seven

after a long period of silence substanz t resurfaced on hymen with "tripped experiences." this album is technically the second full-length since release of "intersolar" back in 1997. this album was an amazing exploration of dark complex trance, that even now remains one of the best albums in this genre. his other trance efforts - "essential trance mixes" and "sirius b kontakt" were stylistically similar to "intersolar," yet a little "lighter"-sounding. substanz t appeared a few times as remixer for renowned industrial projects, and finally he got a whole disk to himself on "electronic lust v2" sampler.

"tripped experiences" falls somewhere in between "hypnotizing low vibrating frequencies" off "electronic lust v2" and his trance efforts. if you slowed down his trance rhythms, added a little more structure to his ambient works, the result would probably be very close to "tripped experiences." however from the very first moments something appeared to be missing from this album that I could not exactly place. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of "intersolar," and at first I failed to see any substance on this album; it appeared to be overly amorphous, unstructured, and simply too "generic"-sounding.

but at the same time there was something in it that almost every night for a few weeks in a row made me play this cd again and again. at some point this strange addiction called for some analysis, and I guess the best I can come up with is the atmosphere that the band creates that is both relaxed and at the same time has vibrating subtle intensity that keeps you glued to the headphones.

sound textures on every song are a combineationof deep brooding basslines and simple yet very efficient technoid percussion. it develops slowly (referencing its trance past?), evolving and developing. distant strings and very sci-fi sounds find their way through the sound layers and before you know it, you are immersed in the same atmosphere that "intersolar" had, but transformed, slowed down and mutated to the strange detached state. it features a lot of technoid elements (I guess hymen *is* a right label for this album) that you might find in traditional techno, but on this album they are used in a completely different way contributing to overall atmosphere.

after you listen to the album for a few times, you start noticing all the subtle details that build up in every track - from strange swirling noises, to gentle key progressions; from deep orchestrated movements to rolling percussion textures, reminding me of "intersolar".

the sound is very spacey, fluid; they build up similar to your normal trance track, but at the same time it is not technically trance - it is deeper, slower, more profound and diverse. it toys with atonal strings, slowly building melodies, occasional exotic touch. on a few tracks it even features disembodied vocals that only enhances the atmosphere.

once again substanz t managed to build an amazing deep atmosphere, that perfectly matches hymen's profile. it is probably one of the most interesting combination of ambient and technoid rhythms. the only comparable atmosphere was created by early xingu hill on their nova zembla releases. my only recommendation for this release will be a good set of headphones and your undivided attention for a few minutes until you fully get immersed into the album's atmosphere.