Review Summary: an album fourteen years in the making...
Do you ever feel like the bugs in your walls are getting drunk, doing drugs, and having rave parties every night? You… you don’t? Well then, let me introduce you to a certain album which will undoubtedly change your mind.
Liquid Jungle is the debut album from Volker Wiesmann, who has been tweaking his music style since 1997, and has finally decided to come out of the shadows. In the video game industry, this would probably result in a disappointingly sub-par game (see Duke Nukem Forever), but this is psytrance, and psytrance veterans often deliver in the end. I fully expected this album to be fantastic, and thankfully, it didn’t let me down.
There is one thing that you should know about this album: you will like it. Although full-on style, it never sounds as aggressive as it actually is. It has its pummeling bass and synth lines in the background, of course, but complimenting it is a nice combination of twilight, and forest music. It doesn’t feel like you’re listening to trance, it feels more like a brisk walk through the jungle. The album starts off rather lighthearted and catchy, but as the album progresses, the music twists and turns into darkpsy. A subgenre often contested for being too relentless, Paraklang has crafted something that is convincingly dark, yet never overbearing.
An elegant combination of light and dark,
Liquid Jungle is absorbed easily. Paraklang’s debut album is a thing of beauty, and it will be interesting to watch his musical progression. As far as I’m concerned, though, he has already found his sound. It’s dark, but it’s also quirky and fun. For the naysayers of darkpsy, or even darkpsy noobs, this is the perfect album to begin with. What are you waiting for?
