| Release Date: | 2003-08-06 |
By Peter Cvetanovski
Used with permission from In The Mix
Enigma Records, one of the most recent independent record labels to startup business and try gain a big market locally, comes out with their second full outing in the form of the simply titled volume two. Can they bust out some new wicked sounds just as they did in their first adventure?
From the first up rhythmic sounds of this CD I would say that very much yes, there is again great talent to be found. Path by Native, one of Enigma's new artists, is pure top quality and proves there is talent here. It is a progressive journey into trancey, tribal and ambient sounds which would start off any trance/progressive album, compilation or DJ set in a fantastic way.
Moving through the first few progressive tracks from Native, Accession and Sybil's ORbit, we hit more up-tempo territory with Victor James & Chris Tisdell's Conflict, a good trance track that can be uplifting at times but also considered a bit dark. Next up we come across the bangin' techno sounds of H.P.S? with the non-stop Digital.
Spinners Breed is still sticking strong with Enigma and their track Back To Earth is a favourite of mine on here. It is a really well produced track that is pretty uplifting and holds a tougher trance edge to it. Whenever you hear this track and think that it sounds way too familiar, you would be right because this track is what you could call a "remake" of Cosmic Gate's own Back To Earth tune. Still, even though it's not entirely original, Spinners Breed has produced this track in a very precise and quality driven way.
Mind Emotion from Xenobis continues on with the nice trance feel until we hit the faster paced sounds of Torn and Green Ink from H.P.S? and also Mayhem by Spinners Breed. Native makes a welcome return towards the end in the form of Music & Life, another quality production with an eerie, rhythmic and progressive movement. Victor James & Chris Tisdell end off this album with the progressive, hypnotic and mellow trance sounds of Fermat's Last Theorem.
One thing that I really liked about the first volume and continues onto this album, is the fact that the tracks, which are mixed into each other, flow on throughout the CD very smoothly and this is always maintained. It gives you a real sense of a journey and I guess in what can be seen in a good or a bad way, before you know it; the 13 tracks on this CD are over.
So did I find some really exciting new sounds? Most probably I would say yes, more especially though with the masterful sounds of Native. As a whole, I really enjoyed this album but thought that at times it was getting a bit too progressive and that it could of done with a more melodic and up-tempo touch here and there. At the end of it all, Enigma Records has set themselves for a good future with this release and with the roster of new talented Australian dance artists that they continue to build on, Enigma may soon be a name to look out for on the big time International stage.