Got my copy~
Hrmmm... It's not bad, but I'm not entirely sure it's worth the cost of getting the CD... With the total cost of $45, I don't know... I think Hora's mixing skills are gatting better, and this album seemed pretty relaxed to me. It had some catchy numbers, but a lot of it wasn't as memorable as some of his other songs (no matter how many times they repeated
) I'd really like him to get back into the habit of including at least one vocal track per album, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
TYRANT - When I first put this one, I thought my headphones were broken, to be honest. The deep, fuzzy static in the background it's really my thing, especially when it's only coming out of one headphone (in the case the left) I really do like the organ and the piano when they come in though, so that saves this track~ Just, those repeating notes could have been cut down a little bit, maybe just 16 bars or so, maybe less?
BEHIND THE SUN - This one starts off pretty cool, and I like the drums when they become a bit more aggressive. The piano is really nice and it keeps the song pretty mellow. There are some cool synths in the background and even though it's kind of repeatative, I don't find myself getting bored with it. It feels like a nice song for a club or for reading a book.
DEMIGOD - This is a nice piece, interestingly void of bass and heavy drums through a lot of it. It feels a bit emtpy, like it was trying to be something a lot bigger than it ended up being. It would be pretty sweet to get a real pipe organ in with a full choir, because it seems to me that is the direction it is trying to head. Needed a bit more variety and not just the same thing over and over, but I hope he experiments with it and fleshes it out in the future
DISSOLVE - Nothing really incredible, but some interesting percussion in the background. Definitely not a particularly dance-y track and one that kind of remains unmemorable after listening to it (at least to me) but I like listening to it and wouldn't really go out of my way to skip it. It still feels weird that it's by the same artist who wrote Inner Universe, though.
MY WORLD DOWN - The main synth line is remarkably like the vocal line of Modulate God... Or am I the only one who hears that...? Anyway, this is a pretty catchy number. I'd like to hear some vocals in here to fill it out, but this is also pretty good music for reading, working, making a sandwich, whatever you do while you listen to music. I really like the harpsichord a lot! This song has more cool drums, but it feels a lot more laid back and less in your face than a lot of Hora's other clubbier songs. Still, a nice track
IMMORTAL - FALLEN - So this one is interesting. It sounds much more aggressive than the original one and a lot more in your face on the drum/bass front, but I still think it's too similar to the original version... I would have liked to actually hear this sped up a bit with more of a variety than the original version. He didn't even change the patches of the main instruments, so to me, I would have liked it more if I hadn't heard the original. It's a great composition though, just like the last time~
THE SIX - And here it is, THE aggressive track that this CD has been needing! Great stuff here! This is the kind of thing you can really get down with at a club! I really like the drums, and the organ part is pretty sweet as well! It has variety, and I really like the sweeping synths in the background! It sounds dark and not quite Schwarz Stein, but it seems like he's heading back in that direction. I think this one really stands on its own and doesn't need vocals. Good job HORA, this track really kicks @$$!
I'll be back to write the rest later, I've gotta dance the rest of this track out
THE LAST SUPPER - And we're back, this is a pretty straightforward track with some really cool etheral things going on ^___^ I like the drums a lot here and the way they work with the synthetic bass park. The background composition is surprisingly good and has a lot of cool stuff going on, making this sound like one of the fullest tracks on the CD!
TRANQUILITY - I can dig it~ It's a pretty dark song with some really cool stuff going on, setting a really nice atmosphere. This one reminds me a lot of old SNESS RPGs or the Castlevania 64 soundtrack. Actually one of my favorite HORA tracks from his solo CDs, this one is pretty uncharacteristic of his other songs. He doesn't really do many creepy tracks, but this one is pretty perfect!
Overall a pretty solid CD. He seems like he's moving into more ambient music and further away from poppy dance tracks with every release, but he's able to do some pretty cool stuff. In the end, it's all very
ish music, but it's a lot of fun to listen to! I just wish he'd make his CDs a bit cheaper because however nice his CDs are, they seem unusually high...
HIGH POINT - The Six (Instant classic right here~)