An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

[Trogdor!!!!]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Stars of the Lid

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

June 17th, 2014
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Doll Fucker by Dissociative Children
Not much is known about Dissociative Children's identity. All we know is that Dissociative Children is a dark ambient/breakcore/noise project. He's one of those artists which you'd find along with other DANCECORPS artists, like odaxelagnia or Akamushi. He's one of the last few artists in that area that I've yet to listen to. Doll Fucker is his second EP.

As I mentioned before, Dissociative Children produces dark ambient, breakcore and noise. The first track Real Doll Maker, shows two of the three genres he specialises in. Looming noisy drones surrounding the empty landscape... and then it hits you. Amen breaks, lots of amen breaks. The sound is very distorted, which does enhance the harsh-hitting sounds. Unfortunately the sound quality is too distorted here, it doesn't surround me well enough. Might be due to the horrible horrible lossy conversion (128kbps), but this is the highest bitrate I could find. The breaks do get a little stale too, they're pretty generic. The main issue is the lossy compression though. It doesn't allow the track to be atmospheric and prevalent. It becomes a blur video in the distance.

Big Black Bitch is prominently noise, but there's a very clear sample in this track. The noise doesn't become too grating, which is nice. The samples do detract from the harsh noise experience though, along with the very distorted kicks. Not sure what Dissociative Children is trying to do here, feels like a mish-mash of ideas. Noise? Distorted kickdrums? Horrific sampling? I don't know... these are all ideas that just clash. They have a mutual feature of being loud, but that's it. Just feels loud for the sake of being loud.

Plastic Eater is a very noisy yet atmospheric track - similar to the likes of Yūko Imada. It's rough-sounding, but not too grating on the ears. It's just a thick wall of noise, and it's wonderful. The clipping is pretty annoying at first, but I got used to it. The shrieking in the background is a bit too much, but it's overshadowed by the loud noise. It does take a turn for the worse though, where breaks are introduced. Why are there breaks in a noise track? Isn't it noisy enough? Not to mention these ideas clash very badly, it loses its atmospheric quality. It's almost reminiscent of flashcore now, but nowhere as structured. It's just noisy.

His dark ambient/noise tracks work well. I can't say too well about his breakcore tracks though, way too generic. The breaks used are just so trite it just becomes cliche. The tracks aren't particularly impressive either - not structured nor powerful. Broken Dolls 2 is a very respectable attempt, however. It is a noise-infused breakcore track, almost industrial sounding. It's dark, it's aggressive, it's heavy. It's good breakcore. Can't quite pinpoint why I don't like it as much as I should, though...

Pretty mediocre overall. The first three tracks are nowhere as good as they really could be. Broken Dolls 1 and 2 are solid, but the others.... I can't say the same. They're usually too abrasive or the ideas just don't work well together. There's very clear room for improvement, but it's a start I guess. Maybe his third EP would be better.

Album Highlights: Broken Dolls 1, Broken Dolls 2
Track Average Rating: 2.58/5
Overall Rating: 5/10
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A Bright Cut Across Velvet Sky by Ad·ver·sary (recommended by AlexDest)
Adversary is the power noise project of Canadian musician Jairus Khan. Despite the genre being named "power noise", it isn't as loud as something like harsh noise. It is merely a subgenre of industrial music, with samples of noise. A Bright Cut Across Velvet Sky is a remix album of Adversary's previous album, Bone Music. I have not listened to the original material, so I'm just going to treat them as entirely new tracks. Should be interesting, haven't had a chance to listen to power noise.

Ancients (Cyanotic Remix) is closer to industrial more than noise to me. I know that hard kick all too well. Atmosphere reminds me of something similar to Peter Kurten's Fucking Paranoid EP. It's alright, but gets repetitious after three minutes. Fortunately enough the breaks/kicks do end a minute after. It creates a dark and claustrophobic atmosphere soon after. It's decent.

There's a lot of tracks here, so I think it'd be better for me to not talk about each track individually. I'll just talk about the tracks that I liked, I guess:

Waiting for Gira (Patience is a Virtue Perceived Remix by ESA (Electronic Substance Abuse)): This reminds me very strongly of industrial rock more than anything else. It's quite sinister, but it's very catchy. I can imagine myself getting a little sick of the track after a while, but this is pretty good. Quite a confident sound, adrenaline pumping as well.

Just (Spookier Remix by Iszoloscope): Industrial atmosphere, almost hip-hop like kicks. Really really intriguing sound, I am quite the sucker for hard beats like this. The industrial ambience and piano really complement the beat, too. Very nice track overall, I could see myself listening to this often.

No Exit (Sartre Wasn't Kidding Remix by Candle Nine): Oh jeez, this is really good. Bleak and atmospheric for the most part, which is great. Quite the engaging track, I find it pretty hard to do anything else while listening to this. It is impressive that tracks are able to do that, not many really could have such engagement.

Dresden: Almost feels like Aliceffekt's industrial tracks. Really really sick, one of my favourite tracks so far.

I'm only 8 tracks in, I don't think I'm going to bother at this point. Blah. The album's good. The album as a whole is a mixed bag, both in quality and music styles. Some resemble similar subgenres, like industrial rock and dark ambient. It is expected though, as there are a total of 13 artists working on this album. What isn't expected for me is how good most of these tracks are. I thought 5 of the first eight tracks were quite well-done. That's a pretty large proportion, compared to most compilation albums I've listened to. Quite impressive.

I don't have anything too negative to talk about this album. Most of my gripes are relatively minor, like the length. It's pretty long, clocking at 75 minutes. I wouldn't say that the length is justified, but I don't think it's too much of a detriment. I didn't feel like it was too much of a tiring listen. Some albums that are half the length felt much longer than this. Some of the weaker tracks are well, weak. But they're still not that bad, they're more than tolerable.

Very solid release, definitely a grower too. I might bump this up in the future, I need to give this a few more listens first. Overall it is quite the hard-hitting/adrenaline-pumping release, with some nice ambience at the side. Not all of the tracks are good obviously, but I enjoyed a considerable amount of tracks in here. According to my track ratings, I enjoyed 10 out of 15 of them. That's a nice percentage, I guess. But yeah, if you're into industrial/loud music, get this album. It's pretty good.

Album Highlights: Just (Spookier Remix), Dresden, Just (Boo! Remix)
Track Average Rating: 3.53/5
Overall Rating: 7.5/10

[James May]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Have a few more to recommend: Toe - For Long Tomorrow, Toe - The Future is Now, and Autechre - Exai

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Already listened to Exai, didn't think too much of it. Gave it a 6.

I'll add the other two, Toe is pretty good.

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

June 19th, 2014
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Lunatic Harness by µ-Ziq
µ-Ziq is the IDM project of Mike Paradinas, who goes by many other aliases as well. Jake Slazenger, Kid Spatula, Gary Moscheles are a few examples. Anyway, he is the founder of Planet Mu Records - a fairly well-renowned IDM/breakcore label. That aside, Lunatic Harness is Mike's most popular release. It is an atmospheric drum and bass/IDM album.

Brace Yourself Jason is a pretty slow and tame track - similar to the likes of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin. I'm not quite sure what tracks are in particular, but it's something they'd do, I feel. The details (the little breaks and all) are quite intricate, which is rather neat. It's just a tad bit too spacious for me to listen to though. There's really not enough substance for me to enjoy here. It's just too thin, I really wished that it's more crowded. The length doesn't help either, clocking at 6 minutes.

Hasty Boom Alert is more interesting, but that's not saying much. What I find more interesting about Hasty Boom Alert is how warm it is. The main melody just feels nostalgic to me. Not many drill and bass tracks can really do this, but I think Mike did it well. It's most definitely not the most cathartic drill and bass track I've listened to, but it's decent. It still has the problem of being a little too empty for me, but not as much. Not bad, I guess.

This album has a lot of variation. Brace Yourself Jason is atmospheric drum and bass. Mushroom Compost starts off as a neat little swingy DnB track. It gains speed and momentum after, into this cute IDM piece of music. The self-titled track is an IDM track filled with elements from hip-hop and breakbeat. Pretty neat. Basically from these three tracks alone, you can see that there's considerable variation. Not as much as something like Kirlian Selections, but still a respectable variety.

The main feelings I get from this album are nostalgia and playfulness. This album creates cartoon-like landscapes for the most part. The album as a whole, just sounds old-fashioned. I don't mean that with a negative connotation, though. It just makes me feel like a child, looking at all these pictures. It's interesting, but not too appealing for me. It has some dark moments too, particularly in a track like Approaching Menace. The entire track just feels looming, almost Venetian Snares-esque. I think Mike's playfulness makes the track lose a bit of the effect, however. It's there though. Just not as strong as I'd like it to be.

So what are the main problems with the album? I just don't think the album as a whole stands out. Maybe it's revolutionary for its time, but most definitely not today. I feel like I've heard this before. I think the saving race for this album would be the melodies, more than anything else. I can't quite recall most of the album at all after listening to it. They just don't faze me in any way, I guess.

There's really not much that does it for me here to be honest. Aside from Hasty Boom Alert and maybe Catkin and Teasel, it goes right out the other ear. I guess it's a personal bias more than anything. I was introduced to IDM with Flashbulb and Dev/Null - so I was expecting quite the striking sound. This album might be a bit too minimal for me to enjoy. Not to mention the playfulness/nostalgia vibes I get from it aren't my thing.

Just not the type of IDM I'd listen to. If you're into Aphex Twin (Richard D. James Album) or Squarepusher, get this album. I'm not into either of those artists, so it's probably logical that I wouldn't like this. Next album I guess.

Album Highlights: Hasty Boom Alert, Catkin and Teasel
Track Average Rating: 2.58/5
Overall Rating: 5/10
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Agartha by xi (recommended by Coolboyrulez0)
I don't think I need to talk much about xi. I think every experienced FFR player/SM player knows this guy. xi is a nu-jazz/happy hardcore/freeform hardcore/BMScore artist. Not very prolific, but xi is well known in many rhythm games. FREEDOM DiVE, Ascension to Heaven, Blue Zenith and Mirage Garden are names that would ring many bells. However, those are tracks from his first album - Parousia. I thought it was decent, some good tracks and some bad ones. Agartha is his second album.

Anyway, xi opens up Agartha with his signature style of cinematic freeform hardcore sound in Nifiheimr. It reminds me of a hardcore-driven Evolve Cybernation at points, which is alright. It does feel as if I've listened to this before, though. Nothing too out of the norm here, just xi doing what he normally does. It's decent at best, not too fond of xi's typical cinematic sound.

Second track is Tenimuhou. Classic FFR simfile. Progressive and jazzy, one of xi's more complex jazzy tracks. Pretty fond of it, the transitions are really smooth. Not to mention the sound is quite engaging too. High in energy almost throughout, the ending piano roll is just wonderful. Can't say that I like it as much as I should though, but I still like it considerably.

Information Transmission is a bit of an oddball - progressive/uplifting trance. Reminds me of DJ Taka at some points, specifically Tenkuu no Yoake or something similar. This is a lot more progressive though, with some catchier moments. Decent, with some great moments, but has some mundane moments too. The ending was really abrupt.

Agartha isn't quite as coherent or diverse as Parousia. Feels like a compilation of tracks more than anything to me. Agartha's variation isn't too good. Most of the tracks are progressive jazz or freeform hardcore or a combination of the two. There are some oddballs, like Happy End of the World and Information Transmission, but not as much as Parousia. Parousia had a nice mixture of gabber, jazz, freeform/happy hardcore and j-core. Agartha doesn't quite cover as much ground. It covers far too little at this point.

It's just xi doing what he does, I guess. I feel that this is xi doing work that he's most comfortable in. I think xi is being too comfortable though. What I really like about xi's work is how diverse he is and how well he could pull off some one-hit wonders. By playing too safe, he's restricting himself from experimentation. I don't think his typical sound is very good, and there's a lot of his typical works here. Main reason why I'm not as fond of this album as much as I was with Parousia.

In addition I feel that none of the tracks here are as beautiful as some of the best in Parousia's. Aside from Happy End of the World (last track), I don't think any of the tracks here are comparable to Ascension to Heaven or Blue Zenith. They really lack that cathartic punch, they just sound pretty for the most part. Not a good thing by any means. I wouldn't call his work in this album sloppy, just a lot more to be desired. Especially since xi has proven to do so much more.

Kinda disappointed with this release. I was expecting something like Parousia, but I don't think they're comparable. It's pretty clear that Parousia is the better album here. It just doesn't appeal to me, I guess. Too little variation, not very interesting overall. They're not inherently bad, just unengaging for the most part. If you really like freeform hardcore and/or jazz, get this album. You will adore this album. Otherwise, get Parousia. It has more variation, better tracks and all in all feels more complete.

Album Highlights: Tenimuhou, Happy End of the World
Track Average Rating: 2.72/5
Overall Rating: 5.5/10

[choof]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Lunatic Harness, arguably, is u-ziq's best work. Also, take into consideration when it was released, and who else was releasing music like it at the time. The late 90's was when Warp Records were releasing huge albums like Chiastic Slide, RDJ Album, Music Has The Right To Children, etc. Lunatic Harness was released on Planet-Mu, and was received well enough to put Planet-Mu on the map.

[ninjaKIWI]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

more recommendationssss to replace the ones you did

i liked your review of YT//ST by the way it hit the album right on the mark

STRFKR - Miracle Mile
Painted Palms - Forever
twenty one pilots - Vessel

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Lunatic Harness, arguably, is u-ziq's best work. Also, take into consideration when it was released, and who else was releasing music like it at the time. The late 90's was when Warp Records were releasing huge albums like Chiastic Slide, RDJ Album, Music Has The Right To Children, etc. Lunatic Harness was released on Planet-Mu, and was received well enough to put Planet-Mu on the map.

I initially wanted to mention about how there were some "classic" IDM albums being released at the time, such as the ones you mentioned. I can't seem to put it in the paragraph without sounding coherent, though. I can most definitely agree that it made Planet Mu a respectable label, but it hasn't aged well 17 years later.

Kiwi I added the first two albums, but Vessel exceeds your shortlist limit. Would you want to replace any albums to make room for Vessel?

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

June 20th, 2014
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Above Everything by Mindthings
Mindthings is the brainchild of chillout ambient musician Clement Peres. Above Everything is his second album.

The album starts off with what exactly is said on the tin. It's ambient for you to just sit back and relax. It's probably similar to new age, but not like Enya/Enigma type of new age. Probably more like Bryan EL. It is rather ethereal, especially in tracks like Your Darkness. The downtempo beat creates a base for the track, while the drones do their usual thing. It does create this spacious view, but that's really all it provided for me. The vocal samples are way too intrusive, along with a couple other elements.

There are some emotional tracks here, but there aren't much. Human Feelings is funnily enough, the most cathartic track here. It's like watching the sun rise, or basically any wonderful moment. It's the track that you hear when you wake up from your bed, it's quite the pretty track.

There isn't much else I can talk about. It's just typical downtempo/new-age ambient. Not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it did something substantial. Well, did the album really do anything substantial? Not really. While there are some gleaming moments in this album, most of them have clashing or intrusive elements. The vocals in Your Darkness, the overly loud beats in Highway's Lines and Our Eyes Are Blue.. you get the idea. These tracks aren't put to their fullest potential. Even if the intrusive/clashing elements are gone, it doesn't create a unique experience. Most of these tracks just sound pretty, with little to no emotional value.

I feel that for genres like ambient, catharsis is a main factor for memorability and quality. Mindthings didn't quite make a soothing sound, let alone an emotional one. I don't think any of the tracks are really worth keeping, maybe aside from Human Feelings. They usually have one or two major flaws which make the tracks subpar. Most of these tracks have been outdone by artists like The Flashbulb, Helios and Hammock.

Another problem would be variation, I guess. Most of these tracks have the same general sound. Some beat that's usually intrusive and an often cliche uplifting melody with some modifications. The original formula doesn't quite work already, and using the same formula for the entire album... isn't good. I wouldn't say with full confidence that more variation would be nice, but it'd be different. At this point any change would be fine.

I can go on with why I don't like the album, but you get my point. This is a really bad ambient release. Probably some of the worst I've heard in a long time. To me, this is the type of ambient that is simply asinine. It's barely relaxing/soothing, which is one of the key traits of ambient. It's not very interesting either, and gets your attention in a really bad way. Avoid this album, it's not worth anyone's time. Even if you're really into ambient, don't get this. Maybe if you're into new age ambience, you could get this. Even then though, there are many other new age artists who have outdone this.

Album Highlights: Human Feelings
Track Average Rating: -
Overall Rating: 3/10

[L.B.D.D]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

mindthings life's path was okay

but then i saw your review and listened to our eyes are blue and damn those beats were 2loud

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

June 21st, 2014
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Genesis III.20 'Ov Idyllic Miners by Aliceffekt
David Mondou-Labbe is a very prolific musician, with many genres under his belt. Genres ranging from industrial, chiptune, witch house, witch house and lolicore. Aliceffekt is his glitch/chiptune/industrial project - a fairly underground one. Some people here might know Aliceffekt for tracks like Downtemperature and The Wises Were Wrong. They're generally decent, but nothing too spectacular to me. Genesis III.20 'Ov Idyllic Miners is his fifth LP.

It starts off with the industrial track Decent Aetdth - a looming and mechanical track. It's heavy and clinicial, similar to a grey industrial atmosphere. Pretty neat, but it doesn't last too long. The track soon changes to a heavy kicking industrial track 2 and a half minutes in. It strongly reminds me of gabber, which isn't really my thing. The parts outside the gabber parts are nice though, but not stunning.

The industrial onslaught continues with The Wicked, The Twisted. It's heavier than before, and definitely more relentless. It almost feels merciless and intimidating, with the sinister sampling. Actually quite the intriguing track. It doesn't get too bland becaues of its short length. That's a plus, especially for short tracks like this.

The Shamen, The Visitors has very similar characteristics to the previous track, but less aggressive. It's a lot passive in comparison, but it definitely has a powerful sound. Its reserved use does make it quite interesting, it's not as mindless as Decent Aetdth. It changes pace substantially 5.5 minutes in too, which is pretty sweet. It's hard for me to talk about the visions I imagine here - but it's like an active factory. Sounds of clanking machines, all that. Solid track.

The album is entirely industrial music. Quality ranges greatly, like the repetitive Serial Procession of Yous to the progressive The Shamen, The Visitors. None of the tracks is bad, though. Do have a little soft spot for industrial music though. Not that it's a bad thing, I might get into this genre more. But yeah, I don't have much to say about the quality of the album. It has some good tracks, but equally subpar ones. It averages out as a decent album.

The album is alright. One of Aliceffekt's better albums to me, but that's not saying too much. Not too fond of his albums, but he has some tracks that do stand out. His albums are mainly mixed bags, and this is no exception. Fortunately it isn't too mixed, I don't dislike any of them. Don't quite see myself listening to this again though. The good tracks aren't particularly impressive.

Album Highlights: The Wicked, The Twisted, The Shamen, The Visitors
Track Average Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 6/10
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One by C418 (recommended by Arkuski)
C418 is the ambient project of Daniel Rosenfield. He's been making music since 2008, but is fairly underground at the time. He soon gained popularity for being the music/sound producer for Minecraft. Today I'm going to review One, which has music used for a Minecraft documentary.

As you'd expect from ambient, this is quite atmospheric. Cliffside Hinson creates visions of tall natural formations at the distance. After focusing in onto the natural formation, you start having this whirl of emotions - from slight melancholy to unbridling joy. It's a bit too bipolar in a sense, also a little unnecessary too. The orchestration is a little too much, but it's not intrusive.

Independent Accident reminds me ever so slightly of Blue Calx by Aphex Twin at first. There are probably better comparisons, but this is one I can think of. It has similar atmospheres, both blue and isolating. The track does move with orchestration though, which I still think is a bit excessive. No need to be so filled with instrumentation, minimalism works just fine. The piano in this track is wonderful, honestly wished that it had more solo time. The violins shroud the piano slightly, which doesn't help much. Basically a good ambient track that is slightly ruined by unnecessary layers.

Could elaborate more on each track if anyone would like. I don't really want to talk about each and every track, because there's so many of them. Anyway. Knowing that most of the music here is used for a documentary, I didn't expect too much. Surely enough, most of these tracks don't provide too much. Some of them do sound pretty, but that's it. Tracks like Surface Pension, Swarms and Buildup Errors have this issue. They do sound rather nice, but that's all I get from it. It's easy to notice their beauty, but its beauty is superficial. The emotional value isn't there.

I'd say the album as a whole is hit or miss. The hits aren't particularly the best, but they're still hits. Preliminary Art Form is one that hits me quite well. The generally subtle approach works well at first - then progresses to something quite beautiful. The instrumentation becomes more intricately louder and prevalent as the track goes by... really pretty. The misses however, are quite common. I thought half of the tracks are decent/average at best.

The short tracks seem to fair better though. Most of the time I just wished that they were longer, because they were really good. Tracks like Imposter Syndrome, One Last Game, Lost Cousins, PR Department... you get the idea. These tracks clock at sub-2 minutes, other than Imposter which is 2:30. I'm not sure why this is the case. It might be because Daniel put in more effort into putting in more in small packages. If that's the case, then I feel that the longer tracks should be way better. He'd be pretty lazy in that respect, I guess. He has shown the potential to make short tracks interesting - so he could make long tracks interesting as well. Just need some more effort.

The atmospheres here are pretty varied. I don't know why, but Lost Cousins reminds me of the To The Moon soundtrack. Total Drag is a nice track where you can just sit back and relax. It's pretty chill, it feels like you're watching things happen. Maybe a sunset? Not sure. The Weirdest Year of Your Life is a track which pumps you for the rest of the day. It'd probably be labelled joyous, but I see it as a free-spirited and motivational track. Definitely cliche, but still a good listen.

I don't have much of a problem with the tracks themselves, but rather the overall length. 31 tracks and 95 minutes? There is absolutely no reason to make it that long. There isn't a particular thematic to this album - just a compilation of tracks. It'd probably be better as two separate albums, instead of one. It's quite the tiring listen otherwise. Some of the tracks felt repeated as well. Not sure if they're just recurring melodies, though.

My problems aside though, this is quite the album. It is most definitely a mixed bag, with some sparks of brilliance and lack of inspiration. From my track ratings, it seems that I liked 10 of the tracks, found 9 decent, 12 of them not too good. Leaning a little bit to the negative side, but I still find it alright overall. This would definitely be much better if the album is cut in half though. As it is, it is too exhausting of a listen. I don't think I can sit through the album at once again. Individual tracks though? Absolutely.

Album Highlights: No Pressure/One, Tsuki no Koibumi, Impostor Syndrome, Preliminary Art Form
Track Average Rating: 2.92/5
Overall Rating: 6/10

[Arkuski]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Agree with the review, gj

[Zageron]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Don't forget to listen to [Ruby My Dear - Remains of Shapes to Come].

[ninjaKIWI]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Kiwi I added the first two albums, but Vessel exceeds your shortlist limit. Would you want to replace any albums to make room for Vessel?

Oops! Miscounted. No, that's fine, thanks eze.

[EzExZeRo7497]

Re: An Album A Day Keeps The Doctor Away | 365 Album Challenge

Put that in my backlog yesterday, I'll review it some day.

June 22nd, 2014
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Journey: Original Soundtrack by Austin Wintory (recommended by noname219)
Austin Wintory is a fairly well-renowned soundtrack composer. He has made scores for over 25 feature films and a couple of video games as well. Journey's soundtrack is supposedly constructed to respond to the player's actions. The tracks then build a single theme to represent the game's emotional arc throughout the story. Really neat. I've had this soundtrack for a while now, but I haven't really gotten to it yet. Alright, let's give this a shot...

This album gives me really strong vibes from Jeremy Soule at times. While nowhere as orchestral, it definitely creates a similar cinematic atmosphere. Nascence almost feels like a cross between retro RPGs and Jeremy Soule's cinematic sound, actually. The sparkles and all create a nostalgic vibe, while the violins and synth create another dimension to it. Interesting.

The mixture of cinematic sound and ambience works well. The Call is a deserted, maybe sombre little track. The gradual noise in the first minute feels a little excessive, though. The other two minutes is really relaxing, it's like walking through an abandoned village in the desert. While it definitely feels a little depressing, the tranquility is overwhelming. There are some other glimmering moments too, like Second Confluence's overall sound. The sun is shining at full force, but you can't help but feel this sadness as you listen to it. It's quite wonderful.

By the fifth track, it's clear to me that this is not your typical soundtrack. Even without playing/watching through Journey - I can see soundscapes clearly. Most of these paint fairly similar landscapes, but they still evoke them nonetheless. That's the thematic of the soundtrack, I guess. Reading through the game, it's about exploration (should've figured from the name of the game). I think this soundtrack does it justice, most of these tracks do create mysterious and unique landscapes. I wouldn't necessarily call them interesting, but they're definitely new to me. Not many soundtracks, or even studio albums create desert-esque landscapes. This album, while not very detailed, creates very vast and majestic ones. Definitely a plus.

Creating soundscapes is nice and all... but there are some issues. This is definitely more of a personal gripe, but I think the tracks progress too much. Austin plays around with one idea for a minute or two and just moves on to something else. They're particularly prevalent in the longer tracks, like Threshold and The Road of Trials. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as there are some jarring moments (last moment of Third Confluence, intro of The Road of Trials) that would pass by quick. However, that does make good moments fly by just as quickly. I guess it does fit the "mysterious" label, but too much unpredictability is not a good thing.

The tracks don't particularly stand out. They're not bad, but they aren't super good. That does kill a bit of the memorability factor. I really liked Fourth Confluence and Fifth Confluence, despite their short lengths. Other than that though, there aren't too many tracks that I'd listen to again. Not because I find them bad, but they just don't provide anything too substantial. The sound is admittedly not very effective without its given source material. Still pleasant sounding, though. Can't dock off too much for that.

I want to enjoy the soundtrack, I really do. I could imagine the soundscapes to be far more effective with its given source material. I mean, they're already beautiful as is. But pretty landscapes can only go so far. I don't feel anything when I listen to this, just odd and seldom wonderful sights. Perhaps it'd be better for me to relisten to this after watching a playthrough of the game. Doesn't quite work as well as it should without it I feel. Though at the same time, I feel that soundtracks are best judged separately. I'm human though, good video games/anime/VNs affect my outlook on soundtracks all too often. 5 Centimeters Per Second, Final Fantasy X, Katawa Shoujo, all soundtracks that I've probably given too high because of context. Maybe I'll relisten to this one day. I'm probably giving an unfair review by not knowing what the game is like at first.

I'll rerate this one day.

Album Highlights: Fourth Confluence, Fifth Confluence, Final Confluence
Track Average Rating: 3.39/5
Overall Rating: 6.5/10

To soundtrack enthusiasts (or anyone who rates music in general):
How do you guys rate soundtracks, especially ones that you've already went through the given source material with? While I try to avoid rating soundtracks with their source material, I can't help but do so anyway. Especially with ones that I overwhelmingly enjoy - I probably give 0.5-1.5 points higher than I should. But at the same time, I feel that it fits there. What about you guys?

EDIT: Apparently noname recommended this and was in my waitlist, whoops.