Stereo Neferia compiled by MMD Records co-owner and popular South African act Zion Linguist marks the return of the MMD sound, presenting established acts like Lost & Found, Khopat, Hiyarant and Damage, along with rising stars B-55 and Rubix Qube to name a few.
The CD starts with Rubix Qube's Grind, which can only be described as a phat, phat groover @ 147bpm. An instant favourite, listening to the track more and more it reminds me distinctly of Broken Toy's fat sound, especially that groove laden bass line. Speaking of Broken Toy, he presents to us his new side project Super Evil with We Want your Soul (T2). Super Evil consists of Broken Toy and guitarist Arno Rodrigues. after having heard phenomanal reviews of their live set, the expectations were very high for Super Evil, and unfortunately it did not meet this reviewer's expectations. Khopat's remix to Ignition's Electromagnetic (T3) is a hard hitting adrenaline filled ride. I have not heard the original, but Khopat gets better with every track he releases, and this one is no different- expect some high octane breakdowns and more fun than a roller coaster ride. Definitely music for the dancefloor. Lost & Found comes next with Insider (T4). This is another blaster from the Gerhard Olivier's labs and unlike some of his more recent releases, this one has a harsher darker feel to it- "picture how it feels to be inside the mind of the possessed!". Well produced music with lots of laser/acid sounds, just the way we like it. The title track Stereo Nefaria (T5) is by Zion Linguist himself. Straight to the point bass line which is pretty cut and dry, and with a very clear aim in mind- destroy the dancefloor! Expect some squeals, squeaks, bleeps and tweaks, all with an ever present feeling of urgency, like it's the last party of the century. Overall though, a pretty cool tune. Following up is Hiyarant who delivers the goods, with No Break (T6) that lives up to what one can expect from him. Very raw, harsh sounds, topped with melodies and enough adrenaline to keep things interesting. Although I am getting a bit tired of this sound, this one will work well on the dancefloors with leads that literally scream at you. I was pretty disappointed with Damage's last album Bad Creationz, and so was not sure what to expect from No Mercy (T7). This tune continues in the same vein, lots of one off samples, and an overall very funky breakbeat feel. Now that I think about it, this actually reminds me a fair bit of the Doof sound, especially Zebra-N. I don't really dig the constant stop go percussions, and bell like leads. But once the trademark Damage sounds are unleashed, this tune puts a smile on my face. On the whole though, this one is not my cup of tea. The Zion Linguist vs. B 55 tune, Insane Asia (T8), on the other hand is an interesting collaboration and delivers a fine piece of in-your-face music. The percussions are a lot crisper than on the other Zion Linguist tune. It actually sounds a lot like the S.W.O.R.N. project that Zigganaut, Zion Linguist and Frozen Ghost used to do together. Both acts compliment each other very well and it shows. Nice track. The CD finishes on a high note with a track from Deliriant who is the newest addition to the Nexus Media crew along with Ctrl Alt Del. Phase me (T9) delivers epic melodies, and giant rips to give this CD a fitting end. Imagine the old Shift sound submerged in layers of creepy evil moods and you may be able to imagine the skill that has gone into this ripper of a track. |
