Megalopsy - The Abstract Machine

(Release date: 14 Feb 2005)

taken from www.psyreviews.com, written by Damion, 2005

I would never have really thought that hard as nails, nightmarish stuff would lend itself too well to the artist-album-as-fluid-single-entity sort of thing. But this bunch of utter psychotics from Argentina have pulled a bit of a blinder, in fact more than that: this album (divided into three movements, sort of) has so many moments that just have me shaking my head in disbelief, grinning like a buffoon, and/or experiencing a rekindled faith in electronic music. The intro, Chaos, has a great sound to it, easing in with big breaks that clear the sonic pallet and ease open the scope for the distant, racing kick of Obscure Warlock, which proceeds to quickly dip you in batter before deep-frying you with high-end mentalism. Fractal Circus is unforgiving, heavy going with a rigid groove to it that's caustic until you can't take it any more, at which point it breaks and picks up this noise that sounds like a fountain, coming up from the centre and cascading 303style over the edges, before the tune employs some deliciously evil alice-in-wonderland carousel melodies under scything midrange swoops to really whip things into shape. The wonderfully-titled Goblin Grin has an almost Finnish backbone to it, and is all about pulling surprises out of the hat. Great changes, great noises, utter laughter eeks from the speakers. Absolutely excellent – just indescribable, but let's say something like “all the evil demons you've ever encountered are back as mascots on a cereal box, and they're chasing you down looking to fortify you with something rather punchier than vitamins and iron”. That'll do. The flow here really starts to work, with the track easing out into Juggling Spheres, which puts a bit more zany funk into proceedings. More like a hammer horror moment, and the drop into the final run deserves to be committed to a mental institutio n. Then, the track shifts int an actually pretty gorgeous, yet still twisted, transylvaniac breaks movement. Sounding like a completely different track, and further proof that this is designed to work well played all the way through, I mean this really is something that other artists could think of doing. It adds as a great buffer, before Pachamama thunks in, sounding all the more energised for the hiatus. Building up to a really nice and clear peak, it's a little like it's taken an oldskool melody and dragged it through a hellish blender. The laughing monkeys then signal the start of something sweet: Monkey Supernova, possibly the standout track here. It's just hilarious, it picks up and then messes about and just makes me laugh… oh man. So many changes, time signatures and basslines and midsection after midsection, orchestral stuff… I mean this is just sheer genius. Sheer. Genius. Space Cadet marks the final movement of the album, Cosmos, and also suggests a more menacing turn. It' s a less playful vibe, picking up deep atmospheres at the break, all hanging together nicely. Devenir-Cosmos has an incredibly individual sound, all high-end and but driving, a perfect way to close the album before the outro Cosmos stabs in with messed up breaks, incredibly messed up sounds, delightful movement and… my god. Just staggering. There's little more I can say that I haven't said already: this is a ballsy, feisty triumph of an album, utterly adorable and with a gazillion times more imagination and flair than you'll find on most discs. It may not be your normal style of psytrance, but it's unquestionably good electronic music.



9 of 10 points

taken from www.tranzfusion.net, 2005

"I would never have really thought that hard as nails, nightmarish stuff would lend itself too well to the artist-album-as-fluid-single-entity sort of thing. But this bunch of utter psychotics from Argentina have pulled a bit of a blinder, in fact more than that: this album (divided into three movements, sort of) has so many moments that just have me shaking my head in disbelief, grinning like a buffoon, and/or experiencing a rekindled faith in electronic music. The intro, Chaos, has a great sound to it, easing in with big breaks that clear the sonic pallet and ease open the scope for the distant, racing kick of Obscure Warlock, which proceeds to quickly dip you in batter before deep-frying you with high-end mentalism. Fractal Circus is unforgiving, heavy going with a rigid groove to it that's caustic until you can't take it any more, at which point it breaks and picks up this noise that sounds like a fountain, coming up from the centre and cascading 303style over the edges, before the tune employs some deliciously evil alice-in-wonderland carousel melodies under scything midrange swoops to really whip things into shape. The wonderfully-titled Goblin Grin has an almost Finnish backbone to it, and is all about pulling surprises out of the hat. Great changes, great noises, utter laughter eeks from the speakers. Absolutely excellent – just indescribable, but let's say something like “all the evil demons you've ever encountered are back as mascots on a cereal box, and they're chasing you down looking to fortify you with something rather punchier than vitamins and iron”. That'll do. The flow here really starts to work, with the track easing out into Juggling Spheres, which puts a bit more zany funk into proceedings. More like a hammer horror moment, and the drop into the final run deserves to be committed to a mental institutio n. Then, the track shifts int an actually pretty gorgeous, yet still twisted, transylvaniac breaks movement. Sounding like a completely different track, and further proof that this is designed to work well played all the way through, I mean this really is something that other artists could think of doing. It adds as a great buffer, before Pachamama thunks in, sounding all the more energised for the hiatus. Building up to a really nice and clear peak, it's a little like it's taken an oldskool melody and dragged it through a hellish blender. The laughing monkeys then signal the start of something sweet: Monkey Supernova, possibly the standout track here. It's just hilarious, it picks up and then messes about and just makes me laugh… oh man. So many changes, time signatures and basslines and midsection after midsection, orchestral stuff… I mean this is just sheer genius. Sheer. Genius. Space Cadet marks the final movement of the album, Cosmos, and also suggests a more menacing turn. It' s a less playful vibe, picking up deep atmospheres at the break, all hanging together nicely. Devenir-Cosmos has an incredibly individual sound, all high-end and but driving, a perfect way to close the album before the outro Cosmos stabs in with messed up breaks, incredibly messed up sounds, delightful movement and… my god. Just staggering. There's little more I can say that I haven't said already: this is a ballsy, feisty triumph of an album, utterly adorable and with a gazillion times more imagination and flair than you'll find on most discs. It may not be your normal style of psytrance, but it's unquestionably good electronic music.

taken from www.mandarin.nu, written by Scobbah, 2005

"Here's my review, originally posted in swedish at Mandarin.nu.


Trishula Records delivers their second release, and it's Argentinian Megalopsy's debut album who's up for the bounce this time. For once, there's a considerated concept offered within the release, which I personally think is something all too rare among today's releases. The Abstract Machine welcomes the listener with an introduction to chaos, and from there guide the listener thru its four chapters and finally cut the rope with some Argentinian cosmos.

Welcome to the abstract machine.


01 – Intro / Chaos (02:03)
The disc introduces itself on a little weird dubby wise with a piece of distorted melodies. A voice introduces the abstract machine during the later minute. This is not something peculiar but quite OK and a bit different as for being an intro to start a disc with.

02 – Obscure Warlock (07:32)
Now there's finally time for the disc's first chapter ( Chaos ), and it's time to move your legs to rhythms adapted for training sessions at night. At times, the evil melodies feels like something who could've been born in infamous Örebro, and every now and then you can almost feel the smell of moss in the summernight when a forestgiant like this one is streaming through the speakers. I face a hard time what yets happens melodically about six minutes into the track, and someone with worse tinnitus than I have may please be friendly and explain this. It sounds awfully bad, but fortunately it doesn't last long before the word is passed on to a conceptually long outro.

03 – Fractal Circus (08:24)
It changes to a lower gear in aggressiveness and we're entering the realmos of the fractal circus. I do not like to use the expression "warped" all the time, but so far during the listening session of the disc that word has occupied my sense. You don't know what's going on, if it's beautiful or not - Megalopsy is bending the borders of the mind and makes the brain totally flipped out. The result becomes a journey at night with a lot of rhythm and aggressive leads who's considered passed by far, but it still nothing that feels sensationally good. The first chapter ends with one and a half minute of concept friendly outro, and I really like the feeling who's spreading in the body of storytelling, that the whole album is more of a long story from A to Z than a heartbeatin' steamroller who's frustrated til it's out of gas. So far it feels like everything has a touch of deep consideration.

04 – Goblin Grins (08:48)
The second chapter ( Chaos Fade Out ) embraces us with a doublekick as tool, and the trip bumps on wildly through playful dark atmospheres. What many tracks adapted for the night faces as a problem today in my humble opinion is that they lack keeping a red trace through the track, a feeling of being a total journey, a story. Even if this track doesn't get me screaming, the red trace is very strong here through out the whole session and it's evident even if you're deaf and the track liberates itself from following specific patterns. This is pure love for ending the mind both once, twice and even three times!

05 – Juggling Spheres (09:27)
The disc's fifth ingredience invites my ears for the best massage so far. It's a wild rumble going on as aggressive leads is taking over, well accompanied by dark atmopsheres and a heavy bunch of drummerbass. The trip consists of all possible qualities whom a real dancefloorgiant should be able to tempt with at night, and just like the previous track the red trace is very evident. A couple of sweatdrops later it's time for the concept to put it's touch to the story again, and for each long outro who passes by through the speakers, the concept appeals to me even more.

06 – Pachamama (08:42)
The time has come to clear path for the disc's third chapter ( Cosmos Fade In ), and the track's power is identified after a couple of sessions as the deep atmospherical leads. Fundamentally, it feels a bit mediocre with a boring bassline and durign some parts the loss of some real action is total, such action as the trio has previously been delivering during the disc's playtime.

07 – Monkey Supernova (07:29)
The seventh track does highly deserve it's title when it introduces itself, and with a fresh grip on your ears it takes start with a groovy foundation. Megalopsy once again ties up the concept in a perfect way and does here deliver a track who's marching in true Parvati spirit. Besides speed and twists the track contains a whole lot of aggressive leads and charming trippy moments. The track's finishing part is unbelivably magnificent and with its last minutes it totally runs you over. This is how it's supposed to be done!

08 – Space Cadet (08:10)
The fourth chapter ( Cosmos ) rattles on after an atmospherical presentation, and even if this track is sort of groovy it doesn't feel like something that's best experienced at the dancefloor. In fact the track's character makes this track not suitable as an element on a compilation, but a track of this kind serves only on an album, and then the question is how well is suits is function as an excursion. Happily this track is working fine as an excursion, and the track creates a sweet element on the disc. This track isn't meant to make people scream and flip out, but this is an evident segment of consideration. As I mentioned earlier, not just full madness from the beginning to the end. Thumbs up!

09 – Devenir-Cosmos (08:27)
Here you'll find my definitive favorite track on this album. It's hard and emtional, with leads who entangles one another. A real woodsman who invites for a dance, not especially hard mentally but instead it radiates vibrational energy and joy. An impressive demonstration of power of what does crazy freaks are capable of, a display whom I listens through many times and for each time I discovers new things in this musical picture. More! More!

10 – Outro / Cosmos (04:14)
I not getting as charmed by the disc's outro as I got by it's intro, but it's still four relatively atmospherical minutes where Megalopsy guides us on our trip. It's slightly experimental and there's some elements here for sure who ends up the total journey perfectly, even though I'm not that impressed here.

Summary
The music silences, the speakers returns to their sleep and it's all of a sudden very empty in the room. Megalopsy's debut album is a very different experience, and I have to admit that it's been nice to get the chance of reviewing an album where the expectations has been set to zero before, due that I haven't heard much of Megalopsy before. All of this to be able to recieve the concept with an clean open mind. Even if some vibrations from the album isn't that innovative, even if not every second is plesuring my consciousness, the piece as whole is impressive. They have really succeeded with their concept, and those long outros on each track makes nice elements who really raises the feeling of that this is an ongoing journey from the very first track to the very last.

Even if not all tracks are perfect, there's still not one single product on this CD who doesn't get passed. The level of quality is fairly high and with it's convincing concept this disc is well worth to spend its lifetime in your record collection back home. Are you looking for something who's completely different compared to the most releases on the market today and are prepared to compromise with that your toes might not dance every second - well then this is something for you."

taken from www.psytrance.cz, written by Cymoon, 2005

"Megalopsy is a three men project coming from Argentina and after their first track released on Ignis Fatuus compilation they are here with their full lenght debut album The Abstract Machine. Megalopsy is here to express and explore the potential violence and hypnotism of music and according to this first album, they are sucessful with it and they have developed quite unique sound.

The Abstract Machine is definitely dedicated to the night hours of a psychedelic trance party, but you can listen to it at home as well, because this is one of the rare albums, which sounds to me as a whole piece of music, a concept album with the beginning and the end and not being boring after the 4th track. It is not a sampler of their best kicking tunes sounding the same in general. It sounds like it was made with the idea behind, which is a journey from the ultimate chaos to the cosmos through different moods and spaces. You can read the whole concept in the booklet and I think the guys made the idea come true.

The album is slowly builded from short ambient intro and when it comes to the beat, they are not trying to show how fast they can make it right in the beginning. They are starting slowly and build the atmosphere up to the fast dark maddness and finnish it with kind of electro-ethno-breakbeat track. They are experimenting with bassline structure and sound, using various element such as typical dark psy sounds and noises mixed with orchestral parts with piano for example, lots of voice samples and beaufitul spooky melodies remind me the goa feeling sometimes. They do not hesitate finnish their tracks with a long chill outros and sometimes you dont even recognize when the next track starts. Each track has its own personality and tells its own story, but everything is connected together at the same time.

This is one of the strongest "so called dark psy" albums I have heard so far especially for a debut album so I hope to hear more great tunes from Megalopsy and you should check this album out if you like your nights being dark, mad, exciting and interesting.

taken from www.psychedelicplanet.com, written by Tigo, 2005

" Weird - speedy and full of amazing sounds. These were my first impressions when I pushed the play button and started the journey into the unknown universe of Megalopsy.

Disharmonic melodies and shrilly tunes in the psychic way, followed by a lot of sounds shifting at an enormous speed, were filling the room, including a wide span of different effects and a lot of little sounds that appears in an almost teasing way just like a goblins work.

The funny little goblins that are laughing and having fun, makes me get the feeling of another place beyond this very physical world, a place that is full of joy and happiness, and I can't wait to go there and meet the goblins. But the music also indicates that there's a lot of luring and tricks of an evil unknown force that I might be better off without.

The screaming of psychedelic monkeys, later on, reminds me first of the planets of the apes, but as I hear it again it make me deduce that; this time the monkeys seems to be teased by the abstract goblins coming from the psychedelic astral universe. Here the monkeys simply respond to the annoying teasing. But this is just the start of a journey into this CD and we also catch a glimpse of a space odyssey when the theme of Stanley Kubricks finest movie suddenly appears, and the monolithic music on this album makes a perfect parallel to the movie. You guys have plenty of expressions to present in your music, and the way you have chosen to do it, by linking all tracks together like a 74 minutes monolith, makes it a hard task to describe. Getting around describing all the facets satisfying and in a justified way is just impossible.

There is an amazing overview in controlling the sounds, even when the music sometimes jump into chaos full of disordered sounds and awful noise, but it all fits in the right way and the fat beat blend in saving me from frustration by adding a very fine and powerful ground that evens out the chaotic noisy environment. I am stunned about the ways the music keeps evolving; making all sorts of changes all the time and not to spots in the whole album is the same.

Did you break my concentration? - Oh yes you sure did, and several times. The way you blend in voices and the way you bend and speedcut the sounds make me want to let all the concentration break up and let the music guide the flow of my thoughts. Don't be sorry - it's a good feeling letting my mind flow.

The best of the cover design is the inside picture describing different universes melting together in this one big cosmos controlled by four figures, the warlock, the goblin, the monkey, and the alien, representing the mysterious teasing confusing odd felling this music brings. Great album.

Megalopsy - Abstract Machine from Trishula Records reviewed by Tigo"

taken from forum.isratrance.com, written by Memory Loss, 2005

"Now for the review :

1. The CD open with a 2 minutes long intro..Kinda break beat track with spacey sounds and alien speaking or what ever it be.

2. Next is Obscure Warlock :It's not so fast tune but got some psychedelic sounds all over there..Some brainblowing pads powerfull kick and great leads!!!

3. Fractal Circus : Also not fast one but blowing check the balls in 4:00 very nice part!! until the end its build nicely with a great long outro!!

4. Goblin Grin : This is a very nice track with a double kick alot of scary FX and psychedelic tunes!! Sweet acid lines!!

5. Juggling Spheres. One of my favorits powerfull psychedelic and great spooky melo's the great way night music should be!!
The long outro in the end is like a evil story with thos pads!!! I love it!

6. Pachamama. Another powerull hypnotic night track check the FX in 4:49 very nice lines!! The track ends with some monkey voices and its leading us to the next one...

7. Monkey Supernova..Start with the last track monkey voices.But a new story.. Also another favoirt in here..I really love the kinda break in 3:40 after that a low kick is in and then its all explode like a bomb! I love this part..Until the end is keep edding more psychedelic voices FX and great tunes!

8. Space Cadet. The most not fast tune in this CD.. I really liked the sounds in 2:52 sounds like an alien speaking..Not much hypnotic but a nice one.

9. Devenir Cosmos.. My favorit in here,maybe because its the fast tune here (148).Start with a scary pad that leading you to another dimension.Powerfull kick and bassline with great pads in the backround!! check the laguh 3:26 after that the track explode and breaking loss!! great part!!

10. Cosmos (Outro)..We close this CD with 4 minutes chill outro..Another break beat..All over ther is a sweet bell that remind me a indian tool or somthing..

Overall nice debut by Megalopsy..I didnt like the long outros of each track but this is the concept!! Keep like that Megalopsy..Another thing is the cover I really love the cover!..Keep up Trishula Records!"

taken from http://www.psynews.org by John Coco

This album is dark psytrance with a decent amount melodies. There are atmospheric intro and outro segments before and after each track. I enjoy and find all of them interesting. The artists change their style up several times throughout the tracks. People looking for one continous style may be turned-off by this album. Those a little more open-minded may find the changes welcome. The entire album doesn't stick to one formula, which is different. This was one of the better dark psytrance releases of 2005. I have heard this album about five times since I last posted before this review.

INTRO - I like the intro. It sets the mood nicely. Short, strange, omnious, and fairly mysterious. I suppose for an intro it's decent. However, the same cheap effect used to alter the so-called alien voice here... is used in Insane Clown Posse's six main Jokers Cards albums. The voice sounds similar to ICP's albums too. C+

OBSCURE WARLOCK - Starts out interesting, but I don't care for this song. I find it too repetitive. It has a distorted melody that plays through-out which I don't find all that catchy. The psy-sounds compliment it, and the song never seems to really go anywhere. The ambient/atmospheric sounds toward the end are very well placed and set-up the opening to the third track. If repetetive, dark psytrance is your cup of tea, you may enjoy this. C

Fractal Circus - Better than the previous track. It's more interesting, involving, and it changes more. Just slightly into the first two minutes the whole song seems to change. Things are starting to get better. The kickdrum just stops and some cool melodies commpliment a transition. At 5:00 minutes into the song, those melodies are very catchy! I forgot how much I liked this song. It's starts slow and develops into something very catchy. There is lots of change here, and not just change, but change for the better. This is one of my most favorite tracks on the album. B-

GOBLIN GRINS - More aggresive than previous tracks. The distorted melody that comes in arond 2:00 I don't care for. I like when the beats stop and there are these interesting, dark transition moments in the track. There are several transition moments here. The chime-esque melodies are very catchy, like a filtered piano. When the track slows down, the whole song feels darker. I really like how this song develops after 5:00! The song becomes so much better all of a suden, and all they did was slow something down. That's one thing I very much like about this album: the songs move around; evolve, change; develop. As with previous tracks, an interesting outro transition is fused together into the following song. B-

JUGGLING SPHERES - Like ringing a high pitched bell, there is a very catchy *ding* sound here that compliments the song. There also exists a sample from the film Pulp Fiction. Nice. I like how they didn't over-use it too. Unfortunatley, I don't feel several tracks on this album including this one, engage, or are nearly as arresting as some others are. The second half reminds me a bit of Infected Mushroom with the melodies. All in all, not one of my faves on the album. My favorite part is easily the transition at the end. Wow, great transition! Can they make a whole song as catchy as some of their track ending/transitions?, that could be great: dark, atmopsheric, downtempo trance. B-

PACHAMAMA - The structure starts similar to Goblin Grins, but with fewer beats or b.p.m. The baseline, beat, and overall song I find repetitive and tiresome for the first four minutes. The radio voices mixed in are catchy. Some squeeky and psy-sounds around the kickdrum make this track sound similar to much dark psytrance out there. The song becomes more attractive once the melodies come in around 4:00, but nothing great. The grainy, radio-esque voice sample helps, but by then it's too late for me. The song never seems to take off or really go anywhere interesting. C

MONKEY SUPERNOVA - It's darker then the previous one, and certainly more developed. It doesn't really seem to go anywhere interesting until after a cool little sample appears in the middle, reminding the listener of maybe a monkey traveling through outer space. I suppose the monkey goes to Hell or into a blackhole because the song gets darker. One of the better or tracks on the album. The theme is at least original I think. A very catchy part is when the music slows slows down before speeding up in the second half, and when the track ends very DARK, with strong industrial ambience and atmosphere.. this curious segment cleverly fronts the next song. C+

SPACE CADET - Really feel this is of the best songs on the album. I VERY much enjoy how this thing starts. DARK, and with those melodies... A fairly good amount of layers. It's spooky, aggressive, and rough. I WISH there were MORE involved DARK tracks like this one and GOBLIN GRINS on THIS album... songs with more emotion, personality, and character. This track is arguably the best song on the album. Seriously, I strongly feel that if you don't like this track, track 2, or track 3, this album is definitely NOT for you at all. The pretty flute sound seems almost ironic here.. as if almost to give "hope" to a rather draining abyss of lost souls. I'm being more poetic there, it's just the visual I get. This song is more psychedelic, with what appears to be a bit more layers and mixing. The liquid-ish sounds and sound skipping is a nice touch too. Details are nice, and this is one of the several songs on the album that seems to executes it's many VERY well. B

DEVENIR-COSMOS - Is it me or did the album just start to really spice things up a bit toward the end? Not until these last three songs have I felt the album becoming bettter then initially thought. I think these several tracks go together very well. it's like less filler and morequality tracks back-to-back. Also, the style and tone seems to have gotten a shade darker, and veered close to dark/evil. *WoW* the first time I used the word EVIL the whole time on this album. Don't get too excited, it's never Xenomorph-evil, however the album seems to get, well darker towards the end. The actual song is pretty cool too. C+

OUTRO / COSMOS - Nice closing. Why can't it be longer?! The echoed clapping and psy-sounds at around 2:00 are fairly catchy. I think it would have been great if after it fades, it suddenly returns again and *WHAM* with more layers and energy to compliment it than before. It's feels so short at 4:14. Oh well. C+

In conclusion, this albums worth checking out if you're into dark psytrance. I don't find this album great, for what I consider great, but it's definitely well above average. I think some of the intros/outros around each track are imaginative, interesting.. They're different and intriging, and occasionally more interesting than the track that follows. It would be nice to hear some dark psytrance tracks as interesting as their intro/outro segment bits. It maintains a dark tone throughout. Also, it seems to have some fillers, or songs clearly not as good as others. I think if these artists focus on the more catchy elements of their debut, and capitalize on that.. (melodies, atmosphere, intro's/outro's, take more risks, get more intricate, darker, catchy, throw in some surprise moments, basically just *WoW* us) maybe they can release something that grabs far more listeners and buyers than they did with their debut album.

Track faves are 3, 4, 8.

My overall Grade/Score: B-