The Deviant – Orichalcum & The Deviant

Quite the monumental album. It's not a complete deviation from goa trance but can be considered one of the many avant garde goa albums that spearheaded further explorative avenues to come in the millennium. In this case, that would be the Creamcrop/Aarhus scene which included lots of Danes, Swedes, and French anong others, but first, the album at hand:

In my opinion the first 3 tracks here are bit of a warmup for the real sound of the album that becomes fully realized later on. Track 1: Wicked Mille is a great piece that deserves its classic status. I think I like its placement more on the TIP Blue listing though, since it's a bit of an abrupt start here. I would have liked a more minimal or ambient lead-in but that's just me. Killer track though. Track 2: 99% of electronic music with some cheesy digeridoo sampled or played by white dudes like Steve Roach is actual trash, but 3FM is in the 1%. Still probably my least favorite here, but it is a solid piece overall and basically fits the album theme. Track 3: most would probably agree that Murora is the most tweakedout, active, and stimulting track here, with the most obvious involvement from Serge Soque. People into the more regular stuff coming out on TIP and Matsuri in 97 under the influence of early GMS and the like should enjoy this.

Then, with STC (also, my favorite on the album) the original vibe imprinted by Wicked Mille returns and the real album gets under way. My only complaint is that we deserved the original 12 minute edit of STC instead of a trimmed version. From here to the end it is one stroke of genius after the next. Brooding and meditative tracks- if I was jedi training in yoda's hut in the dagobah swamps, this would be the soundtrack, and listening to it would be a supplemental cognitive exercise to my training. Also, a really nice, forgiving, and nonfatiguing mix/master to the point where I wanted the album to keep going for another hour.

So yeah, I'd say it's in my top 10 for classic goa trance. It's a great album for someone to get their feet wet in (almost) minimal avant-trance without being thrown completely into the deep end with the c. 2000 comps/albums from labels like Creamcrop, Shpastic Elastic, Tatsu, Plastik Park.

I can't believe it took me 10-15 years to finally give this album the chance it deserved. Alienated - FF has been with me for years, but somehow I never opened up this pandora's box until now. I'm not really in a position to go in-depth into the music, but what I can say is that I will place "Wicked Mille" and "Alien Homes" in some kind of the best-of-all-times-trance-list. I'm still in chock! How is this music possible?! I feel like a child, completely awestruck, after all these years in the studio and behind the decks. How in the world could someone make such perfect psychedelic dance music?! It's everything I could ever wish for - amazing groove, impossible sounds, impossible peak sequences, brilliant unconventional storytelling. I always thought that nothing would ever top Koxbox or X-Dream - then comes these danish psychedelic punk wizards. If people only would know what mastery lies behind such pieces of art. Takk naboer i vest!

Psychedelic, primordial mind candy. Not dark............. complex. There is a difference. This would probably kill the buzz at a greatest hits of Goa Trance party.........Like a good slap across the face. Sometimes a party could use a little dose of challenging music and the songs on this release surely do that. Love "Dawn of Epsilon" and "STC"......"Mururoa my Love" is interesting as is "The curse of Uqbhar". This is music for deep tripping and serious dancing. An unfocused mind can't keep up with this. If you Love STC, the 12 inch vinyl goes 2 minutes longer for just over 12 minutes.

Is this the start of dark-psy?

Forget today’s so called “dark-psy”, if you want to go back to the roots of this genre, try this album first. The eight tracks on this album are so weird yet so dark and psychedelic that I can’t describe them. One track that I can describe as having a conventional melody is the ten minute long S.T.C. Here you hear a bouncy melody from the beginning. All tracks are filled with unusual, spooky sounds creating an incredible eerie atmosphere which words can’t easily describe.

Although all tracks are very smooth, linear and relatively quiet compared to generic Goa the music here is still very energetic. At the first listening all titles might sound the same but this is again one of those albums which have to be listened often to appreciate what a masterpiece this album is.

Goa-trance with a twist if you like this word. After all it’s TIP! Trust me, if you don’t have this album get it know.