Ouija

Morphic Resonance's former album, City of Moons (referred to as CoM here) was a rejuvenating landmark in post 21st century dark Goa Trance. Nitpicks aside, CoM is considered by many to be one of the best dark Goa releases in quite some time. As with Tandu's Multimoods and later Cybernetika's Scythe of Orion, Morphic Resonance is known for incorporating strong atmosphere with magnetic sound/melody [synth] work, buildups, climaxes, twists and turns, and more. A full review ensues.

1. Intro is very dark and ominous. This atmospheric, mid-tempo opening resonates a sense of danger. The dramatic tone stands out. Intro is so dark that it may give the impression that the album is darker than it is. Not that the album's not dark, it's also fun and exciting! Intro is only 3-4 minutes. It's interesting, different from what we're used to hearing, and never over-stays its welcome. This is a unique and moody little piece that curiously builds up to --

2. The Creature is more of my kind of dark Goa. It's atmospheric and thrilling. The synths are exciting and the transitions often lead to segments as good, if not better than the ones before it. Kudos on the accents, impact effects, ambience, alterations in tempo, and the overall development and direction of the song. It's very dynamic, e.g., 4:00, switching between ideas and momentum to keep us captivated. I was never bored for a second. If I were to nitpick, I'd say the synth at 5:00 reminds me of a lead in CoM's Procyon. It works well here. It simply felt less fresh to me. The last act is fantastic via 7:27 and when the energy picks up at 7:56, so catchy, exciting, and fun! Something great happens when the track could have otherwise ended at 8:35. The Creature is an adrenalized, dynamic, and darkly fun little gem. It's as if the essence of [the holiday] of Halloween via darker than we celebrate and Alien(s) [the film sequel] morphed into a Goa song, thanks to cinematic/impact effects, chilling atmosphere, and more. The synth work is so edgy, driving, and catchy. The Creature is more refined than the opening track on CoM, Psychedelic Hell. What a way to start off the album! I go back and forth between A- and A but overall what an opening.  A

3. Return of the Bad Dreamer is where the album dips for me, despite some great segments and an amazing finale. The first several minutes are strong, featuring bouncy textures reminiscent of Hux Flux's album, Cryptic Crunch. The music sounds too muddled for me though-- from 3:45 to 3:58. It's soon corrected with a healthy lead in the forth minute. Lacking are as many tempo breaks and transitions (bells and whistles basically) as The Creature had. The former track was more crisp, eventful, dynamic, and varied. It had more of a whiz-bang sound, whereas this involves less jump cuts, so to speak. Things get a over-stuffed (muddled) again in the fifth minute, and this continues on and off for some time. Fortunately the last third, e.g., seventh minute forward is superb and includes an incredible climax. The song could have started in the seventh minute and improved from there considering the middle act was pretty repetitive and lackluster. The Creature I found to be so much more enjoyable and memorable, despite some great moments here.  B

4. Outer Limets (Limetless Remix) is the last song to continue the dip unfortunately and thankfully. The first two minutes start good, psychedelic, catchy, promising (great work at 1:20)-- that is until a synth leaves at 2:25. It's here where the song grows REPETITIVE, MEANDERS, and GROWS LESS ENGAGING until 4:30 pulls us back into the imaginative, visionary, and potentially excellent world. And that sums up my issue with this song (the good and bad, filler and non-filler all thrown together). Just TRIM THE FAT. Make an 8 minute song. Who cares? We care! You should care. But I digress. Let's continue... The song improves with intrigue in the second act, again from 5:35 to 6:16. The tone from the opening minute re-appars at 6:02 and sounds great, but eventually wears out, grows redundant, e.g., sixth and seventh minute that sound so similar and repetitive. The last two minutes improve musically and engage me after losing me for several minutes. Man, I kept hoping we'd break out of old molds and evolve, but the song kept getting caught up in the mud as in various similar sounding segments. I don't feel like this song is up to MR's standards, or what we've come to expect. Then again, the artist included Mindwarp on the previous album so who knows. This could have been an amazing track, but its unambitious, repetitive, and MIXED (parts good and great, parts not so much) robs it of its potential.  B-

5. Vektogram (Remix) sounds more distinct than the previous track. Talk about a metallic, futuristic sounding track. I love the two-minute mark where the tempo changes up. That's dynamic, unpredictable, and gripping, excellent. Soon after however, I begin to notice a similar sounding arrangement-- not desirable. The 3:45 transition adds to the dynamic feel thankfully. Development in the middle act elevated the whole, e.g., 5:45 is terrific, bending, exercising our brain, mind. It's great. Nothing sounds over-stuffed or too busy. The sixth minute takes us further, higher. That said, there are a few brief, fairly repetitive segmented arrangements that could have been replaced for stronger work. IMO this is the second best track on this album since The Creature which I find even more fun personally. Overall, this is a great track-- inventive, articulately composed, and one of the best GOA songs I've heard all year (along with The Creature) so far going off in going through the album in this review.  A-

6. Twisted Reality reminds me of MFG's Project Genesis in a WONDERFUL way from the opening minute. I love that album! So I was very curious to see where the artist would take this. The accent/synth in the first minute is terrific. The door-hinging (whatever that is) is so catchy. The first act is super. A futuristic dark nighttime number growing increasingly psychedelic and complex. We transition in the third minute, however losing some of that MFG inspiration and while still great, the song feels a little less futuristic edgy a la MFG which I miss. Also, the climax in the middle (without the MFG emphasis) felt slightly lengthier or enjoyable. Same thing in the seventh minute mark. A newer synth arrives later, and again, the work via 8:35 forward is really wonderful, the stuff that gives legendary songs their reputations. That said, the final moments felt like the artist just tried doing more rather than MFG over layers and the end result felt redundant in arrangement via last thirty seconds. Some improvement would have been amazing here in that sense. Overall great track with some excellent, superb sequences (about 50-75% IMO) as if MFG's Project Genesis had a baby.  A-

7. Hallucinatory Acid is not as dark as the others and that's okay! This thing's pretty electric and catchy. I remember by this time (Track 7 on CoM) we had the disappointing track Mindwarp. Hallucinatory Acid is so much better by comparison. The atmosphere and acid in the first minute is great, and the synth lead at 1:22 is excellent! The arrangement sounds bit simplistic and samey from roughly 2:05 to 2:39 and is soon replaced by another less than stellar segment. The arriving synth work at 3:35 is better, as well as the less layered segment in the forth minute. The last act becomes increasingly psychedelic, acid-induced, and delectable. The arrangement is fairly simple, but by now we've acclimated to that. The artist blends synths in the last act to infectious degrees. I just feel like certain segments in the first two acts were a lot more effective (edgy, exciting) than others. It's okay to have a simpler track. Not every song has to be a big event, and I like that this song adds variety to the track list. It's a different shade of dark and it works. The last two songs simply sounded more distinct, inventive, and impressive to my ears. Still, Hallucinatory Acid is a very good, if not great track. B+

8. Unreal begins with more organic sounding melodies! Filteria's album, Daze of Our Lives expanded to incorporating more organic sounding melodies and the result was amazing. I'm suggesting MR evolve more to what works best for MR's evolution too. The song returns the album to being darker. The first albeit least strong act is crunchy and atmospheric, solid. The ambience creates feels via 2:42 (rare on the album so far). The female samples are catchy and a few of the transitions are quite suspenseful. The forth minute produces a beautiful blending of sound/melody work. The song gets a little busy from 4:50 to 5:05. Fortunately it improves at 5:25, and again as we cross 6:00, infectious work. I savor the more organic melody work around 6:38 before we shift back into the edgy, dark, and adrenalized (albeit simple in arrangements() zone. The finale's combination of sounds is strong, with an accent so simple and catchy. Unreal has a healthy dose of melodies. It even has a few feels to boot! The ending is sharp and engaging. One of my only gripes is the lack of developmental melody arrangements. The arrangements are so short and simply. They come and go so fast at the expense of the story, and this lessons the chance of a melody or a segment being as memorable past the coolness of it in the moment. For example, take Pleiadian's, I.F.O, earlier Infected Mushroom, and Filteria's DoOL and LitW albums (at times!). As with tracks 1, 5, 6 -- Unreal is punchier than tracks 3+4 (with exception to the ending of Bad Dreamer 2).  B+

9. Ouija is less dark and in-my-face with exception to some whizz-by effects, a bombastic little element. Just to note, I miss the album having unhinged tracks to the degree of songs 1, 2, 3 on CoM. The song is fluid and refined. It has character and personality. It's punchy, exciting, always developing AND evolving to infectious degrees! I often to you hear that about a song? I love the dark foundation, the arrangement (similar in concept to Juno Reactor but in MR's style and approach). The song's energetic and moody, in part of the synth that reprises around 7:05, complimented by an accent. The song is crunchy, determined, and full of tasty sound/melody work, developmental changes, soundscapes, and atmosphere. It's a fluid, cohesive ride that grows to be more fun on repeat listens. And yet, I can't help but feel like something is missing. The song took time to grow on me, and I wasn't quite sure initially what to score it. Maybe I don't want the ride to end? Or lofty expectations? The problem with the album is that-- IT ENDS. No. I'm glad the album doesn't end with a remix. It gives us a strong and inventive, visionary send-off that's more refined than the masterwork on CoM. This is a surprisingly focused and somewhat restrained, yet meticulously crafted, surreal and haunting, beautifully sound selected and organized, mixed, and well directed track. The last two minutes are fantastic, though the final enhanced layer to a synth lead doesn't make or break anything for me. What a send-off to a flawed but terrific album!  A

CONCLUSION

Perplexity is a strong, dark Goa album, and a solid sequel to one of the best dark Goa albums I have ever heard, and my personal dark Goa favourite of the 21st century to date-- City of Moons. This sequel is intelligent, exciting, imaginative, and exceptionally well produced, mixed and mastered. IMO the album feels in some ways like a refined, updated continuation of City of Moons, and that's not a bad thing when it comes to wildly dynamic songs like The Creature because I loved that more ambitious roller coaster storytelling on City of Moons. Moreover, the more upgraded or newer sounding songs is apparent with Vektogram (Remix), Twisted Reality, Unreal. When these songs work well (the majority of the time assuming you dig this style), it sounds great, excellent, superb. This brings me too--

Criticisms and Feedback:

Perplexity [in some ways] feels like  I found Tracks 3 and 4 repetitive despite great moments here and there. Perplexity breaks ground, but it's less of a revolution than City Of Moons was IMO. The album is great, but no song topped In the Mouth of Madness and self-titled City Of Moons track did on the previous album. SPEAKING OF EVOLUTION, the second half of MR's track, The Sphere on the compilation-- V/A - The World Behind was super, unique, and captivating. I'd love to hear more evolution. A few more "feels" would have been nice too, as the synths grow a little repetitive at times (for me). Cybernetika's, Scythe of Orion and Penta's Pentafiles are just two examples that incorporated feels, catchy memorable tunes well while remaining wildly dark and fun. Track 3 and 4 dragged the album out for me despite showcasing some terrific work. It's never fun to slog through 1-2 fairly repetitive thirds to then hear a terrific finale.  I never had that issue with the previous album outside of Mindwarp (the uneventful song that isn't terrible yet everyone criticisms for not being up to standard). More development (like telling a story) in musical / melody / ambient arrangement would be nice. Various segments begin to show their age just before being replaced with a fresh one, so to speak. There are times when simple arrangements work for fast paced, kinetic energy. But you have to know when to transition or like we say in film-- CUT. Otherwise you overstay your welcome. The sequences between the great moments deserve to be more engaging, even if they're less maximal. I feel like the artist is trying so hard at times to make everything so powerful and strong that it gets exhausting and/or too repetitive. Take risks. Be spontaneous. Walk away and come back at times to take breaks and refresh. Have fun! There's plenty of fun here. And some of the criticisms from the previous album (track 5 for instance going from great to meandering repetitive synths before shifting to WOW movement again) are still an issue here.

Final Words:

Perplexity is a darkly psychedelic, rich, and satisfying follow up to CoM, but it's not perfect. Some segments grew to be repetitive, muddled, or bland, while certain songs failed to captivate throughout. When it works though, this is a sleek, edgy sequel to one of the best dark Goa albums in decades. Perplexity showcases some of the artist's best songs to date and should hold fans over for some time. The album retains the visionary, adrenalized approach that worked so well on CoM. I expected more of an evolution at times, and wish that he had replaced the weaker songs with healthier ones. All in all, Perplexity is highly recommended for fans of dark Goa Trance.

Favorite tracks:  2, 5, 6, 8, 9 ... (and the last acts of 3 & 7)

B+ / A-

Sample  / Buy

https://www.suntriprecords.com/release/cat/SUNCD49/

[Ormion]

This guy is untouchable. The king of modern Goa trance.

[GhostOnAcid]

Back in the days in 2006 "Heliopolis" by Filteria was here labelled as the most agressive album of Goatrance. Would you say "Perplexity" is even harder and more agressive than "Heliopolis"?

[Lightforce]

16 hours ago, GhostOnAcid said:

Back in the days in 2006 "Heliopolis" by Filteria was here labelled as the most agressive album of Goatrance. Would you say "Perplexity" is even harder and more agressive than "Heliopolis"?

I would say it's less "In your face" than Filteria but I don't think it's more or less agressive. But in the same time it's more subtle as could be E-mantra with Arcana.

[Redo]

.

[Trance2MoveU]

This is the Syb Unity Nettwerk album we always wanted and never got.  So many layers immersed in dark themes.  It's aggressive and patient all at the same time.  This is literally a soundtrack unfolding before your ears.  Such power.  Return of the Bad Dreamer is punishing.

Masterpiece.

[MrAnarchy]

Came back to this release earlier today... The amount of intensity this thing holds is staggering!

[Jon Cocco]

Ouija is fantastic! I shared it with my girlfriend for the first time tonight and her first reaction: 

"Holy Shit! I'd give that an A"

That said, I enjoyed City of Moons over Perplexity (as a whole) with exception to MIndwarp on City of Moons that did not need to exist despite not being terrible; it was the weakest link, so (at the time) why not replace it with something truly great was my thought, but I digress. 

I love The Creature and Ouija, and a handful of songs in-between (Twisted Reality, Vektogram, Unreal) are inventive, catchy, exciting, and fun. Hallucinatory Acid  to an extent too. 

That said, the repetitive and/or less than stellar example that takes me out of the whole (at times) can be summed up with this otherwise incredible track TWISTED REALITY...

Twisted Reality (example) -- I LOVE the opening minute-- so perfect with that industrial synth-accent. The first act reminds of me of a superb song we never got on MFG's Project Genesis and builds beautifully across the second minute.... an A so far from me. The transitioning third minute is great too, though it lost something that made the first two minutes so addictive. The forth and fifth minute are stellar thanks to a powerful synth lead and supporting sounds. That said, this loses a little MFG Project Genesis feel at times for lack of better words-- I miss something in the otherwise great second act. Naturally, the transitional mixing in the sixth and seventh minute are DARK MAGIC. I love it. I say bring back the MFG sound rather than trying to layer on so much at times around those KILLER APP > AAA status and moments. The song's arrangement grows repetitive from 7:30 to 8:00. Trim this thing down. Tighten it up. Suddenly 8:30 to near close shifts the music to SPECTACULAR again. And that's my point. I was losing interest in those spots further back. The song around it is just too good otherwise. Then at 9:52 I feel like the artist is just adding another layer to increase the power while exhausting the same arrangement, which again, makes the song feel less stellar a la MFG in its final seconds. for me. But by then it's over. As we say in film, know when to CUT. This is why I did not give Twisted Reality a solid A

Despite impressive moments and a really badass climax/finale here or there, I was not impressed with Return of the Bad Dreamer and Outer Limits (Limitless Mix). To me those could have been produced BEFORE City of Moons. The first and last track are so punchy, edgy, and DYNAMIC. I'm not bored for a second. I want to see more work on that level, similar to Tracks 1 2 3 4, 8 on the previous album, and the best MR album to date IMO. 

This artist is wildly talented and creating some of the best dark Goa I've heard via 21st century. The only person that has to get out of his way is himself. It's time to expand more-- more feels, better storytelling, memorable tunes to compliment the more wildly creative, atmospheric, technical wizardry and sound design, mixing. Please no more moments of going-through-motions as I tried to articulate in my review. The artist is too good for that. The majority of his work is great! This is one of the best Goa artists in decades and despite my criticism(s), both City of Moons and Perplexity are high achievements. Well done.

Also, this artist seems to at least read and reflect (to some degree) on people's feedback. We're not perfect. We're all biased to some degree, generally speaking I realize. Still I want to say thank you for reading our reviews and feedback. It's impossible to please everyone (in this paradigm of consciousness I realize that is gradually shifting into a more expansive/higher paradigm despite the amount of duality surfacing relative to the individual and collective process). That said, this is one of my top favourite Goa artists since Filteria and Khetzal.

[Aspartic]

Goddamn, I'm finally listening to this in full.
Simply astonishing. Dark, aggressive, and yet so immersive.
I was afraid I would find it too dark, but I'm in the mood now and liking it a lot.

Vektogram and Twisted Reality are fantastic.

The amount of layers he uses is immense. A lot of work has had to be put into this album. Respect!

[BASS-O-MATIC]

Once in a while there are parts that I like,but summed up this relelease is repetitive,depressing and nervebreaking.

Definitely not my cup of tea.

[Penzoline]

Twisted Reality is incredible. The MFG references in the first post are spot-on. The Creature is also VERY Project Genesis. There's a couple meh-eggs here but honestly it's a great album although shadowed by the first one.