Entheogenic - Kykeon Mp3

Entheogenic is a band I’ve followed since 2005, when I was heavily into the psy/dub/trip scene. Together with OTT, Shulman, Younger Brother and Bluetech, they are for me the very essence of their genre. Kykeon is their 11th studio album, offering up more of the lush, pleasant atmosphere that I’ve known them for this entire time. The pace varies throughout the album, but they never stray too far from their roots. A hint of an organ there, a speech sample there, indian chanting there. Together it all combines into an interesting blend of old and new styles.

The opening is a soft lounge tune with synth pads courtesy of the Waldorf MicroWAVE XT, which has seemingly endless optionf of tweaking every aspect of the sound. After a while it’s joined by guitars which makes me feel like I’m cruising through a jet of warm air. I think of holidays spent in the sun, drinking tasty beverages and lying on the beach. The bass line is like a wave washing over me, relieving me of all bad thoughts, while the guitar gently plays prolonged solo notes like an old Prog Rock epic. Once the intro has finished, we are returned to the Indian sounding hymns and instrumentation that I associate with the band. Subtle sampled voices of people singing in an inaudible yet heartfelt way interweaves with the big drums, synth loops and chimes. A gentle mix of warming emotions are raised, with the occurence of breaks filled with native instruments and prolonged synth layers. This is a nice place to lean back and enjoy the subtle changes in the composition, the fading of the different elements, like a living object who lets you ride on its back. The psy elements can be found in the distorted vocal samples and crisp drums, but it never goes all the way there. Instead, it lingers between ambient and low tempo. We are taken on a ride through subconciousness, as we drift through a forest of incense, glimmers of light and strange noises. The vocal part increases its presence, and really shines on some occasions. It seems very fitting to the rest of the sound, and I reckon Piers and Helmut have taken their due time to polish it to this level of perfection. Even on the more upbeat Psychedelic Trance sections on the album they never go out of style. Keeping it interesting, varying instrumentation and moods from intense to relaxed, hard to soft, it feels like a complete package of possibly one of the best music the scene has to offer. The angelic chorus voices on the later part of the album brings back warm memories of Shulman in his prime(Transmissions in Bloom), a simple ascension in both mind and music. This level of production is a rare find in the world of electronic music, yet even rarer in the Psychedelic department. On the very last bit is a hint of ethno-inpired dub techno with a trowback to early 90s acid clubs, but always in a fuller and more complete packaging.