âIt's quite an album that my ears had been forget for several yearsâ
1 Ninety Degrees South 11:10
2 Erebus Ice Tongue Maxx Part 7:10
3 Erebus Ice Tongue Erik Part 6:23
4 Shackleton Ice Shelf 5:56
5 Mount Elsworth 10:19
6 Pole of Inaccessability 16:33
7 Aurora Borealis 7:12
8 Arctic Finale 7:05
9 One Ton Depot (Bonus Track) 6:31
(DDL 78:22) (V.F.)
(New Berlin School, E-Rock)
One of the good things SynGate did in 2021 was to release a remastered version of the excellent POLES album. What surprises me the most when I read the story, is that nobody around Pleasure Sound Music, Erik Seifert's label, thought that the album would be out of stock one day. To me it was obvious, the album received good critics. And that's what happened! I remember writing this at the time; I rather feel like I'm listening to a Maxxess album written by Erik Seifert, because you can't deny the poetic touch of the German synthesist that can be heard and felt throughout POLES, an album that will please fans of Mike Oldfield (The Song of Distant Earth), Code Indigo, Erik Wollo and Pyramid Peak. A nice mix of styles, I must admit... You can read the whole review by clicking on this link
So 10 years later, to the day, POLES has a second life and the fans of electronic music (EM) who missed it have a second chance to get their hands on one of the best albums of its generation. It's a real remaster. And it's not just in the sound, which is also more polarizing and dynamic. The ice breaking and organic effects are more accentuated, well isolated so you can hear them better. Mind you, the effect may as well come from the accentuation of its sound envelope. But I heard some differences, and one of the good points is probably the opening of Shackleton Ice Shelf where the sound reproduction is the same as if we were on the ice floes. There is also Max Schiefele's guitar, which is much brighter with a hint of David Gilmour in its playing. It was less apparent on the first edition. SynGate's remastered edition comes with a bonus track, One Ton Depot. I'll tell you up front, this is not the kind of track that will drive those who own the album to buy it again. The music, like the beat, is light. A delicate up beat centered once again on Maxxess' guitar that rolls chords and riffs to lose them in an atmospheric finale that flirts with the two-minute mark. So, nothing to write home about! On the other hand, if you don't own this POLES, SynGate makes it available only as a download. It's quite an album that my ears had been forget for several years. It is now in my network player đ!
Sylvain Lupari (December 1st, 2021) *****
Available at SynGate Bandcamp