Trojan – Timecode

What the hell is going on here? Artifakt’s Mr O is pretty mellow for Artifakt, a pleasant-Sunday-romp kinda groove adds sprinkles of psychedelic mush, escalating nicely without going through the roof. Phyx is up next with Spectra, some very nice arrangement here with those sort of high-razor sounds being used to full effect, and that massive breakdown and ruthless drop reminds me of GMS when they were good. Not my favourite from Phyx but still pretty decent. Next up is CPU with Tactical Interface.. is it just me or is this guy getting harder and harder to love? Aside from a nice atonal romp, this is very run of the mill stuff… sounding at times like a program’s been left on loop, devoid of excitement although I noticed it sits in the mix very well… maybe that’s what he’s up to? Abomination & Phyx’s Flatline is tasty in the extreme, with a very nice progression from a slinky beginning into a manic, knees-aloft midrun. Very, very tasty indeed this one. It ducks its head under the duvet for a sneaky breakdown, then comes thunking back, oozing energy and style. Absolum vs Theoreme’s Weekly Mansion is an interesting tune, but fails to really carry much energy. It’s got some nice peaks, and big thunks, but out of all the tracks on this album this one sounds to my ears more like hardtrance than anything else. Hydraglyph’s System Critical is a goodun, with solid and confident sounds and a kinda drunk swagger feel in the groove. Nasty lines work well against this swagger, and the overall effect is definitely one that gets the pulse racing. Azax Syndrom manages to sound very little like Azax Syndrom with Big Mystery, there’s a definite move towards a more listenable and less alienating sound – and whether you consider this to be good or bad depends entirely on your satanic persuasion. The chummier sound still works well, and the final run here will literally set the dancefloor on fire… a sort of mix between screeching staccato and solid, unflinching bass. Menog’s Timecodes isn’t bad, the sounds are nice but there’s a distinct lack, once again, of anything exciting here. The melodies are a stilted, the stabs and crunches sound tired, and it sounds very sub-Menog. Finally Tickets’ The Toy has a great balance going on for most of the track, before it explodes into chord changes only an Israeli’s mother could love. This is a disappointing release, and no mistaking. If you’re tempted to get this, I humbly suggest that you pick up Timecode’s high watermark The Turning instead… after which, this album feels and smells like a very pale imitation.