1.The Centre Of The Universe
The album starts with an energetic and spacey breaks track,which sets the perfect mood for what is to come. Very rich production filled with effects, some nasty acid action and short spoken vocal samples, which remind me of some Orkidea's productions like Orbithing. The biggest downside for me is the length – it's too short.
Score: 8/10
2. 5000 Light Years From Earth
As soon as the beatless intro with that beautiful, mysterious melody kicks in, I get goosebumps all over. What follows is like a neverending journey through space, where you can just get completely sucked in and it feels like it could go on forever. If there's one track from 2013, which shows what »Pure Trance« means to me, it HAS to be this one. It was very early in 2013 when I heard it for the first time and we're still only halfway through, but I think I can say I already found my TOTY (or a huge contender at least).
Score: 9.5/10
3. Star Gazing
The 3rd track is another progressive trance track. Less powerful than the first two, but it makes up with a really good atmosphere. The percussion, female vocal samples in the background and a mystic melody work together in a good harmony and they give a very mysterious feel to the track.The melody itself is fairly simple, but it works.
Score: 7.5/10
4. Tears From Heaven
Things slow down even further now with the first ambient track. The title fits perfectly with the content. It's a very melancholic track from start to finish. The intro begins with sounds of rain and thunder, followed by a beautiful guitar and later a stunning sad melody played on a piano. Beautiful, sad and goosebumps giving experience.
Score: 8.5/10
5. The Stroke Of The Midnight Hour
After a short break, we're back to full power. At this point the album turns to darker, psy-influenced sounds. It's a fairly straightforwardtrack, but what makes it special to my ears is (again!) the atmosphere. Theshort intro is dark and even a bit scary. It's followed by a pretty long, atmospheric build, which slowly brings us to a powerful breakdown. The latter includes a really unique, strong male speech. After that the track starts building again, but it's already more powerful. The climax is filled with dark effects and mysterious vocal samples.
Score: 8/10
6. WR22
The intro is more on the melancholic territory and has a slightly middle-eastern touch. What follows is a pretty monotone beat with some interesting sounds and effects. However, the track as a whole doesn't make a proper impact for me. Considering that and its length, I'd say it's more like a filler than anything else.
Score: 6/10
7. 340 Million Pixels
We continue with another ambient track, which almost sounds like it could be a movie score. Some strong drums and a slightly subtle, but powerful string melody give a really epic feeling in the first half. The second half turns a tad more aggresive, while still retaining the overall cinematic vibe.
Score: 8/10
8. Clouds Of Karma
After a string of darker tracks comes a much brighter breaks track. The atmosphere is quite comparable to that of »The Astrophysical Nebula«.Very catchy beats accompanied by a dreamy and uplifting melody. Beautiful track.
Score: 8/10
9. WKO
This has to be one of the most fresh-sounding tracks I've heard in quite some time and it's also among my faves from the album. That freakin' awesome lead, which sounds very 90's-like and the vocal samples in the background give the track a spacey and mysterious vibe. After the short break the energy is at it's peak and the climax is short, but epic. I'm only disappointed at the effective length of the track. It's about 7 minutes in total, but it's basically over at the 5 minute mark.
Score: 8.5/10
10. Pillars Of Creation
Going into more traditional Progressive PsyTrance territory.Typical driving bassline and a very long build with some acid layers and spacey effects. It basically builds from start to end and keeps getting stronger and stronger. I'm a big fan of long builds like this as long as the track keeps me interested and this one definitely succeeds at that. About halfway through a trancey melody kicks in and makes it sounds a lot fuller.
Score: 8/10
11. Colliding Galaxies (feat. Lyctum)
Another one of my faves from the album. Lyctum is among my favourite producers in the PsyTrance scene, so I was definitely looking forward to this collab. It certainly did not disappoint. Next to WKO this is probably the most energetic tune on the album. Again a very spacey journey, but this time a lot more epic and even uplifting. The first third builds the main melody to its first peak. That is followed by a short break and a very acid-oriented buildup,which rocks. After that the main melody starts building up slowly again to a powerful climax.
Score: 9/10
12. Time Lapse NGC-2284
The album ends with another beautiful melancholic and cinematic ambient track. Short, but very sweet.
Score: 7.5/10
Verdict:
One.Hundred.Ten.WKO is a masterpiece in my opinion. It provides what an album should – a meaningful journey and in addition to that it's filled with creative and standout tracks. It's a mix of styles (from cinematic ambient stuff, through breaks, to progressive trance and psy trance),but overall its main focus is definitely Trance.
Kudos to mr. Fleming for putting this together. It really is a work of art imo and it will definitely stay on my playlist for months (years?) to come.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
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