A-Team is a collaboration between Painkiller and Bliss (Roy Engel and Yonathan Marcow, who have collaborated in the past in the long defunct project Shaff Puff), and they have already appeared on various compilations. Their collaboration has been a success and they’re even planning on releasing a double album on Nutek Records soon. Anyway, from their names you’ve must have guessed it, they’re all about full on. It comes as no surprise then, that this compilation is stacked with full on. They even have two surprises around the corner. The compilation kicks off with a track by A-Team themselves , U on Acid, and it’s a hard one. New Reality from Punchline (T2) starts off with smooth pads and quickly turns into an energetic affair, with over nine minutes it’s the longest here. Great stuff. Then, one of the surprises turns up. Psy Sex’ classic tune Puzzle, originally released on Israliens 4, gets the remix treatment by Bliss. I like the remix, it has lots of energy, but it’s also a lot busier than the original, which sounds a lot cleaner. I like the original better, but the remix is ok too. Chilakillers (T4) is more of the same thing, lots of energy and drive. Search and Destroy is typical Azax Syndrom, more of the style that was also displayed on his collaboration album with Bliss. Toxic and Slug vs. Lost & Found continue in the energetic trend of this compilation with Synthetic (T7), which is doing great so far on the freaking out department. Then the second surprise. One from Astral Projection gets the remix treatment by A-Team. The melodies of the original are kept in place, while receiving a slightly more uptempo and harder edge. That bass line hammers away nicely and if this is (together with U On Acid) is what A-Team is going to be all about, then that double album looks like it’s going to be great. What do you gain by buying this compilation? Well, a few of the better, harder full on tracks out there at the moment. Mastering is done by Roy Engel from Painkiller and it all sounds crisp and with everything in the right place. Artwork is pretty basic, but ok. The kinda handwritten font is nice, and the diamond fits in nicely with the overall theme of the album. The tracks are all great, and I don’t really have any favourites here. |
