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Text File | 1997-10-21 | 75KB | 1,320 lines

WMR (Reviews [week #26]) __ __ __ | \ __ ______/ |_ | | | o \ | | | / o | \ |o | | \| o| |o _/ | o\ []=======| |==| \ |=| |/ | \========[] []=======| |==| \ |=| | |\ \=======[] []=======| |==| \|=| | |=\ \======[] :: | | | \ | | | / / :: :. | | | |\ \| | /| |/ / :: : | | |/\ | \ | |/ | | / : | | / \| |\ | | | | / :. | | / \ | \ | |__| | / .: :: | |/ \| \_| | |/ : :: | /\ | | __| |\ :: []=======| / \ |=| |==| | \==========[] []=======| /| \ |=| |==| | \=========[] []=======| /=| |\ |=| |==| | \========[] |o / | | \ o| |o | | |\ o\(mansooj) |_/ | o | \_| |__/ | o | \__/ |___| |___| (Originally compiled and added on September 15, 1997) (last updated 09.24.97) -----========================================----- -----================================================================----- "Bionic Monkey Boy" by Skullsaw (4ch MED, 04:07) (biomonboy.zip [198K/264K]) [Experimental/Other] "Bionic Monkey Boy started out like most of my music, an experiment hammered into some sort of form. BMB has elements of techno, 'collage,' trip-hop (so I've been told) and experimental." [Skullsaw] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Rebriffer 90+ 85 80 90 75 Clones 83+ 90 60 90 100 Shih Tzu 64= 66 61 -- 62 Fanta C 52= 48 53 62 60 MING 50+ 30 50 85 75 JuiCe 49+ 75 75 -- 20 /-----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \-----------------------------------------------------/ Let's begin with the...beginning, shall we? One massive, hard and sharp nuclear-plant-alarm kinda sound, after a while followed by a hard snare, and other classic industrial sounds, one by one, forming a stereotypical weave of sounds. It's still not anything I would call music, but as a prelude, it works pretty fine, I guess. Then I'm caught by surprise and pulled back into a state of interest when a tripping, almost soft tech-step rhythm is added, finally giving it something distinct to follow; all the loose soundpieces that just seemed to float around in mid-air before suddenly fell into place. And thus, it is music. Hats off for that little trick. This pumps on for a while (with the occasional breaks and changes, but nothing dramatic), and after two thirds of the piece has gone by, a deep synthloop sets in, finally giving the tune some mass which escorts you to the finish. Deep down, I get the feeling Skullsaw has one thing many mod-composers lack: courage. He does music he likes to hear, and he frankly doesn't care the tiniest bit if the majority of humanity doesn't dig his tunes. Stylewise, that is. There is really nothing very wrong with the technical production or the musical aspect in this song...well, it is sparse in production, and is, soundwise, very edgy, but as I'm convinced that's how Skullsaw wants it, I can't complain. It's the artistic thought behind it I can't agree with. "Make hard, clinical industrial sounds, combine with a cool DnB beat, shake and serve. Voilà, a masterpiece is born." That's not the way it's supposed to be done. Music, in my opinion, needs a hook, it needs a face (often the song's melody, but it doesn't have to be that). This is music without a face. It has an interesting outline, a cool structure, but it just isn't enough. An edgy, clinical feeling is what marks its identity. And, as such, it isn't quite as well done as I wished it would have been. Tanic, with Positive Negative, did almost the same thing, at first. Conventional industrial as the base, some less conventional addons, and an occasional outburst into fabulous melodies. And it's those outbursts that Bionic Monkey Boy so desperately lacks. Even though it is an odd piece of music, I don't find it in any way interesting enough to keep on my drive. A song with guts, but without face. Not a pretty sight. --- References --- Positive Negative by Tanic ([download]/[jump to reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ Shih Tzu ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Bionic Monkey Boy. Sounds like the name of a rather odd anime series. Let me guess...Bionic Monkey Boy is a boy who happens to be a monkey and has an insane grandfather who lives in a tree and designs robots. The woman who he thought all his life was his mother, turns out to be the last of a long line of ninjas, but her ninja abilities only work after she's eaten a certain type of orange cupcake. Since she's no longer his mother, he marries her. Anyway, on to the SONG Bionic Monkey Boy. This song is rather difficult to review for me for several reasons. It's an OctaMED, an Amiga format that I had previously never heard of and have no experience with. The player WMR provides for MEDs gives me no information on what's going on with the song--if I had to guess a number of channels, I'd say it certainly COULD be four, but I have no way of knowing. The song is also of a genre that I have little experience with, so I have little to go on except for gut reactions. That said, I found it to be a decent enough tune, if a bit unspectacular. (I'm afraid to classify it because I'd probably get it wrong.) The piece centers around a bass that happens to be the interval of a fifth. It doesn't really matter what's done with the bass as there are few points in the song where samples with an actual tonality accompany it. A drum track and a few other percussion samples enter later, providing a decent enough beat to gyrate to. Various synthetic samples dink around with little melodies that are sufficiently rhythmic if a bit repetitive, which I'm assuming isn't a problem in this genre. There's also an unintelligible, intentionally distorted voice sample that has a nice horrific feel to it--the bionic monkey boy chattering mindlessly to his terrified victims? The samples are a mixed bag. The percussion works fine for what it's doing. The bass is certainly effective as the tonal center of the piece. I don't mind the low quality of the voice sample; a clearer one wouldn't have conveyed quite the weirdness that's intended. And I enjoyed the chip and sax (chip?) samples used in a couple of the melodies. However, the effects that are used to lead into sections of the song sound really scratchy and weak. This song is obviously heavily dependent upon rhythm, and it succeeds in providing a number of catchy rhythms that should get the listener's head bouncing. While it's not the type of music I'd normally spend my time with, fans of this genre will probably not be utterly disappointed. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Clones ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a really unique work. Eveything in it is designed to increase tension. This is not a pleasant listen but it wasn't meant to be! The best way to describe this is the tension one feels when in mortal danger, much like some Skinny Puppy tracks from Last Rights. The sounds assault the listener with their harsh, unforgiving feel, the rhythm section pounds out a syncopated rhythm punctuated by heavy synth "hits" and I think a ring-modulated vocal sweep. And to top it off, there's a ring-modulated vocal line, an odd synth sound and transmogrified sax and strings. What more could you want in an intense techno tune? Formally, this is interesting because the form really is one of continous development. I could arbitrarily assign letters to sections but they would have little to do with the feel and function of the piece. In general, the piece adds elements as it goes along, removes some and replaces them in a large ABA format where the B section is the leads and everything else is lumped into A. But the undercurrent and flow denies that structure. There are plenty of melodic elements and development of them. Since this is based more on sound mass than harmony, there's no traditional harmonic development per se. This a difference, not a detriment. As to the other technical aspects, the samples are excellent for the purpose the composer set out to acccomplish. I see no flaws and plenty of originality. As to the effects: being a MED, and me on a PC, I haven't a clue as to what is used or not. My ear tells me that there's nothing lacking, though. If you like heavy material, download this one fast to beat the crowd and then turn it up loud to offend your neighbors! This is a great tune, in my opinion. My hat is off to the composer! /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JuiCe ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This one is...er...different. :] I'd say it's an experimental piece of electronic dance music in the lack of a better style-name (I don't care much for categorising music anyway). It starts out very dull and uninteresting, with sparse drum hits outlining the rhythm. The snare sample that comes in at this point is inappropriate for this type of song. Then it starts to pick up with some very interesting vocals and sound fx followed by a real dope drumloop and things start looking up. But unfortunately, the ghastly snare returns almost immediately now coupled with a theme played with a pathetic synth sample. Then there's another good bit with just the rhythm, bass and the voices, which is again ruined by the entry of a second theme played with another pathetic, and carelessly looped, synth sample. Obviously the main problem this song has is that the samples which are supposed to carry the tune are very bad and ill-fitting which ruins the good impressions of all the nice and original ideas found in it. Almost as if the author was too lazy to find/create the right sound and said: "What the hell, this one will just have to do." This is a big shame, because with just a little more care with the samples it could have been a really happening song. The way things are, the good and bad points just barely balance out, making it a plainly average tune, maybe even a touch below average. Oh yeah, there is also a very interesting and bizarre idea in the sampletexts, but somehow it just doesn't connect with the music. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As experimental music goes, this one almost moves right out of the classification into mainstream. It does have a melody and it does have recognisable rhythm (because the drum track is two long samples with not much difference), and it's not plain bad. It starts far too slowly for my liking, indeed you could skip the first minute and not miss much. The start leads you into thinking something really good is about to happen. It doesn't; instead we get a slow, predictable build up into the main track which starts proper at about 1:01, when the drums start up. Then it's predictable, and repetitive until it reaches an end with the usual full stop. The most original thing about the whole track is some kind of techno garbled voice sample, and a very nice one it is too. Apart from that, the interest level is "maintained" by switching the drums on and off, switching some lead instruments left and right, and playing an off key duet with one of the two lead instruments, both of which are rather bland. Maybe I'm painting too dull a picture here, but I genuinely thought it was going to be good judging from the first twenty seconds or so. I don't think it is good, and by the same token, I don't think it's unduly bad either. By far the worst aspect is the drums. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I tell ya what, I had to listen to this so many times before I could get a grip on it, it's moved into the Rebriffer household on a permanent basis. If you like your MODs ("MEDs" just doesn't have the same cachet darling!) on the strange side, then rush to this one's download link and mug a passing copy of this track. It starts with an over-amplified bass note striking the half note, and that's yer lot. After a couple of patterns go by, it's joined by drum riffs from the right speaker before finally settling into a track that shines with thought and style. It's (if anything) a drum'n'bass kinda track but with such a hypnotic beat it creates a class of its own. It's tracks like this that make me personally feel good about the current MOD scene. A definite winner on all counts. The mixing shows some extremely odd touches which I put down to Skullsaw (oh dear, I just realised what a skullsaw actually is...I feel sick...) knowing his way around the humble format. Either that or he's a complete nutter. :) Either way, it's pretty inspired use of the stereo spectrum. What really clinched it for this reviewer, though, was the truly inspired use of Dalek samples from the esteemed Time Lord, Dr Who. Anyone who has the good sense to recognise the truly unique Dalek sound gets a big tick from me. In conclusion, the best advice I can give is grab yourself a slice of this aural mania right now.... Great one Skullsaw! -----================================================================----- "True Professionals" by Nino of Realities/Trance-o-Mania/Society of Sound (??ch IT, xx:xx) (ninoleon.zip [463K/725K]) [Orchestral] "An semi-orchestral song made in the spirit of Luc Besson's Leon. Synthesizer sound with traditional orchestra instruments." [Nino] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Nova 89+ 93 76 85 85 MING 88+ 75 90 87 90 WolfSong 83+ 80 78 83 85 Peraphon 78+ -- -- -- 88 Araneus 73+ 64 -- 69 53 CCerberus 64+ 55 55 40 68 /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As a devoted fan of Luc Besson's films, this tune immediately got my full attention. Not that I recognised the cheezy yankee title ('twas called León here), but it was fairly obvious where Nino had gotten his inspiration, not to mention the sample the whole tune is built around. Let's take the word 'professional' and apply it to this tune, shall we? First, how much has it to do with the movie The Professionals? Well, quite a lot, actually. The whole tune sounds like a movie soundtrack. The fact that it would have fit like a glove in The Fifth Element, does not hold true for it's application to The Professionals--it's a completely different story. :) It has all this orchestral thumping that every movie track seems to have, and a great, mysterious atmosphere. It is both slick and pompous and, as a tune, reflects well some choosen parts of the film. Needless to say, it's not characteristic for the whole film, but neither is the lead motive for any, as far as I'm concerned. It is even more right on track than movie scores and soundtracks normally are. Second, is it professionally composed? The answer to that is both yea and nay. In some aspects, like knowing what notes sounds good next to each other, and building correct harmonies, it's plainly outstanding. But when it comes to setting several notes in a line, a.k.a. Making a Melody, Nino seems to have at least a lot of practicing to do. There is nothing in the many, dragged out, as well as stacatto, melodies that really sticks to my brain. The character of the piece is thus not formed by themes, but of the feeling I get when listening. Which isn't a bad thing, if this had, in fact, been a movie soundtrack. But it isn't, so I can't help feeling something is missing. Third, is it professionally tracked? By all means, yes. When it comes down to the technique, there is really nothing to complain about. Clean and appropriate samples, no loose ends or cut off sounds and well crafted dynamics (maybe a little bit too smooth, but as I belive that was Nino's intention...). All in all superb tracking. And a superb idea. And a quite superb song. /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ WolfSong ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Oh, very nice! This one wins the globally recognized and prestigious "WolfSong's Pik of the Week" award (who needs the Grammys?). The song was inspired by the movie The Professional (which I saw and enjoyed), though it doesn't remind me of the movie at all. What it does remind me of is a song that you might play in the background of a movie that tells the story of some tragic urban tale. This song is very gentle. It uses flutes and a piano for its main melody and the percussion is a rhythmic new age configuration of toms and bongos. A wide string sound is used to fill out the background, which I noted the composer was very smooth about making the chord transitions with. This piece has a very soft and melodic sound. I must say that I think this song was put together very nicely from start to finish. The different periods of gaining and diminishing activity were perfect for building an intensity. It didn't feel like there was even a single note out of place. Near the end of the song, the rhythm does a strange flip flop. Not in the way it was written, but the way it's heard. You know how you can listen to a song feeling the downbeat and then later, because of some percussion changes you realize that you were hearing it backward the whole time and your perception of it flips around with the downbeat and upbeat reversed? I don't know if this was done on purpose or not, but this song does that too. I do feel that this song might have benefitted from some kind of bridge or break from the usual progression, maybe somewhere in the middle of the song, but I'm not going to complain. This piece is fine just the way it is. Nino says that he thinks he's made something unforgettable this time. Well, no offense Nino but I'm not going to have to remember it because I'm keeping it! Bravo! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I don't quite know where to start with this song. It's unlike anything I have heard before. This, basically, ballad-style song sounds very deep, thoughtful, a little dark, maybe a little foreboding. I haven't seen the movie that the composer claims inspired this song, but I get the feeling that the 'true professionals' are hitmen or assassins. For me, this song conjures imagery of someone stalking their prey and waiting in the shadows with a gun. This song starts off with some very smooth and relaxing strings of several octaves and very quiet, relaxed drums. This leads into some excellent piano work which is fairly distinct and sounds very good, but the piano also works in very well with the strings in the background. A relaxing flute is also used at several points in the song, and it sounds very good as well. The ending, however, was a little empty. It ends with the flute playing a couple of notes, with no warning that the end of the song is approaching. The flute also ended on a slightly higher note than it should have, I think. As most of the song was reliant on lower octave notes, a lower ending note may have been a little more appropriate. The samples are of a very high quality, and were excellently suited to this style of music. The loops were almost faultless, especially with the strings samples. There were no seams or clicks to be heard throughout the entire piece. I did notice a small amount of white noise, but that is only because this piece is so quiet. This song has a rich tone throughout, and nothing sounds glaringly out of place. Overall, some very nice and emotive music to relax with. Try it. Plays well in Cubic 1.7 with the IT loader. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Nova ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ True Professionals is a dreamy soft rock tune heavily influenced with orchestral instrumentation and style. Chock full of piano and flute solos, the song walks through catchy drum patterns, mellow surging strings and serene wind instruments. The song starts out with the upwelling of lower string sounds, a synth cello and bass, playing a rare six note pattern which goes half note, half note, half note, quarter, quarter, quarter and then repeats with a similar variation. The author then draws the listener in with the introduction of a unique percussion instrument that has a "water drop effect," which is best described as sounding like a cross between a bongo and a timpani. Throw in a little oboe sample to add some mystery and then Nino begins with the piano rift. When he pulls back the piano he starts with a slow melodical flute that floats over the top of the percussion and orchestra. This is a well composed song. I enjoyed the unusual, but well fitting, percussion and the flute and oboe sounds mixed with the piano. One of my only complaints is that everything seems a bit muddled. What I mean by this is that the high pitched instruments don't come through clearly. It is difficult to pick them out amongst the rest of the low ended orchestra. It is almost as if I had accidentally turned the treble down on my speaker system. But other than that, this is a fine tune. I would recommend giving this a listen if you are feeling in a relaxed, calm mood or if you happen to like "Modern Orchestral" pieces. /----------------------------------------------------\ )--------------------========[ CCerberus ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ How well I can review this song will depend upon what kind of music I try to interpret it as. I know that seems strange, but this song seems to be either poorly-executed Orchestral or well-executed ambient. I'm keen on giving composers the benefit of the doubt, so I'm going to review this song as if it were ambient music. This song truly accomplishes what one would expect from ambient music: It sets a tone--an atmosphere--and maintains it smoothly and easily throughout. Small variations are employed to keep the sound from becoming a drone, but the underlying structure and tone remains essentially the same. The atmosphere this song creates is melancholy, almost longing, definitely thoughtful. This is music to zone out to. It's not the BEST ambient song I've ever heard (I'm partial to more complex sub-genres of ambient), but it isn't the worst, either. If you're a big fan of ambient, you'll probably need to download this. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A title like this, and I thought I'd be in for a Mission: Impossible-like theme. It's more of a modern pop song. Natural instruments make up the melody--flute and piano, primarily. A non-standard drum beat plays throughout the song, a neat twist, in my opinion. Repetition is the killer of this particular song. The bassline repeats throughout the entire song--only the melodies give this song any variation. However, Nino is able to pull off a song that isn't boring by using a large enough assortment of instruments to make this slightly melancholy song a pleasure to listen to, although the repetitiveness prevents me from wanting to listen to it twice back to back. Samples were dull (especially flute): they did the job, but weren't striking in quality. This song also ends with a woodwind instrument that leaves the song "up in the air." For songs like this, I would prefer an ending with the soft synths. -----================================================================----- "Pocoloco" by KimiK (16ch XM, 08:12) (pocoloco.zip [291K/180K]) [Hardcore Techno] "The tune POCOLOCO is the first MOD ever written by me, KIMIK, and it represents a style in the middle of techno and house. It is based on the idea that music you hear on the dancefloor should be hypnotic, pumping, partymusic; not too hard, but not too soft either." [KimiK] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Skullsaw 75+ 75 65 70 85 Rebriffer 60+ 50 40 50 60 Clones 43+ 20 50 50 50 WolfSong 38- 38 36 53 52 MING 35+ 40 33 60 50 Shrift 35- 35 25 30 45 JRice 25- 25 30 25 35 DRift 15- -- -- 25 50 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Clones ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Pocoloco...a little crazy...yes, this module could be considered that by virtue of its insistent repetitious nature. This, as dance or drug (and I mean *really* stoned) music, is great. It certainly has all the qualities to induce body movements or deep introspective trance like states with medicinal aids. Repetition is an excellent tension building device that has been used by much popular music to good effect. Unfortunately, this is too repetitious for something to concentrate on listening to. It makes the module mechanical and soulless by too little variation and too much straight repetition. The image I get is one of drum machines and sequencers left running long after the performers have left. But the beat *is* great for dance so this piece has a purpose in life that I can relate to. To get to the heart of this problem a look at the form of the piece is instructive: ABA'BB'CB'DA'DEDEDFDGEDD where A is a very long 1:25 intro that adds slowly one percussion instrument after another. Once that's kicking, B adds a techno-bass riff that's kinda cool at first. A' is the full rhythm section with the bass riff added. B' adds a xylophone and C is one interesting part that's brief: quiet with the xylophone. D is the full mix with a high-Q filter synth sound added to B. Exactly halfway through, there's a modulation to a major third below with E. Until now, there's been no harmonic movement. Notice how the second half of the song mirrors the first half--again the main device is repeating between alternate parts and the variation is provided by 'breaks' F and G which are clapping, and clapping with snare drum respectively. This structure then gives the appearance of something that was created by cut and paste. While this is certainly a valid thing to do, it's advisable to then vary the material a bit after pasting to avoid the mechanical sound, if that's what's desired. There's no melodic development, and part E repeating is the only harmonic development. One interesting aspect was the high melodic dissonance level of the piece--tritones abound. At a length of 8 minutes, this amount of repetition and slow deployment of the alternating materials makes for a difficult serious listen. As to effects, I don't think any were used, though I don't consider them a requirement--so its okay. As to the samples, they're okay, middle of the road sounding sounds. To sum this all up, Pocoloco has a great dance beat but as a composition to listen to, it sorely lacks variety. The dissonance and insistance makes me think the composer has the potential to do a lot more with his music if a little effort towards variation and development is made. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Starting a techno-trance tune by filling the first three patterns with only a bassdrum going bom-bom-bom-bom is not what I regard as giving a song a good start. And then making it go bom-tsk-bom-tsk instead in the same way for all too long again, doesn't really help that much either. This is the way the song builds up, playing two patterns, and then adding another percussion piece; and the rhythm, when it gets going (after about a minute), isn't really that captivating either. Then, when some conga things have played for a while, as an attempt to justify the Latin sounding title maybe, the first non-drum sounds kick in to give it an almost acceptable sound. Building up with background synths and some melodic woodblocks, and finally some space beeping, it finally reaches the Good Enough To Continue Listening level. However, it then just stays there--nothing else happens. The second half of the song sounds exactly the same all the way through. Two different themes working shifts, and never getting any better. Or worse, for that matter, which, in fact, would have been welcome at least as a break from the boredom that becomes almost overwhelming after a while. KimiK can't have had much practice with his tracker. All he's done here is taken dull, boring samples and placed them in patterns in the way he thinks resembles techno. There are no effects, there is no panning, and in my opinion, the music qualities that actually are there and are obvious are not enough to save this from disaster. So KimiK, go home and practice for a month or two, listen to the work of some big time trackers (hint, grab the top WMR mods...in your favorite styles, of course), and see how a good piece of music is done. Because sometimes, deep within Pocoloco, there is talent lurking, but it won't develop without a lot more experience in tracking and composing in general. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Oh dear, not a good start. The inevitable bong, bong, bong of what sounds like a 303 kick signals the start of this track, which immediately sets this reviewer up in 'trash this' mode. There's a million kick drums out there folks, let's use another one eh? *AND* the sample 'clicks' like a spastic beetle. Obviously, the composer is new to the scene and for that I make allowances in my usual tirades against 'safe' MODs. This is a rave-y track that--if you like the genre--may or may not do it to you. Personally, I've heard this a million times, and I've heard it done a lot better. KimiK needs to take a careful look at what he is trying to produce and see whether he couldn't make it just a little more *interesting*. Don't let me mislead you, though. It's okay enough, but that doesn't always cut it out there in a world full of critics. The samples are good, the arrangements are workmanlike, there is virtually no thought towards using FT's coding/audio facilities, and that, I fear, is KimiK's major failing. A little more experimentation never goes amiss and may even improve the track immensely...maybe the next time, eh? /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Pocoloco is hardcore techno though not particulary hard. It's a slow builder along the lines of a trance tune but with harder sounds. The main player here is a slightly overdriven bassdrum mixed just a few notches too high. Percussion and 303ish licks are piled on as the tune progresses. Things drop out, things drop in. You know how it goes. After about five minutes a welcome change arrives in the form of a nice filtered bassline. Back to the main theme soon after. Then back to the variation. On and on. A tasty drum break here and there break things up a bit. The samples are clear, clean and appropriate for the genre. The only truly negative thing I have to say about the mod is purely a personal taste issue, and that is the use of a xylophone type sample that runs through much of the mod, I just found it a bit annoying. This is a good hardcore trance tune. It -is- repetitive, which is expected for the style, but KimiK does manage to inject some variety and nice breaks to keep things interesting. If minimalism with a beat is your thing, give Pocoloco a shot. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The recipe: take one stretched-rubber-band-sounding kick drum and play mercilessly, add one Casio rhythm, slowly blend in one monotonous, non-melodic bass line and a two note vibraphone trill...repeat until nauseous. This song was very unimaginative. Almost eight minutes of the same, unchanging, annoying few notes. This is a song that might just as well have not been written. On the technical side of things, there were only a minimum of tracking skills displayed here (though the composer seems to be a master at cutting and pasting patterns), and, as a matter of fact, no effects were used. None at ALL! No panning, volume fades, offsets...not even one. This may very well be this composer's first (or close to first) module. [Yep, 'twas his first. -Boris] If so, I would suggest that he keep practicing. In the meantime, I would steer clear of this song unless you're a masochist. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JRice ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Pocoloco has a very slow opening, with one aspect (at most) added to the rhythm in each pattern. The whole song, actually, is very trance-like in this respect. Patterns are generally played at least two, sometimes four, times in a row. The beat is a simple techno line with a dance-like clap, and an occasional reversed cymbal. The melody (what there is of it) consists of a kalimba-like sample droning out a mid-pitch interval (P5?), and falling off at the end of every half-pattern. There are a few interesting house samples here and there that add some flavor to the song, but in general, Pocoloco is relentless and dry, lacking in imagination. Some strings would have helped build some semblance of a mood, and an effect or two on the 'lead' samples (if you can call them that) would have made this a less typical trance track. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song has very little to talk about. For one thing, the compositional structure of this song is terribly simple, which does little to benefit its other aspects. For another thing, only rudimentary tracking techniques are used, which is somewhat ironic because it was tracked using Fast Tracker II. The sample quality is average and unexciting, with only a few minor exceptions. I think that the ideas in this piece could have been advanced quite a bit beyond their present form, possibly resulting in music that had something to offer its listener. As it stands, however, this is a beginner's piece with very little thematic, technical, or melodic exploration. Also, its first few minutes are pretty stagnant. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ DRift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The first ten seconds is a thudding noise and I wonder if it's playing correctly. More loud drums are added every ten seconds. After a minute, I'm still waiting for the song to break in; after two, I've given up hope. This song is TOO REPETITIVE! Every pattern is repeated twice, sometimes more, and within each pattern, the same sounds play eight times each, without changing at all! There is enough sound here to fill up a minute, maybe, but it drags on and on.... The most that will come out of this one is a headache. It would be okay as the base percussion for a real song, though. -----================================================================----- "Chains of Iron" by Ackers (14ch XM, 06:24) (chains.zip [255K/499K]) [Metal] "Inspired by Slayer's Gemini, I realized what most metal mods are mi a good drum track. So, I set out to create a metal tune and do a lot of experimenting with the drums. This is what emerged. It turned out pretty damn cool. Even threw in an acoustic part in the middle." [Ackers] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== WolfSong 72+ 77 70 68 74 Peraphon 58+ -- -- -- -- Rebriffer 55+ 50 55 50 55 MING 50= 65 70 20 50 Shrift 45= 40 45 50 55 Husanak 43= 40 40 40 50 CCerberus 40+ 42 42 35 55 Skullsaw 20- 20 30 5 40 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This piece is gifted largely by its ability to extend a death-metal song into 57 odd patterns, roughly equivalent to over 5 minutes. I had some trouble digesting the song, partially for this reason. My second concern is in regards to the flow of the song. The transitions between different sections of the song (and there are several) tend to be somewhat awkward, such that the generic "break-in" compositional effect that death-metal often uses (shifting immediately between death and light acoustic guitar, with little/no transition, for example) is not enough. The author additionally uses drum-rolls to signal transition. The primary problem is that the rhythm of this song is subtly shifting constantly. As a result, standard drum-rolls don't carry the song through the changes. Basically, they don't convey the movement. In several cases (over five, the first time I listened to this), I lost the flow of the song because of this. The sample quality is average, and the general sound produced by these samples is likewise. The techinical skill required to produce this piece is limited, as there are almost no effects used (with two general exceptions). There is little effort to attempt to blend the sound into a cohesive force, resulting in a somewhat jerky and wholly unpredictable performance. The crash-cymbal is also annoyingly loud, and is used terribly often (similar to the real McCoy). Halfway through this piece comes the author's attempt to bring out the melody. Although I was not impressed with the samples or their use, the melody does offer some blurred moments of well-crafted sounds. Unfortunately, these are buried among the rest of the piece. I give this piece credit as an attempt to create an extended and (somewhat) non-repetitive death-mix. Overall, this song has moments of clarity and motion that I would like to see more of, but it is my opinion that this piece is not the author's pride and joy, and the quality of the piece's construction pays tribute to that. This song would likely be a good candidate for a remix. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Beware! Danger Will Robinson, danger! Ackers has some new guitar samples and a love for Slayer, and he's not afraid to use it! This song is downright mean! Big drums. Even bigger guitars. The song does sound a bit like a slower Slayer song (say that five times real fast). This is definitely on the upside of the heavy metal modules I've heard. It's not easy to put guitars together so well. There are loads of crunching, evil guitar riffs here, and the song's about as far from repetitive as you can get. I was particularly impressed with the drums where almost every pattern is different; tons of fills and changes. They do sound a bit computerized, mostly because they could've been accented a bit more with volume controls, but a lot of work went into them just the same. Now personally, I like heavy tunes. A nice, slamming guitar rhythm and pounding drums just makes me want to lose my mind, jump into a large crowd of drunk people, 90% of whom have verbs for names and more earrings and tattoos than actual skin, and the propensity to slam into anything that moves. Heavy metal songs do have an intense effect, however, there usually isn't much to them. Hardly ever more than drums, bass and a guitar or two, and this example is in no danger of breaking tradition. For what it is, it's quite nicely done, but it makes it hard for me to go into the intricate melodies and sculptured overtones and chords, because there aren't any. This song is a raw, thrashy jam. There's actually a break where the song uses clean guitars and a different guitar melody close to the end, but honestly I wasn't very fond of either of those elements. The chords in the clean part weren't very imaginative and the subsequent melody, while a bit catchy, sounded rather muddy and awkward. There were also times when the guitar samples were pushed too high or too low from their original sampled tone, which tends to make them sound "fake." On the whole, though, this is good for a heavy guitar module. Metal fans, have at it! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a song very obviously influenced by the dark-thrash sound of bands such as Slayer, and as a matter of fact, Ackers credits Slayer as the inspiration for this song in the sampletext. Normally, I quite enjoy this sort of module, since it's such a pleasant change from the usual techno-pop upbeat sound of so many mods. Alas, due either to my own progression as a musician or to having heard too many of these Slayer-esque modules, I have to say this song doesn't particularly impress me. All of the key elements are there: big, loud, held-out-for-a-whole-pattern power chords, blazing bursts of double-bass kicks, and unusual time changes apparently just for the hell of it. The problem is that the music underlying this module is, well...weak. The song didn't seem to GO anywhere. It just wasn't very interesting. Even the solo near the end (around which, I should add, the tuning seemed to break down rather miserably) was just not convincing. The song comes across as contrived metal, rather than as angry and musically-complex expression. Additionally, the percussion part, while fast and furious, and rhythmically structured in a pretty convincing way, was not realistic based on what I've heard from bands such as Slayer. For example, the tom drums were not utilized in many opportune places. As far as I could tell, they were ONLY used once near the end. That's just not realistic. So, in summary, I would say that if you are a collector of metal modules, you will probably want this just for the sake of having it. However, if you discriminate in any way in your selection of modules, this one is probably not worth your time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Husanak ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ In the punk band I play in we have a ritual of starting our practices off with a metal tune, to remember that we play for fun. I must say, however, that I've never heard a really well-tracked metal tune. Well what can I say, I still haven't. The composition of Chains of Iron is quite amateurish. There are two or three channels of guitar, one of bass, and a couple more for the drums, and it never strays from that basic formula. This wouldn't have bugged me if the general layout of the tune didn't bother me even more. It starts out with an above-average tracked metal riff which, however, quickly gets repetitive; and in an apparent effort to avoid this, Ackers just stopped the tune. He also added an acoustic guitar riff that didn't sound like it even belonged in the same song. In my opinion, the single most horrible thing a tracker can do is use samples which aren't quite properly tuned--such is the case here. They are tuned to the same note, for the most part, but they're simply slightly off-key. For the heavy chunking parts of the song, the samples seem to work and it's hard to notice that they are indeed out of tune. However, Ackers employed a second heavy riff different from the main after the bad acoustic thing, making it quite obvious that a little tuning was in order. I can see that Ackers was going for that picked, chunking rhythm sound common to bands like Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, to name a few. It was a good idea that just doesn't translate that smoothly into a tracked format. Generally, this isn't a ghastly attempt at a metal module, however, it doesn't even quite measure up to being average. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I think this is fairly generic as far as metal modules go, but that in no way stops it from sounding good. The song starts off well, using a small lead-in with the drums to get the song going, and from that point onwards, it is pretty much an average metal song. There are a couple of interesting little effects that are notable. There is a point not too far into the song where the metal guitars are portamentoed down quite a fair way and it serves as a very nice little break in the song before it takes up where it left off. There is also a point in the song where the speed is increased from 120 BPM to 132 BPM and the guitar work in this sped-up section sounds good. The composer has also used some acoustic guitar in its own small part of the song before the metal guitar is started again. This acoustic section is actually a bit of a turn-off. The acoustic guitar does not fit very well together, sounding very disjointed. It's almost as if the composer threw the acoustic section in without too much thought. This is very unfortunate. The note combinations just don't work for me. The samples used are of a very high standard, and fit into this song perfectly. I did not notice any fuzziness or crackle in the samples, and the loop points are set extremely well. As far as sample appropriateness goes, you couldn't do any better than what the composer has done. There is a full and very rich metal tone in all parts except the acoustic section, and it sounds very good. There is -some- good metal here and it is well worth it for metal fans to have a listen, but overall, it's not top-notch. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ First time I heard this, I had to check that my system wasn't completely on the fritz so great was the distortion from the opening guitars. Having established the truth of the matter and having made an appointment to get my ears syringed I tried again.... I tell ya what, when this composer says 'heavy metal' you'd better believe or be crushed under the weight! One of the heaviest heavy metal tracks I have come across, so if you like the pain, download right away. This will please even the most die-hard metal fan. What, no niggles? Of course I have niggles, I *always* have niggles, that's what makes me an awkward b*******! Musically, this does nothing whatsoever for me. As far as the heavy metal style goes I am eminently used to endless (and usually pointless) guitar thrashing. In fact, if the truth be known, I have always had a sick fascination with good heavy metal/hard rock tracks. But, on the whole, the tracks that I do like, always have a good ol' fashioned tune bolted onto their framework. Chains of Iron doesn't even begin to approach this kind of quality. That isn't to say this track isn't a decent example of the style because it is. Just not all that interesting is all. Even a change in tempo/style towards the end doesn't obviate the extreme tedium you may feel after a few listens. For die hard headbangers only. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Is there some kind of secret code between metal mod makers that says "Thou shall never make a theme, or thou shall perish"? This is not an attempt on my behalf to be funny. It's really something I honestly wonder. Why are they always so well done, and still so identical to each other and so totally without an individually distinctive melody? It's always (some special cases and composers excepted) the same thing: great, heavy, realistic drumming, heavy chords that sound fearfully plastic when pitched out of the original chord, and nothing else. And then it starts tossing and turning, in different ways to deliver guitar riffs to you. And no riff has anything to do with the ones that came before, or after, except that they're played on the same samples and exist in the same song. This song is in no way bad. The sound production and individual riffs are all as headbangin' hard and heavy as they should be, and technically it's a very well done piece. If what you want is an asskicking piece of action, this is a mod for you. But it also lacks in the area of new, good ideas, and of originality to the degree where it is no longer enjoyable, at least not for me. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ One word fits Chains of Iron: formulated. Nearly zero originality and very predictable. Granted, I'm not all that fond of this kind of dark metal but I know there is a lot of room for creativity, and there's none here. Take, for example, the drums: they are telegraphed, I knew when every bass drum roll was coming and when the drums would play in sync with the slashed guitar. I'm on my third listen, and I can't believe someone would even bother releasing this to the public. Do I have anything at all good to say about this module? I guess the samples are okay, though predictable. Frankly the sample set sounds indistinguishable from ninety nine percent of the metal mods I've heard, but they serve. Don't bother with this one. If you're a fan of the genre then you have no doubt heard a hundred others just like it and quite a few that eclipse it. -----================================================================----- "Opal Velvet" by Galahad (??ch IT, 08:02) (velvet.zip [555K/769K]) [Ambient/Industrial/Metal] "Opal Velvet is my first release after I got rid of Gemini Productions. Boy I feel good! I took a full freedom to create something crazy. :) It's from the heart surely. I'm pretty sure most of you think it's a bit weird and mindless but I hope you can enjoy it anyway. This song was started on one damn hot summer night when I couldn't sleep because the heat was so fucken bad. I jumped to IRC and suddenly I found myself talking with this one really crazy and wicked girl named Stephanie. She managed to turn my night of depression to somewhat decent. Time flied and finally at 5:30am I was able to fall asleep. So thanks Stephanie... here's more crazy shit for you. ;) Fun in the sun and laid in the shade... and don't ask what the name means... opal is some kind of color...and velvet ...well velvet is velvet. See ya...." [Galahad] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== CCerberus 95+ 95 92 95 97 Fanta C 82+ 87 89 94 82 Mansooj 74= 75 -- 83 70 Rebriffer 65+ 65 70 60 70 Shrift 63= 60 60 70 65 Nova 63= 45 65 80 65 Araneus 62- 70 -- 76 68 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Well, well, well...something new in the neighborhood. Before engaging in a descriptive foray on this module's behalf, let me first make what will probably be a pretty lame attempt and labeling: ambio-trance-hop industrio-metal. When I say lame, I don't mess around! So, as can be seen, this module exhibits flashes of ambient, trance, hiphop (or maybe something more triphoppy), industrial and metal. Depending on your background, this sort of admixture might at first seem ridiculous or downright intriguing. The framework is ambient-trance, at least in terms of its flow, although it does get up some steam occasionally. The beat, when the beat is present, is decidedly dance-hop, with heavy thuds and the usual progression of slower club dance moves. Where the beat is absent, the trance elements fill the void, often with some odd sounds: bird calls, industrial bangs and taps, strange and eerie whines. From the intro through the first couple of minutes, the focus wends its way through this industrial-influenced trance world, where birds often twitter, and Twilight Zone refugees wander aimlessly. A deep, constantly thrumming bass reminiscent of a didgeridoo plays foundation to this odd blanket of sound. Things quiet down prior to a heavier beat and lazy synths coming in, but only to introduce a few tastes of what's to come: heavy guitar chords. A brief respite with birds lulling the listener into a trap of complacency--a strange whining guitar, and then powerful (but not at all unrecognizable) guitar chords mix things up. Cool. The guitar riff sections and the trance-world sections exchange business cards a couple of times before the piece returns to its roots, lightening up with the reintroduction of a softer beat and bird calls. Yes, this is a strange breed, alright. A rather large spread of oddly grouped sounds, and a decent amount of variety of organization allows what might otherwise be a bit too bizarre a trip to work pretty well. In fact, although under usual circumstances, I would likely wrinkle my nose at the sometimes discordant sounds sprinkled throughout, Galahad avoided whatever hidden pitfall normally catches me. Yes, it's still somewhat noisy, but it manages to hold itself together to form something akin to an abstract painting. On first glance, it's a jumbled mess of ill-fitting pieces, but upon closer examination it resolves itself into a coherant mass of pieces that balance ball-atop-the-cone, but balance nonetheless. In order to enjoy this, you'll have to divest yourself of the need for typical melodic structure, and even typical instrument interactions, as I think this one may work only under such consideration. If you can do this, I say grab it. It is, as I might be expected to say, a trip worth taking. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The stylistic structure of this song is terribly hybrid; it's a mix between ambience and metal, but is biased significantly more towards ambience, which is one reason why the metal clashes with the song. It also uses a consistent layering of lightly dancey jazz-rhythm. I like the transitions at order 14, and 22-23, but they don't really move the song into anything really new. Basically, the same rhythm/ambience that begins the song, follows through, briefly picking up a monotone bass-line, and hinting at the metal guitar which comes in. Scattered between, there are varyingly disharmonious attempts at background-melody. Given the overall structure of this song, the disharmony tends to be consistent throughout. Even the metal develops into a slighlty cacophonous sound. Generally, the metal riffs are pretty good, and though they clash somewhat with the ambience, they stand out by themselves. I really don't like the bird noises, which come and go throughout the song. They have been used too often over time, and never have sounded very good. One thing they do well, however, is embrace the sense of contrast and surreality the song generates with its disharmony. Structurally, this song is pretty well composed, and takes enough subtle sidesteps to keep the song interesting. It also flows fairly well. Had the samples been a bit better used, I would have been more impressed, and if a few higher quality alternatives were used (bass drum, guitars, wind, "insect," and bird noises were not impressive). Overall, there are many interesting, and good quality samples contained in this piece, but their use is not spectacular. Also, is it some unwritten law somewhere that says at some point, every tracker-musician must make a song using those bird samples? The cymbals are also too loud, though they do help to bring in the guitars. To the author's credit, many of the samples used in this song are 16-bit, which is still a rarity. Although there is much panning in this piece, it is used somewhat recklessly, and some parts were annoying to listen to with headphones. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Nova ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Something terrible has gone wrong in the forest. Without a doubt, I have never seen a tracker mix in so many influences into one mod. Let me attempt to walk you through the 25 minute melee of sound. This mod starts out in an atmospheric format getting the listener to think of being in the forest, with little birds chirping and a babbling brook, and such things. At the one minute mark, some tribal drums start up and then a deep bass guitar riff is introduced presenting the listener with the second set of sound influences of the mod--the ambient/rock movement. The author plays with this sound for about 2 minutes and then lets it fade out into nothingness, 10 seconds of silence, and WHAM! You're smacked with a power cord that would make Jimmy Hendrix proud. By the way, you may not have noticed it yet but, at this point, you've been transitioned into the third influence: metal. Overall, the mod does not carry out its transitions well. The individual parts are excellently done, and I really enjoy parts one and two and think that they could have made for an excellent song all by themselves. However, part three is really out there. Why Galahad ended the song end at 7:47 is a mystery to me. It's like I've climbed a small hill with no intention of coming down. The song just leaves you hanging. Really, in all reality, this song is experimental/atmospheric/ambient/metal but the way I would classify it would be "curious." I find my interest piqued but then no other emotions are followed through with, leaving me with a flat and unfulfilled sensation. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Opal Velvet is an interesting, if somewhat "mad" track with good rhythm and competant coding. I like it. Very fresh with lots of movement and listener involvement. Good. There is little music content here, though, most of the action coming from the percussion and electric guitar power chords (some reversed ADSR* envelopes on the axe and crashes too--neat!) from the middle of the track onwards. It could be said that this track is too long at over eight minutes, but I found it interesting enough to justify its length. At no time did it get boring. The author has successfully maintained momentum throughout what could have been a complete disaster given that it appears to be an exercise in soundfield painting (and letting off steam, of course :-)). I find just one possible technical problem: the crash cymbal seems to me to be cut off too early. Not annoying, but something like that doesn't sound normal--a crash cymbal normally decays in a logarithmic fashion (depends on its shape) to nothing, not stopped towards the end of the decay. In this case, it's a marginal call as this could have been what the author fully intended. Essentially, this is drums, bass and power axe and when you have such "in yer face" instrumentation, it is important to make those instruments work. They do, and the net effect is a captivating track. I liked it. It may be worth giving it a shot but it won't be everybody's cup of tea. *ADSR=Attack Decay Sustain Release: a way of describing a given sound envelope. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Birds. I heard a flock of them. Don't know what they have to do with the song, but I personally don't like the idea of nature mingling with this genre of music (live grunge rock band). The song actually progresses quite well, starting with the full drum, headbanger kinda stuff, and mellows out around 2 minutes into the song. Plenty of wild and lively electric guitar follows, and unexpected background synths and spacey sounds populate the 'quiet' periods to turn this into an interesting mix of genres. As I am not experienced in the 'rock' field, I'll comment more on some secondary aspects of the song instead. The attempts at ambience in this song are feeble, at best. Of course, since the main style is rock, I doubt many would download the module for the ambient flavour. No doubt, the rockers would think, "wow, this ambience stuff is cool," and download a few REAL ambient songs and get hooked. But I digress with my wishful thinking. The ambience is a true relief, for somebody like me who actually doesn't appreciate the full value of a loud electric guitar. A breather from the racket, if you will. Nothing that would make the charts mind you, but good enough to acheive the desired effect. This song also doesn't get boring. It isn't my favorite style, but enough variation dotted the song to keep me awake, and not too offended at the noise. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Aaarrrgghhhh, the birds are coming! The birds are coming!!! Ahem, sorry 'bout that, musta been a healthy burst of paranoia. This tune is enough to do that. The first 13 patterns feature the above named horror--and I, for one, do not appreciate them being so all-engulfing in the mix. A minor gripe in the scheme of things, I know, but an irritant nonetheless. Once you get past the opening aviary, the track settles into a very dense groove that is very absorbing except (once again a mix problem) for an intrusive crash cymbal that steps all over what is essentially the song's best section. The track shudders to a halt around pattern 23-24 for some more experiences with our feathered friends which is only enlivened by an eerie flute sound which retains my interest for about 1.4 seconds. Now obviously, this Galahad geezer knows the tricks as you can plainly see, but on the strength of this track, I don't see it. For sure, it's got its interesting spots and I did appreciate the sometimes extreme denseness of sound he works into the various sections, but that doesn't do it does it? I found Opal Velvet to be more like a series of unconnected themes than an actual track, and that is a shame because I'm sure this composer tried as hard as the rest of us. Mind you, why should he care. He dedicated it to 'Stephanie' and no doubt she loved it. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Songs like this make me very happy to be a part of the Weekly Module Review. I would probably never have stumbled onto this song on my own, and now it is one of my new favorites. This song, while trying to pass itself as simply ambient, is much, much more than that! Opal Velvet skates directly down the line between ambient and industrial, and it does so *beautifully*. This song contains all of the creativity of In Absence of Minor by ManChild, and all of the musical genius of Jaunt by WolfSong (those being two of my favorite modules). I would probably call this genre of music Progressive Ambient. Opal Velvet takes the listener on an entrancing journey.... Beginning in a wilderness, we drift forward through the trees in the darkness of night, suddenly emerging in a sinister, industrial city full of iron skyscrapers and flashing lights. As the flight continues, we emerge in the wilderness once again...but we are different. We have been hardened somehow. And in addition to all of this, you get a cool JPEG in the archive! :) This is a CCerberus Must-Download selection. This is a song which must be experienced by ANY lover of Ambient music, or of experimental music in a more general sense. --- References --- In Absence of Minor by ManChild ([download]/[reviews]) Jaunt by WolfSong ([download]/[reviews]) -----================================================================----- "