Title: Rise
Artist: Integral
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 25th August 2008
Label: Tympanik Audio
Album Review
INTEGRAL is the project of two German guys who’re into sound synthesis for a long time already in which the produced several albums that never saw the light of day. But luckily they decided to finally go public which led to the release of the debut ‘Rise’ on Tympanik Audio this August.
The first track is showing us ‘Digital Drops’ falling from an imaginary sky to splinter when hitting the ground, forming complicated rhythmic patterns, constantly shifting and morphing. They’re falling apart or concentrate to dense entities. The subdued ambience leaves the field almost entirely to the beats. ‘Temporale’ opens a backdoor into the fabric of time itself. You’ve the feeling of eternity unfolding slowly behind the well-constructed rhythms made of electronic beats, mixed up with acoustic drums, even chopped vocal samples and god knows what else, but it sounds pretty awesome.
The next one ‘Doors’ is a very special track, not only has it a (real) violin woven into the mix, its rhythmic structure is pretty unique, using sing sampled every day noises like doors closing, knocking etc hooking them together to a cohesive rhythm, throwing in a couple electronic beats as well, while the smooth pads and the mentioned violin flow over it. ‘Distal’ (Latin “distare”; to stand away from) starts with short fragments of rhythms which are soon joined by clicks’n’cuts , getting more complex and elaborate the further it’s progressing, braced by melodic pulses adding a lot more depth to the track
‘Schlaflos’ (Sleepless), probably the mellowest piece in ‘Rise’ it bleeps and clicks on every corner, but this one’s more about atmosphere and there’s a lot happening in the background, staring with the small atmospheric swells coming in and further with distant noises, speech samples and tiny dark string arrays rising just to disappear into the night again a few seconds later. The atmosphere is almost creepy and creates a feeling of discomfort. The title track open cavernous mixed with a subtle tension in the arrangement. The chorals or pads sound like literally standing in a cave looking into a subterranean lake where ghostly voices penetrate the water surface coming from deep underwater. Wet beats gradually revealing new details and sounds accentuate this scenario.
The ghostly voices at the end blend in with throbbing analogue atmospherics leading into ‘Samen’, a short intermezzo accompanied by a muffled rhythmic pulse. The probably best description for ‘Reaktor’ is an incredibly complex electronic symphony. Fidgety electronic rhythms and never heard sounds unite with contemporary classic string elements, samples swirl through the aether and at the end you can’t help but giving big credits to these two guys. ‘Moonwalk’ has the heaviest beats on the planet, even more surprising considering the quite calm start with some bleeps and stuff and then you can hear the atmosphere slowly building up. It conveys absolute vastness and weightlessness as if these melodies are eternally floating through space, but the undisputed king of atmosphere and one of the best tracks on ‘Rise’ is ‘Back Here Alone’ and if you thought the other tracks were complex then you’ll be overwhelmed by the multi-dimensionality of the arrangement with percussions, distorted cascades and sampled fragments embedded in an ever changing flow of melody encompassing everything and grabbing your attention from the first to the last second.
You should’ve seen my face when the last track. ‘Je Ne Trouve Pas La Sortie’ started, where an acoustic guitar gives the note and where electronic elements only appear casually and that’s the end of an album which is both rhythmically challenging and emotionally captivating sending the listener on an aural experience topped off by an incredible production. Still intrigued with ‘Rise’ I read the production of the second album is almost done already. Guess we can hope for a new one in 2009. But for now you’re gonna be satisfied with the debut which is a masterpiece.
Tracklist
01. Digital Drops – 7:03
02. Temporale – 5:36
03. Doors - 4:56
04. Distal – 6:09
05. Schlaflos – 4:47
06. Rise – 5:10
07. Samen – 2:10
08. Reaktor – 6:28
09. Moonwalk – 6:52
10. Back Here Alone – 6:49
11. Je Ne Trouve Pas La Sortie – 3 :13
Line-up
David Rotter & Rafael Milatz – All Muisc, Production
Website
http://www.integralmusic.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/integral
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 10
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 10
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