“I finally ended up liking this EM which aims an audience found of a new vibe called Electronica”
1 Galactic Quest 6:13
3 Hunter of Worlds 6:15
3 Passing Tripoint Station 6:14
4 Solar Eclipse (Dub Mix) 7:17
5 Voyage in Night 6:18
6 Invader 6:50
7 Brothers of Earth 5:52
8 Cosmic Flight (Remix) 6:04
9 Gates of Chaos 7:23
10 Faded Sun 6:43
(CD-R/DDL 67:09) (V.F.)
(Electronica, EDM, Downtempo)
Faithful to its trademark, the German label SynGate is perfecting to make us discover new artists who leave the paths of a traditional EM in order to embrace a more personal and also more accessible musical style. Ebia is the project of Jörg Bialinska who presents his 4th album in HUNTER OF WORLDS. We are however far from an alien vision with this collection of ten tracks that rather borrow the spheres of a lively music. A music of dance floor which struggles between melodious ambient strata and strong rhythms, hammered by percussions which roll with strength and dynamism, like in the fiery Galactic Quest which after a drifting intro offers a solid synth-pop. This track depicts the musical universe that awaits us on this last opus of the German synthesist.
After an ambient intro enriched with a guttural voice and very good ambiosonic synth layers, the percussions fall and crush the ambiences with powerful blows that hammer a stroboscopic and spasmodic structure. A rhythm where the speed of the percussions matches the undulation of the bass-sequences and runs over a synth filled with nice harmonies and some childish tunes that fly over a heavy and lively musical structure. Jörg Bialinska has rhythm in his blood and the title-track follows the same pulsating path but with a smoother, Robert Schroeder-like, more harmonious synth, just like on the structures of Voyage in Night, Invader (though definitely more cosmic), Brothers of Earth, Cosmic Flight (Remix) and the aggressive Gates of Chaos. Passing Tripoint Station offers a different envelope with a slower intro that beats with a kind of fascinating rubbery percussion tone that sounds like clapping hands. Gradually, this intro becomes delicately hazy with a zest of languid techno wrapped around a synth with charming lyrical layers. It's what I would call a kind of soft techno or even a soft downtempo, just like Solar Eclipse (Dub Mix) which marinates for a long time in an ambiospheric intro filled with childish and mocking vocal harmonies before increasing and decreasing its crescendo. This is one of the good tracks in HUNTER OF WORLDS along with Faded Sun which flows in the ear like Passing Tripoint Station.
After a few listens, I finally ended up liking this HUNTER OF WORLDS. What Ebia proposes here is a Space Techno album that runs between its nuances and its very paradoxical vibrations. These space elements are wrapped in both fierce rhythms and their beats cadenced in the ethereal mists of a space music built on the basis of Berlin School style.
Sylvain Lupari (August 8th, 2014) ***½**
Available at SynGate Bandcamp