Afterlife レコード& CD

Review: Shockingly, it's been four years since long-serving Greek producer Argy last released an EP of new material. Perhaps he's been holding back some sizzling material because this return to action on Afterlife is genuinely excellent. Title track 'Tataki' is particularly potent: an intoxicatingly moody, otherworldly dancefloor chugger in which sampled, effects-laden Greek vocal samples rise above a throbbing sequenced bassline, tough but sparse drums, clandestine chords and creepy electronics. 'Magic Order' is similarly druggy, with choral vocal snippets, a bassline reminiscent of Lindstrom's trancey nu-disco classic 'I Feel Space', high-end lead lines and gently swelling chords. Impressive stuff all told, though we didn't expect anything less.

Review: Renowned Greek DJ and experienced producer Argy makes his anticipated return with his newest album, New World, released on the Afterlife label. With 14 tracks in total and most of them clocking in at between three and a half and five minutes, Argy doesn't beat around the bush, giving people what they came for. These tracks ebb and flow quicker than normal techno tracks, giving them a much more straightforward and popular feel. Argy's singing over the tracks fit very well, like in 'All Day Long'. The rhythms are strong while the beats are pulsing and dynamic. Argy is known to be a fantastic techno producer. Singles off the album include 'Higher Power', 'Aria', and 'Pantheon'.

Review: Given that it was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the 2021 Stephan Bodzin album that shares its name, it is genuinely great to see 'Boavista' finally get a single release. Nestled here on side A, Bodzin's original version is utterly gorgeous - a smooth, life-affirming slab of picturesque house bliss full of rising and falling synthesizer lead lines, trippy mid-range motifs, drowsy chords and crispy drums. Innellea wisely chooses to focus on the more hypnotic and uplifting elements on the accompanying flipside remix, wrapping elements of Bodzin's original version around a trance-inducing groove. Throw in some bold, rush-inducing, progressive trance style riffs, builds and drops, and you have a genuinely terrific remix.

Review: On his first release of any sort since dropping his debut album, 'The Serve of the Abnormal', last year, Denis Horvat makes his bow on Afterlife with an EP that drags tech-house and minimal house in dark, trippy new directions. For proof, check opener 'Cha Cha', a menacing, EBM-influenced affair that peppers a chugging, early morning groove with rising and falling lead lines, creepy counter melodies and rasping, trance style stabs. The EP's inherent sense of clandestine atmosphere comes to the fore once more on shuffling, moody vocal number 'Precious Unica', before the Copenhagen-based producer opts for a more forthright darkwave meets-peak-time-tech-house flex on 'Momentum of the Arapaima'. Closing cut 'Majstor', meanwhile, is an incredibly trippy, K-hole trance number underpinned by a wonky triple-time beat.

Review: While Tale Of Us may have established themselves in the field of tech house, co-founder Mrak is happily exploring techno-trance on his Afterlife label in no uncertain terms. The lead lines on 'Manifesto' and 'Equilibrium' are absolutely embracing the kind of emotive, bombastic composition and sound design more commonly found in the hard trance scene. What Mark does is refigure those tones for a deeper kind of techno rhythm section, keeping all the drama while softening the attack of the tracks and creating some powerful dancefloor moments in the process.