Title: Oppidan
Artist: Access to Arasaka
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 8th September 2009
Label: Tympanik Audio / Spectraliquid
Album Review
The identity of the artist behind the alias ACCESS TO ARASAKA remains in the shadows, but the remix work he’s done so far for other artists like ZENTRIERT INS ANTLITZ or TOTAKEKE speaks volumes about his capabilities in electronic sound manipulation. Besides that, he has been releasing several EPs in the past already. As these releases received general acclaim amongst ambitious music fans, it was high time to come up with a full length which he’s been working on hard for several months. At the beginning of September, the album titled ‘Oppidan’ was finally released to the public.
It’s like bits of coded messages racing over invisible data highways at a speed hardly imaginable pass by your ears as ‘Nypox’ starts. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, because only seconds after that picture crosses your mind, you’ll be stunned by frantic drum experiments pushing the boundaries of what you thought was complex thus far. ‘Medway’ is going to take you into the void of space, drifting on endless surfaces of an arctic melodiosity while beats like little stones cause vibrations like waves fading into the blackness eventually. At some points these vibrations cause seemingly random patterns following no inner logic but which are being pieced together with mathematic precision. ‘Ruin’ gears down with the complexity a little, in favour of more dense atmospheric wizardry which is always a good thing if you ask me. I simply love those wide soundscapes unfolding into every possible direction covering all and everything.
’First Kill’ from the very beginning has no stable structure. There’s hardly any second where no crack shows, or the beat won’t start stuttering. This develops up to a point where everything seems to be close to falling apart. Then, it suddenly stops and the chopped vocals of Beau Jestice hover towards us. The only thing remaining in a constant flow is the atmospheric build, and that’s absolutely crucial for the track. Otherwise, it wouldn’t remotely unfold the intensity it does, triggering your imagination and sending you on a cerebral journey. With spectral voices, coming from under the frozen surface of a mystic lake, you’re slowly introduced to ‘Parisville’. The entire track is filled with kind of a wintry aesthetic. You can almost feel the cold air on your skin while the minimalist beats meander forward through spaces of gravitating bass quakes.
The odd thing about the ambient cut ‘Transcendence’ is that I know for sure I’ve heard this melody before in a non sped-up version, but I just can’t figure out where. That familiar melodic motif glides away on sustained pads and fills the mind to an extend making you completely disconnect from the real world for a couple minutes. The grand finale is made up by ‘Aftermath’, bringing the album to a very smooth, serene end. Now it’s time to sum up ‘Oppidan’, but how can you possibly sum up something like this properly? I mean, I can say that this is on such a high technical level it’s frightening, and that at this point I can’t see how this can be topped on a future release. The bar’s been set very high with this release.
Tracklist
01. Nypox - 3:56
02. Medway - 3:43
03. Monoscan - 4:23
04. Ruin - 2:35
05. Caeropore - 4:29
06. First Kill (feat. Beau Jestice) - 6:14
07. Montcalm - 1:46
08. Parisville - 5:03
09. Jody - 4:58
10. Recon (feat. ESA) - 4:51
11. Delicate Annihilation - 3:15
12. Chem - 4:33
13. Sylvan-hesh - 5:06
14. Transcendence - 4:00
15. She - 3:36
16. Waiting War - 4:37
17. Aftermath - 3:19
Website
http://www.accesstoarasaka.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/accesstoarasaka
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 9.5 / 10
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