Sub6 - Who Needs Love Songs Album

Track 1
The Track has potential but i hate this vocals.

Track 2
Good Track, full on bassline and light twisted fx. The guitar doesn't ruin the song. The Track has't got a real peak but thats why i like it, it's a funky,laidback vibe through the whole song.

Track 3
Sounds like 2 but a bit more agressive. A great Melody starts at 3:00 and at 6:20. Some voices around 6:00.

Track 4
Great summer vibe. The singing is good in contrast to her other songs. For sure it's commercial but I prefer to hear something like this than a generic full on track.

Track 5
A bit minimal influenced. I dont like the percussion. The most cluby tune with 7th son.

Track 6
My Fav. The most powerfull track on the album. The FXs (zip-zap) are good placed and not overloaded. A bit too short for my taste.

Track 7
A more progressive like bassline. The song has also a progressive build up. Most floating track till now with some lighter echo
psysounds.

Track 8
Similar to Track 7. Bit more calmed down and other Melody style. The only thing I dont like is this rave sound, but it doesnt appear so often.

Track 9
Funky Bassline, diffrent from the others. Some zip-zap effects, sunny sounds and echoing soundscape.

Track 10
Mellow and Sunny track. Till 6:00 its a bit booring and I dont like the melodies, but after that the melodie is better and more twisted fx come in.

If you like lighter and modern Full On you have to check this out. This music is more concentrated on the vibe and not on the peak. Perfect Sound for a sunny day.

Best Tracks: 3,6,7,9

(sry for the bad english)

Sub6 from Israel is finally out with their debut album on Hommega Productions. After releasing several tracks on various compilations and the famous Ra He‘Ya CD single together with Michele Adamson (the singer), people have really been looking forward to this and they are labelled as the next big act from Israel. Sub6 are two brothers, Ohad and Golan Aharony, who started making electronic music in 1999. They have previously released tracks on several of the major psytrance labels out there, but also played in a couple of rock bands. They have got peoples attention because of their use of vocals and new way of mixing together various music styles into trance. With this album you also get a bonus animation video clip of the Ra He’Ya single. The cover art is pretty nice and very different from the usual full on Israeli release.

The first track starts with an atmospheric sound, right before the beat starts pumping. Groovy, heavy full on beats that reminds me of the latest trance tracks by Infected Mushroom, like the Electro Panic track. The stumping, massive beat follows the track all the way through. Some voice samples comes in now and then (just like in Electro Panic) and a few psychedelic sounds swirls in and out of the track. I’m sure this will be a hit among those who enjoy the latest works by Infected Mushroom. Track 2 starts with some guitar, which comes back into the track several times. They have both played guitar on other projects too. Then a pumping, full on bass line starts rolling. We get a few breaks now and then and some more melody than in the first track. They sure focus more on the beats than anything else on their trance tracks. Pretty clubby sound, but still quite psychedelic. Track 3 goes the same full on direction. Massive, rolling beats with some twisted swirling sounds above, still with a bit of that Infected Mushroom vibe. Track 4 gives us some sort of break. This is a pop track where Michele Adamson is singing. She is also known for her voice in several tracks by Shpongle, Violet Vision and Infected Mushroom. This track has a very happy reggae vibe. A track that for sure could easily reached some kind of pop charts. A funny track and very different from what you expect to find on a trance album.

Track 5 brings us back to the pumping trance vibes again. Massive full on sound, but with some very clubby, almost housy vibes hidden inside. Track 6 is the hardest, most intense track on this album. The rolling bass line sounds pretty evil, almost metallic. One of my favourite tracks on this album. There are some funny vocal samples in there too. Track 7 goes back to the typical Electro Panic drift again. You sort of get an electro feeling in between those heavy beats. Not very melodic, but very jumpy, with a rich selection of sounds. The vocal samples turn it to a pretty clubby sound. Track 8 has a deeper bass line and a bit darker vibe. This track is also full of weird voice samples and we get some more melody and a pretty drifting vibe. Track 9 is another stumpy track. Here we get some more floating vibes, funky sounds and a groovy full on bass line. The last track we get on this album is another drifting, full on trance track. In this one you get some really twisted vocals, which sounds pretty cool. This track goes more towards the morning trance area, and sounds much more melodic than most of the other tracks on this album. In my opinion their best track so far.

Sub6 will for sure hit the masses with this album. A lot of experienced trancers will probably not like all the vocals, but it will for sure hit a larger crowd. It is pretty different from most trance released earlier, but if you like the Electro Panic style by Infected Mushroom, you will probably enjoy this album too. They were also voted to be one of the best psytrance live acts in Israel.

While I have heard the "buzz" about Sub6, I haven't actually heard any of their tracks besides their contribution to TIP Red, which proved to be one of highlights of that compilation. In this day of generic full on-clones, I'm happy to report that Sub6, while definately being psy, is definately not just another clone.

"On The Ground starts this off with a vibe that I dare say is almost a hair "progressive" in touch (those touches being the better parts of the progressive sound). Lots of cool moody noises and melodies float about creating a nice little number. Towards the end some vocals come in which took me by surprise, but once I got used to them I found the didn't really take anything away from the track. "Blox Loggers" comes in next and builds up nicely with some great low end synth burps and garbles. I'm digging this track. Simple in some ways, but of the simple but effective variety that made tracks like Infected Mushroom's "Tasty Mushroom" so good. In fact a few sounds here remind me a bit of IM (or maybe more correctly of a Nord Lead which IM uses all the time too). All in all a nice thumping track that is full but not cluttered.

"Buttersonic" starts off with nicely and brings home something I feel is a good point about Sub6. Their sound is most definately modern psy, with all the sonic hall arks of todays full on music, yet their use of the sounds is what is great. They use "all the same stuff", but put it together in a way that gives you a completely different product in the end. Futher proof that its not what you use, but how you use it. Buttersonic the track is a decent little thumper. Strikes me more as a mid-set track and not an "AMEN" number, but its still plenty good. Michele Adamson (ala Shpongle, Younger Brother and everything else Simon Posford has worked on as of late and Infected Mushroom vocal fame) returns to Sub6 with "7th Son. "7th Son" is basically a mid-tempo psy-regga track. My personal opinion of Michele Adamson is that when she is doing "pure" singing she is excellent, but when she tries to do more "modern" pop sound vocals she isn't as good. Here she is floating somewhere in the middle. The guitars that come in at around 2:30 are a great touch as are the acidy synth lines that come in. The MC action in the track I could see turning some people off, but at 4:11 its obviously a track aimed more at the "mainstream" and seen in that light it is very good.

"Wet" is about short track clocking in at 4:56 and its hard not to view it as the trance continuation of "7th Son". Again there are some sounds here that are very "progressive", but they are done well, so no complaints. There is a lot of filter and gating work here so the track floats in and out a lot. For this reason its value on the dancefloor is questionable (could be good if placed well), but its fun to listen to regardless.

"Droid Save Da' Queen" gets my vote as track title of the album. Its starts after a almost aburpt ending to "Wet" and is nice and dark, almost like good minimal at the beginning. This is a good example of how a 16th note bassline can be used well and not sound just like the same old thing. Lots of percussion and zippy flyby sounds here. The arrangement and sound choice says "minimal", yet its not, further proving that its not what you use, but how you use it. Great track.

Next up we have "What's In Your Mind", again, modern bass sound, but a rather funky bassline instead of mindless 16th note noodling. Again, sonically sparse yet somehow full with some nice acidy lines and alots of filters and long delays. "Program Flies" starts off atmospherically rather than with filtered breaky somethings that several tracks have. This was the track featured on TIP Red and was one of the few highlights of that comp for me. Funky bass lines with lots of cool sweepy tweaks, delays, garbles and chopped up vocals. Again quality stuff.

Out Of Serenades shifts out of Program Flies smoothly. It starts off rythmically the same as the bassline of Program Flies but as the filters unload, the changes in rythme become clear making for an unusually great transition between tracks. Again its a good thumper. Slightly funking bassline. Lots of atmospheric noises, acidy leads, etc. By now you should be getting the point. El Novasion (Trance Mix) ends the album up and it even features a full on 16th note bassline!!!! The rest of the track keeps it from full on boredom however so there isn't much to worry about. Good energentic dancefloor music here without being lame.

All and all, this is a quality album. Given the lackluster releases we have been getting recently, I'm not sure if this album would have been so great a few years back, but when compared with whatelse has been coming out as of late, this is a quality piece of psy-trance here and I recommend it for those who are sick of the same old thing and what something a little different from the norm.

7.5/10