Un:Balanced – BNE

Timelock feat June Rashava open with Un:Balanced, and personally I’d give my right arm (okay, my left arm) to hear Timelock’s version of this by themselves. It’s wrecked by a weak vocal, which is a real pity: a solid and energetic intro is ancient history once the vox comes in, then the chord changes get dodgy… then a dreadful break with piano accompanied by that post-rave hard-house-hoover sound that’s becoming more and more prevalent it’s smooth, and it’s an effective piece of dance music, byut psychedelic trance it ain’t. Atomic Pulse vs StarX’s Planet X is pretty tuff, not too shabby. The production’s nice, the riffs are simple and effective, it sits well in the mix and there’s a good explosion of energy coming out of the peak. GMS step forth to remix Oforia’s Northern Lights, a tight and energetic tune, slightly predictable (and just what you’d expect from the two together) but when it drops into its guitar-led climax it’s full power, pedal the metal, dancefloor-igniting mayhem time. Infected Mushroom’s Shakawkaw (Vibe Triobe remix) is a belter. It builds perfectly, the midrange soars up higher and higher releasing the energy as it goes. There’s some interesting little vocal hooks in the background that sort of sound like the muppets singing, and even though the bassline changes chord a few too many familiar times, you don’t really notice it because of the mayhem at the top. Would love to hear this on a big rig. Tasty. Silent Hill’s Dance FX kicks in no holds barred, not as strong as some of their other output though as it loses its way around the middle section, saved only by a massive peak and drop at the end; meanwhile Violet Vision’s Cellophane gets remixed by Sub 6 and Domestic, relying on eurotrancey high–end stabs to keep it going, which it doesn’t really need since the bottom end is packed full of energy and there’s very nice layering going on. The breaksy midsection is interesting (despite its overused vocals) but the tension gets lost with a predictable massive drop back into 4-4. Echotek’s Time Stops starts very promising with a quirky intro before it dives out into a nice, fresh-sounding array of sounds, which isn’t exactly full of energy but moves along nicely. You’re listening to it waiting to see which way it’ll go next, and it’s only the final run with cringe-making highend eurotrance stabs (again) that kill it stone dead. Could have been way better. The less said about Quantum’s Awake the better, a tedious bump-bump going on, a few new noises do not change that obvious 32-beat pattern, kids. Luckily Fatali saves the vibe with Lucid Dreams, more or less the best tune I’ve heard from this guy. Massive acidlines characterise the first section, before ample melody takes control. This would destroy any dusty summer dancefloor, it’s a real ‘moment’ distilled into seven minutes. Finally, Basic’s Master System is a full-power affair, with lots of ideas in there, unfortunately they’re all familiar ones. The clattered vox around the back is nice, but with too much melody going on at the same time the result is awkward and… erm… unbalanced. Not too sure what to make of this, as I can’t see the appeal in any more than a couple of tracks. A lot of it sounds tired and rehashed, but I can see a lot of it working well on the dancefloor. Much as I hate to conclude a review with these words, but if this sort of thing is your bag then check this album out.