Triac – Mean Between (Earpeak Records)
01 Vaporized Triangles 138BPM
02 Encrypted Session 135BPM
03 Threshold Part 139BPM
04 Yatzek's Revenge 138BPM
05 Mean Between 135 BPM
06 Concrete Waves 139BPM
07 Sink (Live Edit) 136BPM
08 Threshold Part 2 139BPM
09 Fast Food 132BPM
Earpeaks records are proud to present the debut album of the Israeli duo known as TRIAC. Triac is Ilan Ianz and Michael Reznik, born and raised in Israel. They have been making music for about 10 years now but have been in the shadows for the longest of times, being in an area where the more full-on psytrance sounds appeal to the general public. Regardless of this, Triac has proven that they can create there own inspiration, not relying of the easy way to make a living, and have stayed TRUE to themselves as they offer something different to the trancers. Earpeaks offers a 9 track compilation with very impressive artwork and an 8 page booklet including a CD case sleeve that you can choose to cut out or leave it attached for convenience reasons. Now lets see what the artwork inside the CD looks like….
Vaporized Triangles starts off with a very relaxing melody making this track different from there more aggressive tech tracks and its really surprising to hear stuff like this from the Israeli duo. Once the bassline starts, we start to recognize the triac sound, as it has very techy percussions and a strong, dark kick/bassline. It is a rather minimal track as a whole, will very progressive buildups and a beautiful was to start this journey. Its also still very dancefloor friendly.
Encrypted Sessions starts off with a sound reminding me of a previous track from these guys titled SINK (also featured on this album) but as the track unfoldes, it wanders away from that specific track as there are much more melodies and it is also a little more minimal in its progression. The great thing about this track is the amount of breathing room in the atmospheres, and the lack of over-charged sounds. It is very straight forward and coherent. This one is also a little slower than the first track, so it really sets a stomping tone. An awesome track with melodies used mainly in the breakdowns of the tracks, as it should be for techtrance.
Threshold Part 1 is the first part of 2 great tracks. Part 1 offers a much more techy feel, reminding me of the oldschool Authentik tracks such as “The Fifth Colour” with a similar bassline and kick. This one however is a little more spacy with sounds that really reach’s out to grab your attention. It’s a monster track that would work great at any time of night.
Yatzek’s Revenge features Miki Litvak as Triac teams up to try something a little different. This tune is a little more hypnotic that the previous one’s, with a little less melodies, yet it isn’t repetitive nor considered techno. An interesting crossbread.
Mean Between is the title of their album, so the expectations are high for this one. Ironically, this track is probably the most relaxing track of the entire album with a less powerful bassline and softer hihats. Honestly, I probably would have opened up the album with this track since it doesn’t really buildup to much in the end. I was expecting this one to be something more powerful since its named after the album.
Concrete Waves follows up wonderfully to add a little more drive with a little more melodies as well. Its almost as if the CD startes over again, only this time with more psytrance influences. Its actually very pleasant to listen too as all the sounds fit very well together yet its still pretty straightforward as a whole. Interesting, yet not too different from a few previous tracks. I guess it follows the theme of this album and for that it gets a +1 bonus. Hehe
Next up is a Live Edit to the first track I’ve ever heard from Triac, released on one of my favorite all time compilations “travelocity”. When I had first picked up this CD back three years ago (or more maybe, can’t remember) I right away fell in love with Triac seeing as how it was released when techtrance and minimal psygressive was just starting to bloom. That’s when I knew to look out for Triac’s future releases. The live edit offers quite a bit of variations from the original, and its more powerful and much better production sound than there first attempt. For me this is the song that does it for me most on this album as well. Basically, the first 4 minutes are different in some ways to the original and then, after there final breakdown, we can really recognize the original. The bassline is different, a little more full-onish and the atmospheres are much deeper and the overall progression of the track is just magical. Great job guys.
Now is the time for the second part of Threshold, as the duo offers a lot more melodies with heavy psytrance influences in this one. It is a very powerful track as a whole that will defiantly rock dance floors when used appropriately. I really like the voice sample used, even though its almost incoherent (and that’s what’s awesome about it as its seen more as a sound than a voice). Acctually, I almost released this track on Rewired until I heard Versa.
Last but not least, Mike and Ilan end things off with something a little slower, showcasing once again there versatility and exploration of different styles. Honestly, for me this track doesn’t do it. I was hoping for something tribalish, and more housy seeing that is at 132BPMs, but all we get is a melody with a Triac bassline. Its not a terrible track, just not really interesting after listening to the whole album. Then again, it’s a fun way to end this album and it leave’s a question mark on the direction Triac will be taking for future releases.
All in all, this is most probably one of the best psytrance releases this summer and im sure to hear (and play) many of these tracks on dancefloors in the near future. The great thing about this album is that you can uptempo some of the tracks to work well in full-on sets, you have a few slower tracks, great for techy sets and all the tracks will fit great into a progressive set if you play those faster prog sets. Great job to Mike and Ilan for this GREAT debut album and best of luck to Domo and all the people involved with EarPeak records.
On a side note, if you liked this CD, I strongly encourage you to check out another release from Triac on JESTER RECORDS CD titled REWIRED, especially if you like there more techy side.
Tracks:
