About the review

Title: Black Hole Experience - Release 1
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Artist: Encrypted Transmission
Genre: Electronica: Drum & Bass
Reviewed by: thecanary on December 31, 2007 (All reviews by thecanary)

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1Overall Description
A nice and dark d'n'b track that takes the listener to some deep and thoughtful places without being too relaxed or too in-your-face about it. This piece strikes a nice balance between dreamy ambient d'n'b and dancefloor madness. I give it a total score of 4 stars, even though my ratings below average out to about 3. The extra star is for that intangible thing that can't be described in any of these categories, and that is love of the music. It's very clear with this piece, and with all of the artists works, that he loves to do what he does. Anybody has to respect that.
 
2Creativity Description
Excellent knowledge and modulation of the chosen genre is shown here. Encrypted Transmission clearly knows his drum 'n' bass, and what sounds right or wrong within those wide limits. The ability to properly reflect your favorite genre is great, but the ability to tweak it and make it do what you want it to do is sublime (as well as a near-lost art in most modern d'n'b).
 
3Artistic License Description
One thing I absolutely love about this track is that the limits here are pushed BACK- and in all the right ways, to my ear. I've gotten almost fed up with modern "professional" d'n'b and its ultra-slick yet uninventive sound. So many elements of this track take me straight back to the 1998-2001 era of drum 'n' bass, when the music was at its best. Nice feeling.
 
4Arrangement Description
Arrangement seems a little chaotic in this track. The intro synth kind of drops off very suddenly. I get the feeling listening to this track that it doesn't have a definitive drop point; not a complaint- experimentation is good. But the overall movement of the piece seems a little disrupted. The arrangement of instruments/samples within each individual section is great, though- I especially like the complex layering in the melody and the way that it plays off the bassline. Very cleverly done. It just sounds like a little more time needs to be spent on stitching each section to the other either a little more subtly or a lot more abruptly for a cleaner flow.
 
5Sound Quality Description
At very first listen, I didn't care for the into synth- the hi-hat under it is almost completely lost- but as the rhythm kicks in and the tune takes off, it blends in very well. The reverb on the main snare gets to be a little overpowering in places; it tends to wash out some of the other high frequency sounds in the track. I'd reccomend something a little more subtle that doesn't ring out quite so loud or quite so long. The main bass drum sounds just a tad bit on the flat side; a little boost on the EQ should fix this nicely; or maybe try layering a fatter bassdrum under it. The background percussion is excellent- I love the crispy sound of that shaker! Very slick. The secondary drum loop that comes in toward the middle track also suffers a bit from some EQ issues- not quite enough thump in the low range and not quite enough snap in the high. I personally would have just kept with the percussion samples established in the beginning of the track. Easy on the reverb, buddy! :)
 
6Does it work as a piece of music Description
Works for me. Again, this takes me back to my favorite era in drum 'n' bass, and that is not a bad thing at all.
 
Comments
Dec 31 2007 1:14 pm
by Encrypted Transmission
Comments considered, working on them now.