DeathPosture Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 (edited) Overlap – 6th Sense Format: CD Artist: Overlap Title: 6th Sense Label: Zillion Mental Anarchie, Greece Cat. #: ZMACD017 Year: 2004 Track listing: 01. 07’36” 6th Sense 02. 07’26” No Way Out 03. 07’26” Deep Diving 04. 07’42” Ghost Story 05. 07’23” Bump in the Night 06. 07’37” Naked People 07. 07’25” Children of the Universe 08. 07’33” Transformation 09. 07’07” Doors 10. 08’23” Deja Vú Review: From Russia with love… Brilliant tag-line ZMA! ;o) I know I’m late on this one – it was released six months ago, but I think it deserves a review… Overlap is a project by Russians Vechaslav Bogachev and Misha Puchkov of Neoris and Neogen fame respectively. They hooked up in 2002 and this is their debut-album… With mastering by Volker Konig (aka Ololuiqui) and with the release on ZMA, the basis for some dark n gritty, Russian vodka-trance should be spelled out quite clearly… Let’s find out what the boys have come up with… Let me take you thru the tracks… #01: First up is the title-track 6th Sense… A long, eerie intro sets the mood… Horror atmosphere and some spooky FX… And then; the thick, groovy bass-line… After a little fiddling around with metallic beats and electronic farts its go-time… The track is now in full, phat effect… This is such a hectic, multi-layered tune… So deep – perfect for a progressive night-time set! Nice! #02: Another intro full of character… They boys are playing around with twisted effects… Did you notice the sample of a Gregorian choir that was there for just a sec?... We quickly launch into the groove – a rich, succulent bassline accompanied by some very trippy, evil melodies… Again, there are more layers than I can count… This is dark, progressive night-trance at its best… I’m loving it! #03: Let’s dive deeper… This intro is also – surprise, surprise – spooky… Very trippy feel it has – you could cut the tension with a knife… ;o) This is another darker progressive tune, yet slightly groovier than its predecessors… There are a couple of minutes in the middle of the track that gets just a little to tedious for my taste, but it gets much better towards the end… Somehow they manage to incorporate light, fluffy melodies into a dark, gritty track… Skilled guys! ;o) #04: Yikes, a ghost story… Yet another scary intro… The bpm is increased and then it goes brutally full-on - with a dark edge… But let me stress, that this in no way, can be compared to “neo full-on”… As my fellow reviewer Basilisk pointed out, “[Overlap tracks] usually don't have blaring distinct melodies - instead, we return to the old Goan concept of LAYERS […] to bring a fullness and richness to the sound. So what you have are full-on tracks that are very upbeat and full of action without being mindless or corny or obnoxious.” … Well said Bas… This is the way full-on should sound… Excellent! #05: Things that go bump in the night… This is another border-line progressive/full-on track… Check out the excellent use of percussion… There’s a whole bunch of stuff going on at the same time – for the untrained ear it might even sound a bit too hectic, but with an open mind, a proper PA or in headphones, you get a thrilling experience… Sweet! #06: Time to get naked… This is the fastest track here (145 bpm) and this is one mean-ass bombshell! Full-on in nature – but with strong tech-influences… Feather-like happy melodies interweaved into blasting, deep basslines… Check the distinctive “delay-reverb-effects” used intelligently especially in the first half of the track… Smashing track! #07: Let’s take it down a notch… Just a little though… This track is more on the progressive side – yet there are still many psychedelic effects most commonly found in full-on tracks… Twisted, tribal, percussion and brilliantly fitting kiddy voice-samples… The bassline is mean and infectious and the acid is running strong! Another brilliant track! #08: Woow, what the hell is that sound? A pitched-down chainsaw…? Whatever it is, it’s effective... It’ll haunt you – buzzing in your head! Again, loads and loads of layers with all kinds of effects imaginable… Dark, haunting, trippy bits and pieces… A short break for breathing – a twisted voice sample – and some brilliant melodies thrown in again and again – making up one hell of a sweet track! #09: Let’s go back to the more progressive side… This is somewhat deeper and funkier, yet maintaining the familiar Overlap style that is present throughout the album… There are all kinds of elements from different styles in this track… It’s a big old mosaic of dub, tribal, electro, tech, minimal, progressive and full-on… I can’t really put a label on it, it’s just good… #10: Time for the last, slightly more chilled track Deja Vú… Well, it’s not chilled like that – it’s just a tad slower… Check out the rain-effect – lovely! Also the organ sounds are wicked… Very, very slick production here – the sounds are crystal clear… I also like the percussion work here… And again, well-fitting voice samples… Nice way to end the album! Right, so this was released way back in December 2003 – but I missed out on it the first time around… And that was a serious error on my behalf, ‘cause this is no less than brilliant! The bpm range from 138 to 145 and we are treated to a very smooth production… The overall feeling I get when listening to this, is amazement – I can’t even begin to think how much time and work went into creating this… There are soo0oOoo0o many layers, the flow is flawless and the sounds are so well-polished… Style-wise, they excel in pioneering the merger between various sub-genres of psychedelic trance… The cover-art is simple, but very fitting for the style on the album… I’m sure this will appeal to both tech-trance, prog and full-on fans with an open mind… I strongly suggest you to check out this unique album, if you haven’t already! 9/10 Favourites: 2(!), 4, 6(!), 7(!), 8(!), 9 DeathPosture External links: Overlap: www.overlap-project.com ZMA Records: www.zmarecords.com Psyshop: www.psyshop.com (Audio samples available!) Saiko Sounds: www.saikosounds.com Chaos Unlimited: www.chaosunlimited.co.uk Trance-shop: www.trance-shop.com Edited December 29, 2005 by DeathPosture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest antic Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 gotta agree with you 100%! it's one of the best CDs released this year (tracks are copyrighted from 2003-2004, so it had to be released this year, not like you said in dec 2003) and definitely best debut album! it's really clever, though initialy it sounds very samey - all tracks use similar sounds and are constructed with use of like-sounding effects, though after few listens you start to recognize little differencies. the tracks vary mainly in atmosphere: first 3 are more minimal & technoish, next 5 are on a borderline between pogressive & full-on, and the last 2 seem to be funkier and jazzier. melodies are very powerful and well thought-out, with the only exception for (luckily short) melody in "transformation". the biggest role in their music have those layers that deathpsture was talking about - they just come one after another, fitting together perfectly, morphing in & out of the mix. lots of work has gone into other effects too, especially impresive are the delays and reverbs. what is really important, it sounds different than any other CD I heard - you just won't hear here any of the overused israeli full-on samples, which is a very good thing in my book. there is a minor glitch though - the CD is very loud (when compared with others), which means it has been hevily compressed. this can definitely be heard, because there is almost no quiet sounds here. this causes few clippings here and there, leading to unpleasant distortions, but you can only hear it on a good headphones, so - as I said it - this is a very minor thing and others may not see it as a flaw anyway - buy this CD if you haven't got it already, because it's worth every euro/dollar/what-ever-you-have spent! 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 Antic - my man... ;o) I knew that you digged this too from your words on the Isratrance board... This is indeed a special album... Funny you should mention the thing about the unpleasant distortions when listening to the album in head-phones... When I wrote my review, I listened to the album about 5-6 times over the course of 2 days - with the volume turned to the max on my baddass Philips SBC HP910 headphones... And I did experience something that happens rarely to me - that my eardrums really hurt... I had to turn down the volume several times to "cope"... The sound-pressure is soo intense... But that does not make this worse - you get more than you pay for... Hehe... Check it out guys and girls! DeathPosture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Misha(Overlap) Posted May 29, 2004 Share Posted May 29, 2004 Wow! Thanx for great review on our album!!! Realy liked it:) Our live act is ready,so we realy looking for some bookingz! soon more releases on Starosound,Harmonia,Maniac IQ,ZMA and so on. One more time thanx for review it's great! Best regards from Russia:))) Misha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Quazzi Posted May 31, 2004 Share Posted May 31, 2004 Very good album indeed! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ear Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 "And I did experience something that happens rarely to me - that my eardrums really hurt... I had to turn down the volume several times to "cope"... The sound-pressure is soo intense... But that does not make this worse - you get more than you pay for... Hehe..." Let me guess you got this CD for free didn't you? Since when is noise, distortion and sound range clipping a good thing? Your reviews are biased my friend and it doesn't take a sound engineering genious to see that. Sometimes artists "distort" their sound on purpose (ex. Industrial, Schalb etc.), but range clipping for sake of making it louder is simply amateurish. My 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 Let me guess you got this CD for free didn't you? Since when is noise, distortion and sound range clipping a good thing? Your reviews are biased my friend and it doesn't take a sound engineering genious to see that. Sometimes artists "distort" their sound on purpose (ex. Industrial, Schalb etc.), but range clipping for sake of making it louder is simply amateurish. My 2 cents. Hello Ear - and thank you for you input! I'm always looking for opinions and feedback to improve my reviews.... First and foremost, my knowledge of the technical aspects of range-clipping, intentional distortion and sound compression is very limited... In that field, I'm Joe Average... I wouldn't be able to review stuff from a technical stand-point, 'cause I have no idea which is which... What I do, is write honest, non-biased reviews... I take great pride i that, and I can guarantee you that sending me a free CD does not entail a 10/10 review - ppl would soon get bored with that... I do my best to point out any errors that a release might have - check any of my reviews for examples! The reason this sound-compression-thing was not really spelled out in the intial review was simply because of the fact that I did not know what it was until Antic pointed it out... After he did, I wrote my experience in my reply - if I was really biased, would I have done this? Anyway Ear, I hope you know what I mean... I'm just a regular guy, who gets his kicks out of reviewing the odd CD every once in a while... Alot of people seem to enjoy them though, and that's what keeps me going... Hope that clears things up - if not, you are more than welcome to get back to me... My e-mail is found if you click my name... Gracias! Have a nice day! DeathPosture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ear Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 "First and foremost, my knowledge of the technical aspects of range-clipping, intentional distortion and sound compression is very limited... In that field, I'm Joe Average... I wouldn't be able to review stuff from a technical stand-point, 'cause I have no idea which is which..." Well I'm no expert either but I sure don't see how having a headache or ear pain due to production flaws is good. You noticed this yourself and then you quickly point it out as a good thing. How can physical pain be good? To me you sound like you try to cover up for obvious flaw and want to get as many people to buy the CD's you review. You sound like you work for those labels. "What I do, is write honest, non-biased reviews... I take great pride i that" Is this a review (your words): Finally it’s out… The album we’ve all been waiting for. The release of the “On Air Remixes” EP last month gave us a mouth-watering foretaste of what was coming… A full album from the talented wizards behind Sweden’s biggest trance-export: Marcus Henriksson & Sebastian Muellart a.k.a. Son Kite. They’ve moved into release-concept territory with their ambitious “Colours” project, consisting of one album, two singles and a live-DVD... Very impressive! So, let’s see what the hype was all about… I stopped reading after this paragraph, because, let's face it it's all HYPE and even you admitted it. This sounds like some commercial DJ magazine article that's really an advertisment, not a review. "The reason this sound-compression-thing was not really spelled out in the intial review was simply because of the fact that I did not know what it was until Antic pointed it out... After he did, I wrote my experience in my reply - if I was really biased, would I have done this?" Actually, I didn't think much of your initial review but after Antic pointed out this obvious flaw you proceeded with "But that does not make this worse - you get more than you pay for... Hehe..." That is an obvious cover-up advertisment and hype. Anyways I'll be constructive and give you my opinion how to improve your articles. I suggest you take your taste out of reviews and minimise "I" statements and words like "good" or "great". Instead focus on the real substance and DESCRIBE what the CD sounds like, maybe compare it to something else with statements like "fans of band X will appreciate track Y on comp Z". Give people idea what to expect witout hype and advertisment. Either that or when you like something praise hype and advertise it, but when you don't trash it with equal enthusiasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kiph T. Elephant Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 "I suggest you take your taste out of reviews" What the hell kind of a review would that be? Reviews are always subjective. They should be subjective. Objective (truly objective) review wouldn't be worth much anything. Just a boring list of facts without any value statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ear Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 You're right Kiph. I stand corrected. I didn't really mean "taste" but "hype" or "advertisment". Read the rest of that paragraph and you'll understand me better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kiph T. Elephant Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Well, ok. I agree that the word "great" should be used sparingly (but not banned completely, just saved for those selected few). "good"... nothing wrong with good. The "I" statements are related to the subjectivity thing and I don't think they should be avoided. For example you quoted the beginning of the review which you thought was bad: "Finally it’s out… The album we’ve all been waiting for. The release of the “On Air Remixes” EP last month gave us a mouth-watering foretaste of what was coming…" I think what qualifies this as hype/advertizement is not "I" statement, but rather the lack of it. "The album we’ve all been waiting for" this implies there is some sort of a consensus among people. This is sort of similar to the kind of lines are used in adds "the most awaited album of the year" etc. If the reviewer would have said "the album I've been waiting for" I think it would have been more acceptable - personal excitement about the album instead of general consensus that this cd is indeed THE album. Of course often reviewers have a tendency to try to convince the reader to get the album. Maybe not because they feel loyalty to the label, but because they themselves are so excited about it. I think pretty much everyone has at some time said to a friend something like "dude, you've got to listen to this album. This is awesome!" Maybe exaggerated its merits in order to get the friend to listen to it (because we think when he DOES listen to it he will like it as much as we do... which might not be the case). Therefore it is indeed important to be careful with this kind of excitement. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't say it's "great" or "good", but in addition you should also explain WHY it's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ear Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 I somewhat agree with some things you say but there's one I can't. I definitelly wouldn't compare what my friends tell me to these reviews. I don't know about you but my friends will very often wrarn me to definitely avoid certain releases because they are for what ever reason bad (ok maybe "bad" is not the right word but you get my point). I have yet to see DP give anyone anything below average at worst and most of releases are "reccomended". (there are so many people that will agree with me that) our scene is flooded with all kinds of copy cats and boring formulaic stuff. You can hear people complain every day how dissapointed they get when their new CD order arrives. I mean not everything is *that* good. Anyways, I know DP is a good guy. I definitely don't feel like trashing him personally. This is just something I feel someone had to say and it is for benefit of everyone (labels, reviewers and readers/consumers) especially in a long run. Finally I'll give you a good example od (someone else's) review that's enjoyable to read and gives a good picture without promotion and advertising: ''For All Mankind' is pretty much what you'd expect from one half of MFG... the trademark bass, very well structured (but standard) drumwork, and talented but not astounding work with the melodies. This CD is essentially MFG Lite, same great taste but half the fat. For this reason I won't do a track-by-track analysis, as many of these songs share similar features and differ only in structure and overall impression. 'Sundance' is one of the nice songs to be found here, with lots of chewy synth burps churning across a cosmic landscape backed by some pulsating percussion. Leading the whole arrangement are the touching melodies, and the fine buildups are simply the icing on the cake. 'Tempo' is a bit of a darker song for this album, and one of the only ones where intricate drum work takes precedence for certain parts... it makes for a very driving and groovy trance story. 'Reflection' is also in the cosmic vein, with sparkling high-end melodies and a near-constant rush of notes in the mid-range. Years ago they may have dubbed this 'progressive' trance, for that is what it does - pushing the melodic and structural elements forward with small changes, subtly building sound texture and emotional impact... when this song gets going it really soars, but you would never know it if you skipped through the song. 'Uplifting' is just as the title suggests, with very nice cohesion between the bassline changes and melodic shifts. So to sum it up, this is one for the MFG lovers. Past singles by Passenger tend to excite me more (The Race, Electric Opera, etc) but this is a fine assortment of tunes suitable for any trance fanatic. May grow tiresome when listening to the full dose, however... but conversely, that makes this good for a long drive, or for background listening. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kiph T. Elephant Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 "I definitelly wouldn't compare what my friends tell me to these reviews. " I was talking about when you are excited about a cd (in which case you would hype it). I wasnt' talking about reviewing bad cds. I doubt deathposture would hype a cd that he didn't like (he might go a bit too soft on it for your taste, but he wouldn't hype it). That's a pretty good example you posted BTW. I myself like short and to the point reviews, which review the overall impression with a few clarifying details. I'm not much of a fan of these track by track reviews. Nowadays it seems they are the only kind you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Hey guys... I wanted write a reply earlier, but the site went down... Anyway, let me try to comment on some of the stuff you've said: To me you sound like you try to cover up for obvious flaw and want to get as many people to buy the CD's you review. You sound like you work for those labels. Look - as I've pointed out before I had NO IDEA what was going on when I was listening to the Overlap CD - All I know is that I experienced a higher pressure on my eardrums when the volume was turned to the max than I normally do... But so what? I just turned the volume down a notch, and everything was fine... Later Antic told me WHY I had that experience... I don't see what the problem is - the CD plays fine! And I can assure you that I don't work for any label, record-shop, whatever... I answer to no-one... I'm just your average poor student, who loves psychedelic trance... I've been reviewing CDs for 4 years now - and steadily people started contacting me, telling me they liked my reviews... It has slowly snowballed from there and now I get quite a few CDs in the mail each week for review... But again, I must stress that sending me CDs does NOT entail a good review... I DO HOWEVER mostly review stuff I like... If someone sends me something I do not like, I often choose not to review it - simply because I have a hard time writing about stuff I do not like... You might say that this is "biased" - well, I'm a busy student... I don't get paid for writing reviews, so this is kinda my screening process... If I was unemployed I'd review everything I got... But time is a factor for me, so I review the stuff I want to express joy with... I stopped reading after this paragraph, because, let's face it it's all HYPE and even you admitted it. This sounds like some commercial DJ magazine article that's really an advertisment, not a review. Did you visit ANY forum/board/etc in the months before Son Kite launched "Colours"? There was an ENORMOUS hype leading up the release... I started my review talking about that hype... I don't see the problem in that... Actually, I didn't think much of your initial review but after Antic pointed out this obvious flaw you proceeded with "But that does not make this worse - you get more than you pay for... Hehe..." That is an obvious cover-up advertisment and hype. I was merely trying to be funny... And failing miserably at it... ;o( Anyways I'll be constructive and give you my opinion how to improve your articles. I suggest you take your taste out of reviews and minimise "I" statements and words like "good" or "great". Instead focus on the real substance and DESCRIBE what the CD sounds like, maybe compare it to something else with statements like "fans of band X will appreciate track Y on comp Z". Give people idea what to expect witout hype and advertisment. Either that or when you like something praise hype and advertise it, but when you don't trash it with equal enthusiasm. Thanks for the constructive critisism... First and foremost: I often compare reviewed CDs with similar artists - I haven't done so with Overlap - simply because I have a hard time comparing it with anything else... As Kiph also pointed out, my reviews are HIGHLY personal, hence the subjectivity... In fact, I agree with most of the stuff that Kiph points out in his two posts about this issue... That's just the way I write reviews - I'm an amateur reviewer doing this for fun... If I got paid for this - or if the reviews were published elsewhere than psynews/israntrance/psyforum.co.uk/trance.net and ektoplazm, Yes, I'd definitely had to change format, etc, etc... But for now, this is my input to the trance-scene... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 I have yet to see DP give anyone anything below average at worst and most of releases are "reccomended". (there are so many people that will agree with me that) our scene is flooded with all kinds of copy cats and boring formulaic stuff. You can hear people complain every day how dissapointed they get when their new CD order arrives. I mean not everything is *that* good. Agreed... And as I mentioned earlier, I cannot be bothered with reviewing much of the stuff that I do not like... Simple as that! Btw, have you read my Analog Pussy and Viktan reviews? Are those hyped? Alright, that's it for now... I'm sure I've missed something - and perhaps even something important - but time is a factor rigth now - gotta go... Hope these posts will clear up some things? If not, I'm sure you'll tell me.. ;o) Have a LUSH friday guys! DeathPosture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathPosture Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Links to a few reviews of mine I'd like you to read Ear: Analog Pussy: http://forum.isratrance.com/viewtopic.php/...forum/9/start/0 Puoskari: http://www.onewayltd.com/psyforums/read.ph...i=92063&t=92063 V/A Buckle Up: http://forum.isratrance.com/viewtopic.php/...forum/9/start/0 Viktan: http://www.onewayltd.com/psyforums/read.ph...i=91398&t=91398 DP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisk Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Aha. Something else that is amusing, ear... you know the review you quote? That's mine and I can vouch for DP's credibility. As he notes, the explanation for mostly positive reviews is quite simple: he mostly reviews what he likes (and I do too!). It may appear at times that reviewers are bought off with freebies and such... there is an inherent danger here, no doubt... but this is not at work in this case. Amusingly, I was the first to put up a review of this album over on Isra, and I agree with DP on this release. Something I find helpful about very subjective reviewers... many of them have a consistent taste. In that sense, over time, and through experience, one can get a better grasp on what they're going to like by following reviewers with similar outlooks. If you find someone that has an outlook akin to yours, that is better than a thousand unbiased and purely descriptive reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ear Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Basi I know that was your review and I chose your review on purpose. Indeed, there is a small circle of people who's opinion and taste I value and you're one of them. I noticed however that DP's posts/reviews are not what they used to be 2-3 years ago. Lately, every single Psy site I go to there is a flood of DP's inflated reviews. Yes I find them inflated. There is one big difference between you and him though. You are not afraid to speak your mind and say whatever you think about particular release. Check out what you said abut TIP Red : "See my review on isra... and since this is psynews I can say what I like uncensored like any other outer-space ruffian, so *ahem* this compilation SUCKS! and TIP World are a bunch of goofs for doing such a piss-poor continuation of the classic colour series. BOO!!! What a slap in the face to anyone who has been here for some time and who still has a heart for the original TIP!" Again sadly I agree with you (agiain). I clearly remember you writing and using words like "weak" in some review. Of course it wasn't negative but really clear and to the point. Therefore, when I hear you praising something (and that's not that often) I definitely take that into serious consideration. According to DP's opinions lately there's a milestone CD released almost every week. We all know that's not true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Great album :3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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