Daniel Sokolovskiy’s Blog: posts tagged Chronicles Of The Universe

Your EDM in-depth review of Chronicles Of The Universe

Sun, 23 Feb 2014 22:00:00 +0100

YourEDM.com — a website focused on covering news, releases, events and more that relates to electronic dance music. Andrew Quigley, head Trance writer of Your EDM, reviewed Chronicles Of The Universe in-depth.

As one of Psy Trance’s brightest talents, Daniel Lesden continues to turn heads with his incredibly sophisticated Progressive style that demands incredulous attention to detail. Many are hailing him as a modern day prodigy with each subsequent release, as his viciously complex productions have quickly garnered a huge list of support from industry leaders such as Simon Patterson, Sideform, and Lyctum. Lesden kicked off his career in 2012 with the release of Contact on Ovnimoon Records, where it remained in the Psy Trance Top 10 on Beatport for multiple weeks. While it usually takes a couple of years to achieve that level of success, Contact immediately separated him from the pack as a rising talent whose potential could explode at any moment. Since 2012, his talents have grown to insurmountable heights, as his unique infusion of past influences and fresh experimentation have uncovered a radically unique approach towards his works. Yet, he still remains humble and optimistic as an artist and continually strives to hone his craft by discovering new sounds and exploring different avenues of new age ideologies.

Daniel Lesden has always been interested in the concept of universal exploration and has frequently implemented subtle suggestions of deep space throughout his pieces. Each of his tracks contains a mystical flow of energy that intertwines throughout its relentless basslines and his soft, velvety embellishments focus on achieving an intense, sonorous sound. This fascination of the cosmos has culminated in the creation of his debut album entitled Chronicles Of The Universe, which keenly focuses on the Solar System as its main driven theme. This album has given him the chance to stretch out his production chops by developing a vibrantly detailed arrangement of textures that accurately depicts his contemporary point of views. Each track represents a different planet in our Solar System and the tempo and energy decrease with each passing orbit, (and track). Additionally, Lesden has taken cues from various historical Gods that are said to reside over each world, which adds yet another layer of crypticism towards his dynamic magnum opus. Released on John 00 Fleming’s legendary label, J00F Recordings, Chronicles Of The Universe is as academic as it is delightful, with each piece sending you towards a brave journey of immersive self-discovery.

Mercurian Night

At a blistering 138 BPM, Mercurian Night is the fastest track in the album that continually accelerates with terrifying conviction. The piece is searingly fast and in your face with a brutal combination of devastating basslines and sinister, Middle Eastern interludes that inflicts serious damage to one’s sanity. This is due to the planet being closest to the sun, with a yearly cycle that only consists of 88 Earth days. An unusual presence of evil is shown throughout the opening track with the addition of radical percussive choices, smashing Breaks sections and thunderous Electro influences, as well as the intermittent laughs of the devil slowly seeping feelings of dread down your spine. It’s definitely a fiery start to the album.

Ishtar Terra

The Ishtar Terra is a particular continent on Venus which is represented by Mother Ishtar, who is the Semitic/Babylonian goddess of love, war and sex. For my interpretation, I find that a quintessential tale of Ishtar’s life is closely connected to this piece. One day, Ishtar descends into the Underworld and demands that the main gates be open to her. After the gatekeeper allows her to pass, she angrily notices that she loses an article of clothing in each inner gate she passes while a group of demons prevent her from leaving. Completely naked, she is eventually captured and imprisoned in the bowels of the Underworld. As the goddess of sex, her imprisonment ceases all sexual activity for the planet. The King of Gods, Ea, sees this as a problem and creates a being called Asu-Shu-Namir to free Ishtar from her imprisonment, or else face righteous retribution. The Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, is furious that she has to let her prize go, but allows Ishtar’s freedom for fear of the destruction of her personal realm. Lesden’s track is brooding and bitter, with a scathingly intense, yet weighty character that symbolizes the anger and resentment of both Ishtar and Ereshkigal. With the addition of snaking acidic lines and various vocal samples, it perfectly balances between ferocity and elegance in true Progressive form.

The Gaia

As the only planet that is able to sustain life in the entire Solar System, The Gaia is certainly a track that stands out from the album. This track naturally refers to the Earth Goddess Gaia, who created the Sea and the Sky to support life. As a maintainable ecosystem, the Earth is comprised of trillions of living organisms that work together to preserve itself as a single, living being. A big concept of Psy Trance can be described with the lyrics of Galactic Mantra by Ovnimoon, in which it ends with, „I am me. We are you.“ We are individuals, but we are interconnected with Nature. It bonds us, yet guides us and our interchangeable relationship between the Earth Goddess guarantees our survival and the survival of our planet. The Gaia features the first instance of a prominent human application, as the epic beginning is grandiose in displaying the overwhelming power of mankind. Ritualistic shouts, expressive vocal arias and open-air sound constructions allow the marriage of spirituality and music to intertwine in immortalized harmony.

Cydonia

Many scholars and scientists believe that Mars was once as beautiful and rich as the Earth today and also contained the specific conditions needed to support life. Cydonia refers to an area on Mars that’s well known by its amusing depiction of a smiling face within its terrain. Daniel takes a completely different spin on this track, as its spacey, otherworldly atmosphere is largely supplemented by its prolific use of futuristic sounds that contain an element of extraterrestrialism. It is distinctly more Progressive than the previous three and in my interpretation, it is meant to convey the glory of past lifeforms on Mars with the use of cutting edge sound technology. Definitely, one to check out if you’re a fan of discovering new sounds.

A brilliant debut album that definitively showcases one of the best technical talents in Trance today. It’s wonderfully detailed with countless hidden nuances and its intricate, thorny orchestration bring out some of the best work that I’ve seen from Daniel.

Vortex

This is a rather exciting piece in the album because the vortex obviously refers to the Big Red Spot that resides on Jupiter as a horrifying maelstrom of complete annihilation. This has a profound effect on the implications of this piece, as its fearful qualities are almost as violent sounding as Mercurian Night. Firmly planted in harmonic minor, Vortex focuses most of its attention on its continuous basslines as torrents of villainous samples are offset by the use of flowing ethnic vocals. At various points throughout the track, the rumblings of thunder can ominously be felt in the background; its constant presence inflicting panic and menace towards the listener. Around the middle of the track, Lesden switches gears and swaps out the sixteenth notes with a corrupted and warping bassline that summons a feeling of uneasiness throughout the layout of the other instruments, (along with a slight hint of mania thrown in for good measure). However, the entirety of Vortex is surprisingly tonal and avant-garde, as the piece focuses more on cool, confident grooves than reckless brute force.

Shadow Of Collisions

Shrouded with enigma and intrigue, Saturn is known as the only planet with a distinct asteroid belt surrounding its orbit. By this point, we have significantly dropped down from 138 to 134 BPM, and its distinct slowdown ventures into certain colour territories that haven’t been explored by many producers. However, Daniel has taken that risk with conviction, as his paired-down piece offers exciting new possibilities into Psy Trance as a whole. Compared to the last two pieces, Shadow Of Collisions is more technically advanced in terms of sound design/timbre selection, and its unorthodox blend of styles and influences provide a unique clash of ideologies that thrives of musical innovation. Its pumping percussion section propels the track at a smooth pace and its mysterious vocals/drums are featured as an elegant, yet a vibrant example of musical conversations.

Deep Haze

With only two tracks to go, we now move away from Psy Trance to explore Daniel’s interpretation of Trance with a cool, collected 131BPM feel. This track represents Uranus, as its collection of various gases and ’ices’ are loosely collected to form the entirety of the planet. I find that these last two pieces are two of his most technical works, as his beautiful modus operandi induces a wonderfully intricate sound design that captures the frigid feeling of timelessness that’s constant throughout the coldest atmosphere of the Solar System. The entire piece is lusciously deep and carnivorous, with a sound design that rivals dominant Trance technicians such as Protoculture, Lange and Giuseppe Ottaviani. Deep Haze also boasts an impressive atmosphere within its elaborate soundscapes and its brilliant implementation of Progressive Breaks adds another crisp element of comprehensive creationism that seeks to shatter genres, as well as expectations.

165 Earth Years

Now within the deepest reaches of the Solar System, it’s only natural that Daniel’s interpretation of Neptune is where we see him at his creative prime, as this piece nebulously relishes within its deep, artificial personality. I don’t know if this could even be considered Trance in any sense of the word, as it reminds me of similar sound philosophies of Guy J, Cid Inc and Khen; artists that believe in the journey of sounds to guide them through the music. Clearly, 165 Earth Years is titled to represent the time it takes for Neptune to complete one rotation around the sun and its slow, lurching nature dictates the energy of this piece. Its heavily digitized palette is magnificently intertwined within its monstrous atmosphere as its smooth, seamless phrasing is flawlessly executed in top form. It is a fantastic blend of spacious, hopeful melodies and rigid, emotionless orchestration that brings a delicious and satisfying end to Chronicles Of The Universe, and is my personal favourite out of the entire album.

If you are new to Psytrance, or are someone who wants to explore the hidden underbelly of EDM, this is definitely a great starting point if you want to get into true Psy. Lesden has masterfully integrated a sense of connection and cohesion within each track and also manages to present some of the highest work of craftsmanship that we have seen here at Your EDM. Make sure you check this out on Beatport via J00F Recordings and I hope your journey into Psy Trance continues to broaden your musical horizons. Our final rating is below.

Keep the music alive.

Link to the original post
Text — Andrew Quigley

TFI review of Chronicles Of The Universe

Tue, 18 Feb 2014 22:00:00 +0100

Trance For Infinity, Asia’s biggest active trance community, reviewed Chronicles Of The Universe.

Daniel Lesden’s debut album Chronicles Of The Universe is scaling the universe with music in an exciting journey through space.

This new artist is ready to present his unique style of Progressive PsyTrance which is full of life and energy. A big thumb up to J00F Recordings for recognising the mighty talent of new artists on the scene & providing them with such great opportunities to establish their unique style.

He takes us on an exhilarating aural journey with 8 upbeat tracks on this LP. All the tracks are smoothly mixed into a journey that softly builds from thoughtful grooves to energetic peaks & it not only uplifts your body but your soul too.

Chronicles Of The Universe is a life-affirming Progressive PsyTrance album. Highly recommended.

All the tracks on this album resemble/represent the 8 planets in our solar system which is a very unique concept.

This LP is a work of art with a variety of different influences ready to paint your eardrums massive. It clearly comes off as a winner with it’s intricately programmed psychedelic riffs, sparkling melodies, and pumping beats all of which come together to form a truly hypnotic experience. This is a life-affirming Progressive Psytrance album. Highly recommended.

Link to the original post
Text — Reviewer — Kuldeep
Contributor — Switch Klay

Electronic Night Life review of Chronicles Of The Universe

Thu, 13 Feb 2014 22:00:00 +0100

ElectronicNightLife.com is the website about nightlife featuring latest releases, news, events, interviews and more, reviewed about Daniel’s album.

John 00 Fleming and I seem to have more than a few things in common, and one of them happens to be our mutual love for music with astrophysical naming conventions. Daniel Lesden’s newest album „Chronicles Of The Universe“ on JOOF Recordings was the latest review opportunity to arrive in my inbox, and as with any JOOF release, I was all over it.

Chronicles Of The Universe is Lesden’s first foray into the world of full-length artist albums. His previous EPs were a smattering of hard and dark progressive Psytrance, so I expected the album to be chock full of exactly that. Ask and ye shall receive, it seems, as the first track of the album, Mercurial Nights, blasts in with a strong stabbing bassline and squelching acid noises. I could immediately hear a strong improvement in Lesden’s production quality. The bass was more powerful than ever, the acid clearly resonated throughout the track, and the percussion was clear and wide, indicating that he is continuing to improve himself as a musician. An interesting groany breaks buildup takes us into a powerful drop and solidifies what is sure to be a great track on the dance floor.

The next track, Ishtar Terra, takes us on a slightly different path, concentrating more on a persistent stabbing bassline and heavily filtered acid leads. Track three, The Gaia, walks a similar path, but in a more minimal fashion. As the album progresses I notice that there is a heavy concentration on unique sound engineering and euphoric melodies.

Chronicles Of The Universe is a really great Psytrance album, built entirely for Psytrance fans. If psy is what you’re into, you will absolutely love this.

This essentially ends up being the template for the rest of the album. Stabbing bassline, strong acid, and ambient filtered melodies ringing out throughout the tracks. As much as I love Psytrance, I do wish there was a little bit more variation. When I listen to a full artist album front to back I’d like to hear them dip their toes into a few different genres. Things are shaken up a bit in the last two tracks though, which are a little slower and more euphoric. Coincidentally these are my two favourite tracks on the album; Deep Haze and 165 Earth Years, the latter taking the proverbial cake for me.

Chronicles Of The Universe is a really great Psytrance album, built entirely for Psytrance fans. If psy is what you’re into, you will absolutely love this. All it needs, in my opinion, is a few tracks in between to shake things up from the dagga-dagga. I would love to hear what Lesden could do with a breaks track, or a chill out session, or even some progressive house. Still, this album is what it is; excellent psychedelic trance. Pick up your copy today; I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Link to the original post
Text — Daniel Nusdeo

Flux BPM review of Chronicles Of The Universe

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 22:00:00 +0100

Flux BPM Online is a blog featuring reviews, interviews, and events. Dimitri Kechagias has written his verdict of the album.

JOOF never fails to find the best talents out there and give them the place they really deserve. Daniel Lesden’s album is another example of how alive and vital is the Psy-Trance scene today. His album includes 8 ultra-massive productions with solid kick drums, razor-sharp basslines, strong melodies, cinematic strings and sound effects and ethnic voices too.

All tracks are sealed together with a strong concept and they promise to offer you a sonic experience that will be scanned and saved in your memory for long. Chronicles of the Universe should be a perfect treat for your underground Psytrance sets for sure. Spot on!

Link to the original post
Text — Dimitri Kechagias

Interview for TranceFamily: album behind the scenes

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:00:00 +0100

The interview for GTranceFamily reveals Daniel Lesden’s upcoming album behind the scene details.

Hi Daniel, congratulations on the new album and thanks for taking the time to speak with us today?
Hello guys, and thanks for your kind words! It’s a pleasure to talk with you again.

Can you share with us how the idea of ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ first came about?
Oh, I’m very fascinated about the Universe, the Cosmos and all that bright dots above our heads! I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings, because it can answer so many timeless questions like ‘where we come from’ and ‘where we are going’. My previous EPs were also connected to the cosmos in some way, so it wasn’t a hard decision for me to make a full-length album based on this same theme.

I believe that our Solar System is a very unique place, all the planets are so different but at the same time are so harmonic with each other. It is, after all, our home. I get my biggest inspirations, which really made me want to start working on my album during my evening running near the sea where I live. Every time I saw a sunset it made me wonder how the Sun could be so far (150 million km away!) but still look beautiful and warm, so I guess the Planets, which we can’t see through the naked eye must look amazing too.

Each of the tracks on the album tells a very different story but all carry a similar theme linking them together. How hard was it achieving this but at the same time creating each with its very own sound?
Being honest with you it wasn’t an easy thing to do. I watched a lot of documentary films and read numerous scientific journals to double check facts. You can actually see many parallels between the tracks and the planets they are about.

I think understanding the Universe is the most important goal for us as human beings

For example, Mercury is solid rock with a huge metallic core and no atmosphere. And despite it being the closest planet to the Sun, the opposite side is very cold and if you look up from the Mercurian surface you’ll see absolutely dark skies. So I tried to create this feeling by not adding any pads or atmospheric sounds. The tech-groove and percussions and even some kind of dubstep sounds which you here in the breakdown relate to the metallic core. It has pretty minor melodies with a few evil laugh effects because, well… ‘Mercurian Night’ is a pretty scary place!

Another example is the next track, ‘Ishtar Terra’. Unlike Mercury, Venus has a very tight atmosphere, so it has a very low and heavy ambience. It has a very hot temperature, so the track runs ‘hot’ all the way through, almost with no breakdowns.

Or ‘165 Earth Years’, is actually how much time it takes for Neptune to make one orbit around the sun. It is a story about one of the most atmospheric planets in our Solar System so of course, I had to put this into the track.

You can also hear how the track tempo reduces down from 138 BPM to 130 BPM from first to last track in the album, symbolising the various orbits form the nearest planet from the sun, to the furthest.

During the album production process, I tried not only re-create some scientific facts but also create my own fascinating story for each track, which with a bit of imagination, makes you wonder and really travel through the Universe. Did I achieve this, well that’s up to the listener to decide.

Neptune Skies by Greg Martin

We’re interested to understand how long it took you to finish the album from its initial conception through to final mastering?
Talking about production, I started working on the album in May 2013 and finished in October 2013, whilst at the same time making few extra tracks. I finished remixes for Lyctum’s ‘Galactic Society’, Ace Ventura’s ‘Presence’ and of course my latest single ‘Space Form’, which is pretty fast I’d say.

Searching for the label was something that took a very long time and if I am honest was quite frustrating. You just send a demo out and can only hope you hear back from them. Unfortunately, you’re not able to speed things up or to do anything else other than just wait, which can be very painful.

Full cycle from initial idea to release it took nine months, so I’m very happy and it was totally worth it to know the album gets released on the 10th February.

It took me took nine months from the initial album idea to signing it on the label

Your new website that goes with the album provides the listener with an extra dimension with both it’s visuals and write-ups. What were you thinking behind this and how much does it go hand in hand with the album?
It seems my brain is the so-called ‘visualising’ type and whatever track I listen to, I always have some images in my mind. Depending on the track I am listening to they can be pretty abstract or specific.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people who without their assistance the website would not have become the success I dreamt it would be. Simon Waring for the well-written texts, Dragos Zavadschi for technical assistance and to all of the artists and agencies who’s images perfectly illustrate each track: NASA, Max Mitrofanov, Billelis, Joe Vinton, Mirai Art Studio and Greg Martin.

Creating a great album as you have done is one thing but getting it signed to such a respected label as JOOF Recordings is something else. Tell us how this came about and your excitement when you first found out?
First of all, you have to know I am a very big JOOF Recordings fan from a listener’s point of view and have been following this label since 2006 and have over 100 of their releases in my collection.

I have enormous respect for John 00 Fleming and with any doubt, I can say he is the person who inspired me the most to start my musical path. I guess now you can understand how happy I was to find out ‘Chronicles Of The Universe’ would be released on one of the most respected and my all time favourite label.

Whilst I can’t give away too much at this stage, the album is just the beginning of my relationship with JOOF Recordings. I am currently working on further projects and hope to be able to share with you more about this very soon.

We wish you all the success you deserve with your new album and can’t wait until it’s release.
Thanks a lot for the chat and your kind words! I sincerely hope the listeners will find similar sentiments in the album as I did writing it.

Link to the original post
Text — Simon Waring