Tegma - Avant.Garde

( Candyflip , Mar. 2005 )



1. Eternal Sleep 136bpm 8:37
2. Modern Movement 138bpm 7:04
3. Myth of an Angel 140bpm 8:44 
4. Trunder-Blade 140bpm 7:35
5. X-Istanz 142bpm 8:49
6. Trapped in a Hypercube 140bpm 7:39
7. Consciousness 142bpm 7:16
8. Clock Next Door 138bpm 7:36
9. Irrational Impulses 138bpm 9:38

A second Tegma album landing on my desk raised my curiosity. I really liked Tegma when I heard their first released tracks, and when their debut album reached me I was quite disappointed, I just didn't like it at all. I had almost nothing of what got me into Tegma's music. A word about the cover- a nice booklet with the guys telling us a little about each track and the creation of the album and about their live sets, all in tasteful minimal design. Very nice!

The album starts with emotional 1997 feel, old California Sunshine feel. Tears-in-your-eyes-in-front-of-a-beautiful-dawn kind of track- beautiful. Modern Movement contrasts it to more mechanic low-tech realms, very grabby. Myth of an Angel (T3) goes uplifting things around. Next there's a mission from god. More power here in one of my favorites here, a happy tune that really makes me wanna dance. X-Istaz (T5) goes the same way, a lot of energies and Son-Kitish feel. Very energetic and jumpy. Trapped in a Hypercube (T6) is my favorite here probably, as it brings back the old Tegma, of Doppleganger & Rockblocker, the tracks that got me hooked on Tegma at the time. Massive, dark, relentless pounding grooves with psychedelic coating. Great. Consciousness also carries that same high energy with dark pounding horse riding rhythm, but it opens up uninterestingly in the middle. The last two tracks relax things a bit and show in some more light. Clock Next Door (T8) has enough scratching sounds to make me happy and breaks up into oldskool melodies that meet again with the feel of the opening track. Beautiful. Irrational Impulses ends things with groovier and more mysterious hypnotic sounds and strong atmosphere.

Recomendation: Very nice and solid album, no bad tracks. Almost all is very good dancefloor material and the album is filled with energy and feel. The album is quite diverse for a trance album, especially for most of what comes out these days, and definitely takes the right direction in that sense, but still not enough diversity for my taste. More diversity in sounds and intensity would have made it an excellent one.
Favorites: 1(!), 4, 5, 6(!), 8, 9.

Review by : Shahar.