Procs - Stuck in the oven with me

(Release date: 29 Nov 2005)

Taken from Sonic-Energy.net, written by Rah, 2005

What's this about

Mikke Stegman has been baking all year long for the Christmas treats. The ingredients do not include aggressive, menacing beats threatening to cause cardiac arrests, nor psychological traumatic experiences. It’s a different theme altogether. As if he had been isolated from what we the usually define as hardened twilight trance. His creations are somehow mysterious, terribly eccentric and nearly aberrant… but he’s doing all this with a… strange smile in his face, albeit is not an evil smirk. What’s the big difference? I’m going to let you decide:


01. Gluffsing the Pop. *

If by Gluffsing he means sinking the reverb-ed kick the slimiest mud you can get your hands on…and if by pop he means long winded church organs sliding on each other, added the synthetic bleepy under back…this is not the Madonna we are talking about here. I don’t know why the evolution of the track reminds me of classical music, more than trance. Probably cause Mikke actually studied music a bit? It starts of well, leading a trail of smoke for what is yet to be heard.


02. Mr. Baengrot Rides Again. *

Little did Mr. Baengrot know about the journey that lied ahead: Rhythms with warm organic slices for any standard jungle rituals. Accordions splashing a strange vibe disappear by the same gate they came in. relentless effects engage in their own little conversation with the samples in manic orchestration. Hold on to your rockers Mr. Baengrot.


03. The Tailnissers Tale (Mofy Mix) *

We continue the jungle exploration through uncharted territories, digital cricketing and effects planted in scarcity. The Tailnissers near techno grooves, hints less straightforward action. The surroundings are murky, with warm organic roots, instead of cacophonous steel harshness. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to square it as a manic piece of good hip-dancing forest.


04. Gelatom Megafon

The Megafon makes a return to neo-jazzy departures in the form of clarinets (or so it seems to me), aligned with relentless bass and effects galore. It’s psychedelic without being taxing or intense on the ears… you can actually enjoy the flow. Reminds me of previous works released on Altitude Recordings.



05.  Overtures from the Oven

Drummalism with the characteristic Procs signature continuing on a similar vein as the Megafon: twisting the theme on freaky circus lines delayed, chopped to bits, rewound and twisted as if to mimic an overall wobbly effect. The overtures reach abstraction, to later recompose themselves. Syncopation carries the trip forward.


06. Samsonited *

For those not entirely aware Samsonite is one of those travel-bag companies. I inherited an old model a while back now and it has really gone distance. Very sturdy bags, a certain bummer to be slammed by with one of their models repeatedly. The track is by most means Boshke beats techno. That same techno beat splashed with minimalism, evolving into magical pads phasing out on neverend. It peaks and drops back down with slimy effects trashed in undercurrents… it’s sweet.

07. Pogo Pedagog

By this point the jet engines are definitely warm. It takes us a while to get here, but once it does it was a good thing we didn’t miss it. The climax by the last section is something to keep in mind. How else to describe, liquid-metal shrieks chopped in slices with a night-time lead…?


08. Sub Glob

We just entered fourth gear. It is very baffling… not sure if I dislike it or love it. Sure it’s tribal with a disjointed beat. It’s got a juicy filling, but it’s mighty strange on the outside… If you wanted weirdness you will be satisfied with this one.

09. Buforsk normal

Now, I don’t know what Buforsk means, I’m not even going to bother looking it up. But, you know when someone decides to name anything ‘normal’ in psychedelic trance … it’s a bullshit triple-dare. We have reached the apex and I’m very pleased the cover of normality has been blown off. Unrestrained sample interaction, wrapping itself with a theme of some sort and good old chanting.

10. Hidden Song…

Seven minutes later…

“I didn’t want to come to this institution but my brother insisted. I can see no sense in it myself; you see I’m convinced that I’m not suffering from any hallucination but, that my guilt is really real. I know Dr. Edwards that I killed my daughter and that I’m willing to pay the penalty for it… - Come in…”


All and all

There is bit of concern on the energy level the tracks communicate and the dance floor potential this might have. For those waiting to encounter non-sequential senselessness and pounding ‘till-you-die; the album does pull a funky strike. This is a lot more musical and coherent… generally speaking. Mikke has shown he has his own way of exploring ideas and for the most part it works very well. A little more diversity would have been welcome on a few spaces, given his previous tracks. That said the concept album is a well integrated journey, following a progression of intriguing proposals if you have heard Procs previously.

If you are one of those who found Derango-styled forest music inaccessible, you will be delighted to see new ideas are cropping up. I will personally keep it as showing material for acquaintances, not yet enlightened on the whole psy trance thing… and why we consider this music so ingenious, crazy and ultimately original from anything else in the market out there today.

Review by Deathposture

What evil lurks…?

The debut album from Procs (Mikael Stegman) is the 6th release from German dark-trance label Trishula Records… And with Stuck In The Oven With Me , the label is venturing further into shroomy forest trance territory… Ever since I heard the first Procs/Peyote People tracks on Scrambled Heads back in 2001 I’ve been a fan of Mikke Stegman’s work… And recently, I’ve drooled over both his Procs and Duck Off compilation tracks – they’ve all been stand-outs, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting the debut album by this Swedish sound sorcerer…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Gluffsing The Pop
AFAIK this track was made almost four years ago, but who cares, it’s sizzling hot! After a short, spooky intro we’re exposed to a brutal, heavily filtered bassline… And that’s the meanest thing I’ve heard since the last Schlabbaduerst compilation… The naïve, simple melodies in the background strike a remarkable contrast to the deep bass – and that elevates the track into higher spheres… I mean, I dare anyone not to be hypnotized by those enchanting melodies and that evil bassline… Damn – this track is so freaking hardcore, that it makes me write Engrish… Amazing!

#02: Mr. Bängrot Rides Again
I’m not that familiar with Swedish folklore, but something tells me that Mr. Bängrot deals in lobotomies! Auch! And yeah – this will mess with your brain! Hard-hitting, gut-wrenching, foot-moving, mind-expanding night trance…As eerie as it is energetic… This is an express ride of a track moving at an incredible speed – passing Finland, Australia and India – before winding up back in Sweden… Watch out – the creepy accordion might suck you in… Anyway, this is an intense track, but not as hypnotizing as the previous one…

#03: The Tailnissers Tale (Moffy Mix)
Another older track – given the Moffy treatment! Oh my, this is dark, pounding relentless night trance – with a majestic, orchestral glory to it… Kinda like The Misted Muppet meets The Delta… Instantly spooky yet strangely appealing… Horrific! After a while, Mikke pays homage to Metallica’s Frantic track of the St. Anger album… Listen @ 3’59 and you’ll understand what I’m talking about… ‘Frantic tick tick tick tick tick tick tock’! A solid track, though I feel the general consensus kinda fades halfway thru…;/

#04: Gelatom Megafon
Another orchestral intro which soon evolves into a tour de force of Hitchcock’esque nerve-wrecking odd-ball trance… Bizarre, perverted and totally avant-garde… I mean – just check out the horns… Very abstract! In that sense, this is one of the least-accessible tracks here, but I’m sure this will be a hit with fans of Suomi trance and other freaks… Despite repeated listens, I still haven’t fully absorbed this track – but I’m sure I’ll come around eventually…

#05: Overtures From The Oven
Now check out this soundtrack to the carnival of the damned… The intensity level rises and you can now cut the eerie atmosphere with a knife… This is highly demented saiko-trance – and I can vividly picture freaks from a lunatic asylum dancing their asses of to this… Very, very unique stuff here – multilayered, fragmented and extremely atmospheric… It really creeps me out… But I like getting scared… Wikkid!

#06: Samsonited
And now it’s time for some suitcase trance… And this is where Procs gets down to the nitty-gritty… And by that, I mean industrial-slash technoid pounding night-trance… Still very Halloween like, and eerie as hell, but much more pounding than some of the previous tracks… Like Spirallianz on LSD wearing a hockey mask and sporting a chainsaw… And a suitcase full of weaponry! Hardcore, beastly stuff – in the best possible way!

#07: Pogo Pedagog
Return of the peyote people! Yes, this is where it gets reeaaaaaally psychedelic… I mean, this has nothing on Derango… It’s equally shroom-a-delic and very trip-friendly! Literally hundreds of twisted, distorted, demented little melodies are twirling about all over this track… Acid bits are thrown in to mess with your senses and overall this is one hell of a trip tool… The title translates into something similar to ‘kindergarten/nursery teacher with pogo stick’… And yeah, I guess after that translation there is really nothing more to say... Except: Kick-ass track!

#08: Sub Glob
And now it just gets plain weird… Uncanny even! A highly fragmented, deeply strange track – that could easily have been produced in Finland or the weirder part of Australia… It’s fast-paced odd-ball trance which may be a bit too hectic for me… Maybe!

#09: Buforsk Normal
We’re back on track with this hard-hitting, ass-wiggle friendly closing track… Again, the good old psychedelia meter has been cranked up, and once again we’re deep in the dark Swedish forests tripping hard on shrooms… The many funny samples remind me of older Procs material – great! A great, unique, trippy track… Brilliant!

#10: Untitled (Hidden track)
“I didn't want to come to this institution but my brother insisted. I can see no sense in it myself. You see, I'm convinced that I'm not suffering from any hallucination but, that my guilt is really real. I know Dr. Edwards that I killed my daughter and that I'm willing to pay the penalty for it… Come in!” Hidden after three minutes of silence is an extra little titbit… More severely demented Procs madness… And oh yes, this is some crazy shit – and that’s meant as superlatives! A nice added bonus… The ending is ripe!

How do you like them apples? Well, to put it short, this album wasn’t all that I had hoped it would be… But my expectations were maybe too high, I dunno… I don’t think the tracks here are as good as some of Procs previous compilation tracks… But hey, don’t get me wrong – this is still a VERY nice album… And on the psychedelia front this is indeed one of the best releases of 2005 – only topped by the Derango album and the latest Parvati compilation… So, it’s not bad at all…It’s just not as amazing as I’d hoped for…

Whereas the production sounds sweet, I had a hard time appreciating the artwork here… It’s made by Stegman himself, and I guess somehow it fits the oddball theme of the music… But it’s not pretty! Anyway, that’s not really important. The music is however - and I cannot even begin to think how many creative hours Stegman invested in this… I mean, this is not just psychedelic – it’s über-mind-boggling psychedelic… Very impressive! Fans of genre-bending, extremist, oddball night trance will most likely take well to this… Purists and 4/4 trance elitists might wanna look elsewhere! I dig it though – and would recommend it to fans of the above mentioned style… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1(!), 5, 7(!), 9(!!)

DeathPosture