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ORDER CD
Cor. This is a bit tasty. Two chaps from Hungary produce music that’s psychedelic in the same way that you might say Squarepusher was: bonkers, with little regard for boundaries and a generally schizophrenic approach to writing music. The album starts smoochy with First Track, not in any sort of rush. It drops into a great groove, a wibbly bass comes from nowhere, dark noises fleet in and out of the top and middle. It gets wonkier and very psychedelic as it goes along, with lots of shifting about. The Invisible Hunter kicks off with the full twist: meaty, moody, gritty. It goes slightly breaksy, teasing you, the drops into a 50-foot pit of gorgeousness, with a sprinkling of hellishness thrown in. Very tight. Siren’s Function runs sketchy and frenetic with lots of changes, and Creatures of the IGY is pure twisted acidhouse bliss. A wonderful lysergic breakdown with an awesome sound to it… it literally drips out of your speakers, before crushing in with an amazing sort of freestyle-disco vibe. Class. The World Of Peace chills things down nicely, ritalin percussion with some cute pads over the top, before things pick up pace again with Domination, back into 4-4 and building nicely with nice midrange up to full warp factor. Demon’s Mother is very, very meaty – it may lack the inventiveness evident elsewhere here, save at around the four minute mark when things get nicely glitchy. Animachine is pure evil: creepy and very, very quirky. It makes Azax Syndrom sound like Justin Timberlake. Basically. Let The Peace Control (Your Body) is divine, just brilliant. A shuffled intro gathers momentum and launches into a cruisy four-four, with a screaming deranged topend. Phew. Finally, Made On Planet Earth is proper job dirty stuff, counterbalanced by a soaring, tongue-in-cheek melody that pops in for the midsection, then stands back to allow a squelchy, acidy stompfest to take it to the outro. The World Of Peace is tight, frantic and full of surprises. This is an addictive, quirky little album that you can’t help but feel affection towards, a bit like a mad bloke you only ever see at parties but when you do, he talks the most adorable codshit you could possibly imagine.
8
The danish label Parvai Records is back and this time with a Hungarian spicy powerhouse whom we've earlier had the pleasure to get to know through its presence on several compilations. We are of course speaking of Para Halu, a duo consisting of Adam Hohmann and Andras Fekete. Finally their long-awaited debut album has seen the lights of the record market! For anyone who's earlier missed Para Halu or do not know'em we can tell that we're speaking about darker soundpictures with true spirit of Parvati with a lot of twists, bleeps, sweeps and chaosorganized environments in the most trippy sense.
Let The Peace Control You…
01 – First Track (Tempo Anpassen) (07:30)
“Listen and repeat… Come with me… I can take you anywhere you want…I promise to have you back before you wake!”. The album welcomes the listener with a kind of minimal track and if wouldn't be for the nightish dark environments and the fantasywarped panplays there wouldn't be too much left to enjoy. The track is a bit playful and experimental in a cosy way, and the track does not open the CD in any full-on-speed-let's-bang-on-without-mercy style but we get a smooth start on the disc - just like I want it to be.
02 –The Invisible Hunter (In The Jungle) (10:12)
The second ingredience of the album invites the listener to a mystic journey who contains a whole lot of surprises. In the warmth of the summer, this track can easily transform into a marathon march for the ears due to the high amount of details here, and there's a lot of tricks being played on the listener's brightly-coloured eardrum. My favorite part of this track is not just a common climax, but it is a superb passage in the middle of the track. The duo has really succeeded the mission to make this track into a story, and my conclusion is that this is a digital ten minutes long dancesession in funky jungle environments who are well adapted for alerted ears.
03 – Siren’s Fiction (Jesus In The Black Mass) (07:43)
“Nothing will destroy our circle! Ride the snake!”. It does get a bit harder when the third track sounds, and the journey goes through peculiar dark soundscapes. Pure forestmusic is the subject of speech here, and anyone who likes training sessions at the dancefloor of the heavy kind and may at the same time recieve a unique massage - both physically and mentally - yeah that person has most likely found itself a superb friend here. Bring pills to treat nausea because it is time for subtile trippy melodies!
04 – Creatures Of The IGY (Feat. King Jr.) (06:35)
The fourth track continues the IGY theme whom we got to know on the compilation True Reality (ALKCD001) from Alkaloid Productions who were released in august last year. You are offered first class pieces of candy in the shape of funky dancefloor sessions, brightly-coloured analog heroes and alerted atmospherical surprises. Peter Takacs (a.k.a. King Jr.) are also featured on this track, and if you feel that funk is a keyword who means a lot to you when the subject is darker soundscapes, you should definitely check out this track.
05 – The World of Peace (After Awakening) (06:34)
Four musical punches in the tummy later our senses gets a massage by a downbeat track who presents itself at track five. The track's journey passes on through a bit melancholy atmospheres in a floaty ambientstyle, and it all develops later on into a more experimental chill journey in a trippy style - but still it keeps and continues the floaty vibe. This is a really good track who does not ruin the total flow on the CD, and this track makes an excellent and brave element on the album. Thumbs up!
06 – Domination (Through Controlled Minds) (09:18)
Fasten your seatbelt and push the green button - track six turns on and the mood returns back to the kind we are used to hear Para Halu deliver. It's hard, monotonous and groovy and the whole cake is top decorated with with a rich dose of trippy elements. Anyone who'd like to claim that dark psytrance released these days is just a hard fundamental with random tweaks on top might feel that he or she gets one's opinion (blunty prejudice?) confirmed when hearing this - but the rest of us who's really into dark psytrance, yeah we'll be happy and screaming and we'll definitely shake our knees to this trippy tango.
07 – Demon’s Mother (With Fancy Hair) (07:08)
“Welcome to the virtual command environment. I am the artificial intelligence that will be assisting you”. This rack grows quickly onto me and becomes one of my favorite tracks on this CD, and it definitely turns the head inside-out on any brave psychonaut. Subtile rowdy leads plays on your nerves while deeper atmospheres let's the braincells experience more brightly-coloured things than just regular gray everday. Full on madness from the beginning to the end with heavy melodies of the aggressive kind and if that was just not enough I can happily ensure you that the trip factor is far above 100. I'd definitely run around in circles screaming of madness if I would hear this track on the dancefloor. Yeha!
08 – Animachine (This Is The Girl) (07:42)
“The Union Aerospace Corporation is the largest corporate entity in existence. [..]”. Braincreasing trance is on during influence of track eight, and it is dark forestmusic who are welling out of the speakers. Twists and sweeps in psychedelic environments are subjects who are treated well during these nearly eight minutes of full madness, and this is as good as it can possibly get. First Demon's Mother and now this track - it really makes me as a listener feel super spoilt.
09 – Let The Peace Control (Your Body) (07:33)
“Let the peace control your body…”. This track is most likely the track that I just seem to be incapable to connect to. It feels tedious and it lacks charm enough to seduce me and it makes me wonder where it is heading, what the track wants to achieve. A vocal sampling repeats itself and I'm not surprised nor impressed by juding this compared to what we've previously experienced on the CD. I percieve this as a catch of the bottom, and despite a funky groove it is can't cover up to make this ship reach harbour.
10 – Made On Planet Earth (Last Cosmonaut) (08:52)
Para Halu's debut album ends up with a swinging journey through aggressive environments. There's a lot of space here for trippy atmospherical excursions, and anyone who has packed her or his picnic basket full with psychedelic tones from the influence of this track does not need to fear returning back to planet earth for a good while. Humorous breaks, subtile driving leads who drills holes on the mind and superb elements of surprise are just a few examples of the bunch of ingrediences we get to experience on this trip. Wow!
Summary
This delivery requiers a few sessions in my stereo to make me feel that I have fully digested and absorbed all the stuff that this CD can give me. The CD lands on a record market who are today lacking deliveries of high quality and with keeeping that in mind this CD feels like an original disc that should be enjoyed from the very first track to the very last. This is a story we get to experience, and I can happily announce that this story works brilliant to experience both at home and also at the dancefloor. Here you got a spicy package with consideration and ten tracks are at your service to manipulate your senses!
Parvati has recovered from what in my humble opinion was a less good complete work with Psychedelically Yours 3. Ladies and gentlemen, Parvati is back!
Ok Kids let me spill my first complete review in years Just because these guys have could my muse and imagination.
First I must day they should change their name to Para "Fucking Banging" Halu.
01: First Track (Tempo Anpassen)
THis is a track that reminds me of the really old trance. Music where long soundscapes, clean swinging acid lines create a true mystical state of trance. Defenitelly not an offthenut track, but a magical portal into the forest of the magical pixies, dark faeries and dancing gnomes. As you look around something new appears through the folliage of sounds. Always organic and always lifting is anything but boring. It is the beginning of a tale and patience and attention to detail will catch the mind and jolt the bodies. I master hypnotizer that went as if time had stopped and babylon was shattered behind in the fogs and we finally know we are not in Kansas anymore.
02: The Invisible Hunter (In The Jungle)
On the run, the initial mate muted bassline, the huge soundcapes slow us down as the drum stop. What will be the next move. An orchestral anticipation to lock the target, spread the net and catch. On the run we can hear the hunted running as the forest night shines with the full moon accross the silver clouds. A clearing, a breather, silence to focus once more before the final run. I must say I love this two first tracks for their subtlety and precision in its sounds. I would just melt in the massive picture painted in the mind with a colosal system in the night, in the forest with fluorescent freaks bouncing about. The organic acid lines contantly mutating and gaining energy and acceleration. this is not a stormer but a nother buildup towards take off. At the end we catch our prey of night colors and inspiration. I love the off your face approach and the sound mastery. 10 minutes of a guaranteed journey deep into the enchanted forest of OZ
03: Siren's Fiction (Jesus In The Black Masses)
BOOM! and it is all alive from above here. We know we are bound for the ride of our lifes and the scenery melt away and the pasage takes us futher into a different setting of mystery in the night. Feet are in motion, bodies shake and legs stomp as the music lifts the spaceship. As if the sounds speak to you and you try to make some sense on the alien language of hyperspace. Deep within you feel the power of the unknow. Still subtle builds and psychdelic touches of the wizards, take you further and deeper within your relentless exploration of a new vision. Contant change and and evolution of sounds as you fly to touch the stars. Deep basslines, awesome atmospheres, serious acid lines and motivs. I am still not dissapointed.
04: Creatures Of The IGY (feat. King Jr.)
ON the techy side of the tribal land with longs twirling tweaks. I suspect this is only a teaser. Very jazzified super psychedelic cruise through viscous space of the strange and unexpected. Soft in the decent on to sensory melt down. Para Halu funky tech side reminds me of some great spaced out techno with a truck load of morphing psychedelic.
05: The World Of Peace (After Awakening)
Flight # 05 has landed. you may remind in your seats until we have reached the gate A moment of peace calm and meditation to digest a long journey. Incredible versatility in composition and control of sounds point into a sunrise of synth melodies and rhythmic lift as you mind pieces itself back together. Half of the healing process is complete. The wizardry on the sound definition, quality and creativity surrounds this pause. And a laugh or two @ the end
06: Domination (Through Controlled Minds)
Ready for take off, fasten your seatbelts there is no return beyond this point. I love the string and tonality of the atmospheres. Dreamy sounds bubbly acid lines and classic para halu stomper on the way. Thick acid line and percussive sounds got us flying. This track shows how the sound has matured and for me is reachin a pinacle. Screams in the background, talking synths, deep choruses. Electronic noises, and a psychotic episode build up... and ... floating in the marching drums. Breathe we are save in wonderland.
07: Demon's Mother (With Fancy Hair)
Classic ghostly motivs in a big deep bassline and pantient build up. Playing always with expectation and holding the sounds until the are worthy of release. Perfectly fit HH move theis acid groover. Explosions of big spaces and distant sounds with a forground of coversating electric touches of peripheral psychedelic acidic voices. Blast off in perfect hamony to break in the strange with a touch of knowledge. And back to the final journey with a roll.
08: Animachine (This Is The Girl)
A text book of perfect sound manipulation that catches the mind in the side to side pans inmmerse on the deeps of the choruses. THis is a master banger heading for the peak of the dark skies and shadowy silluetes. I love the changes in basslines that affect the moods but not the stomp, to shoot back into a euphoric dance lifting the invisible dust in the darkness. Still throughout the album nothing is out of place, nothing out of control, nothing that screams out of the freight train of power. Everything works together with a clear purpose of the single and unique details to fill the whole into perfect trance.
09: Let The Peace Control (Your Body)
HH fun after the boucy 3/4 signature. Super psychdelic ripping sounds dancing in between the dreamy samples. Flamenco claps!! in the back, noisy soundscapes, liquid electronics, wind... painting a clear picture of sense implosion and meditative dance. Drilling spokes of acid remind you you are not for the easy ride. I do not like the slow motion tweaked sound. I think it breaks the build up of the rest of the track. This might be the first track that would find me complaining as it seems it get a tad lost. Next!! Of course this happened in Minute # 6 he he
10: Made On Planet Earth (Last Cosmonaut)
Here we go for the last ride of the journey. Raw Sample!!! Spacious all psychedlic mayhem... we are going throught the warmhole into another parallel universe. Hello? Are you specking to me! Sounds drive further and build expectation. Huge Gong mark the beginning of the transition. GOing through hang on... How deep does the rabbit hole go. The music becomes viscous and hynotic and so trancey. Oh no a old techno riff in the breakdown and then a classic gate... This are the things, with all the respect to the creators, That make this masterpiece cheese. I wish it could be just taken out all together. Maybe I could edit it on Soundforge. This is the only thing that would make me stop playing this track all together. OK This is IMHO the worse track of the album.
So 8 beautifully created masterpieces... Yes you heard right, masterpieces that infuse inspiration in psychedelic trance for the 2005
Way to go Parvati and Para Halu. Thanks for all the work in this project... This is defenitelly in my all time jewel box
BOM!!
Magyar psytrance!
This debut album from Para Halu is the 9th by Parvati Records from Denmark. A quality label among the frontrunners in the darkish hyper-trance label-pool that has yet to disappoint me with its top-class releases. Elite stuff for sure! Para Halu are Adam Hohmann (Homen) and Andras Fekete (Pondesz) from Hungary. They are featured on a number of compilations on such labels as Nabi, Mistress Of Evil, Discovalley, Alkaloid, Serephana, Paradiso and Parvati. I really liked their hard-hitting tracks on the Psychedelically Yours 2 and 3 compilations. Great stuff and I have been looking forward to this album ever since it was announced. Let us enter the world of peace!
Let me take you thru the tracks.
01: First Track (Tempo Anpassen)
"Listen and repeat. Come with me. I can take you anywhere you want. I promise to have you back before you wake!" Setting the tempo on this aptly named track. The intro is dark and minimal with some female robot repeating herself. A lot!. Boooooooooring! Luckily it gets better after the first three minutes where the track seems to find its direction more FX are added and the guys loose the minimal approach. Tempo anpassen indeed! A good, but not great track.
02: The Invisible Hunter (In The Jungle)
Check out the very sweet intro here. Just like 12 Moons did it, Para Halu manage to create the illusion of a digital jungle. Very well done! The pace starts out slow and kinda lazy again it is pretty minimal, but not boring this time. The pace quickens later on, and this evolves into a full-blown party choon. I am really impressed by the percussion work here it is very original and very well executed. Also the tweaked acid-lines really mess with my head - sweet! Oh, and the long ending similar to the Megalopsy album rules too! A very good, diverse track!
03: Siren's Fiction (Jesus In The Black Masses)
"Nothing will destroy our circle. Ride the snake!" Jesus! Another very diverse track if you thought darkpsy could not be diverse, think again. A very atmospheric ambience is created here and the guys impress me again with their clever use of both audio-channels. These stereo FX sound absolutely great in headphones! Again the subtle acid-bits really suit my taste - and overall this track rules. As dark, moody and beautiful as The Delta and that's just about the best damn recommendation I can give this kind of music. Stellar track!
04: Creatures Of The IGY (feat. King Jr.)
We first heard about 'The Land of IGY' on the 2004 Alkaloid Productions compilation True Reality? and now it is time to learn more about the creatures. Homen and Pondesz are joined by some dude called Peter Takacs on this track. A kinda funky number, with a fast-paced bouncy bassline, rippling little acid lines and a beep very similar to that of my mobile phone when I get an incoming txt-msg. Anyway, this is a very driving track - constantly evolving in a technoid manner. I really like the bit @ 4'47 - I guess that's what a climax sounds like in the 'Land of IGY'. Intense! A great track - I wish it was longer!
05: The World Of Peace (After Awakening)
This is the aptly named title track. And it's a downbeat track - in the middle of a full-on party album!! Brave move indeed by the Para Halu guys - but it works just fine for me. I like to relax - and sure, after four hard-hitting tracks it is good to chill out a little. Nice! Style wise this is also a very diverse track, ranging from virtually beatless, soothing ambient to upbeat experimental chill. All made with the serrated edge that is Para Halu! They pulled it off - this is a wonderful track that does not ruin the flow of the album at all.
06: Domination (Through Controlled Minds)
Beware!! A long moody intro with static hisses and industrial noise sets the pace for what we are about to experience. A very dark, introvert track with big hints of techno/techy minimal/industrial - though still with a modest splash of psychedelia. The bassline doesn't evolve much and is pretty much monotonous all the way through the track - as a striking contrast to the subtlety of the previous track. I am all for variation and that aspect of this track is cool. This is the hardest track thus far, and to be honest it get's a little too hardcore at times. But it is still a high-quality track and the Megalopsy-like outro rocks!
07: Demon's Mother (With Fancy Hair)
"Welcome to the virtual command environment. I am the artificial intelligence that will be assisting you."As the title suggests we are still in hardcore darkish hyper night-trance territory and this is a brutal Para Halu track. Very Parvati like in structure and composition. Mad rippling acid lines, deep dark bassline and layers and layers of trippy FX to mess with your mind. Much better now guys this is the way I like my hardcore night trance to sound. Kick-ass track!
08: Animachine (This Is The Girl)
"The Union Aerospace Corporation is the largest corporate entity in existence. Originally focused on weapons and defence contracts, new ventures have expanded into biological research, space exploration and other scientific endeavours. With unlimited funds and the ability to engage in research outside of moral and legal obligations, the UAC controls the most advanced technology ever conceived." Yeah - I know, this is the same sample used by Sycophant in his Life And Death (Remix) track on the Ketuh compilation Hyperspatial Chrysalis released less than two weeks ago. This album has been more than 8 months in the making, so there's no telling who came up with the sample first. Anyway, this is another darkish stomper - with a spacey electro feel to it. Packed with digital farts, electronic burps and enough acid-twirls to keep me happy! Nice track.
09: Let The Peace Control (Your Body)
"Let the peace control your body."Another haunting intro - soon interrupted by digital hisses, a busy bassline and a cheesy voice sample repeated over and over again. I do like the synth-stabs that are introduced later on and the laughing is a nice little touch. But generally I feel this track lacks something - or maybe it's just the voice sample that annoys me? A decent track.
10: Made On Planet Earth (Last Cosmonaut)
Forget about a chilled track to finish this album off - we already had it! So it's more Para Halu madness! Nice! Classy, floating intro here. Featuring church-bells and a cool, creepy undecipherable voice sample. The whole rhythm section is unbelievably cool - I dunno how the hell these guys managed to create such full, morphing percussion. Oh yes, this is forest music - very shroom friendly - and very reminiscent of some of the earliest Parvati compilations. Kinda like Droidsect, Dark Soho or a stripped down version of early Hux Flux. I luv this style and I cannot think of a better way to end this very cool album! The long deviant outro is also spot-on! Brilliant track!
How refreshing it is to see a hard psytrance album with a peaceful message instead of a pretend evil devil worshipping message. I know Beelzebub himself is on the front cover, but so is Jesus. This balance act is also evident in the music which is very varied as varied as darkish psytrance can be. But it is much more varied, than say the Psyfactor album. Also the inclusion of long outros in most tracks is very cool Megalopsy showed the way on their brilliant debut album The Abstract Machine. I like when artists stray off the beaten path and takes some chances with their music. And this album takes a lot of chances musically. Way to go Para Halu! That also pretty much depicts the balance of this album in most aspects. Music wise and artwork wise. When speaking about the cover, I must also say how I find the artwork very, very refreshing and very cool. Nice one!
Journey wise this album is close to perfection. With the exception of a couple of minor glitches, I really, really like this album. There are a couple of tracks that does not really do it for me, but the vast majority of tracks are beyond average quality - and the 8 months of production time have really paid off. This is a very good album - one of the best I have heard this year. An essential purchase for fans of intelligent dark night trance. Fans of Parvati, Trishula and the likes need not look any further. This album will entertain you for a long time. Go get it! Enjoy!
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