Ohne zweimal nachzudenken: Das ist Martin Kohlstedt's bestes Studioalbum!
Hier taucht er voll und ganz in die breite Welt der Electronica ein, mit Pads, Effekten, Percussion in einem sehr vielseitigen Album mit einer klaren Struktur!
Ein grandioser neuer Wind in seiner Diskographie auf die sich sehr stark aufbauen lässt!
Das Gewitter gibt diesem Stück eine unglaubliche Kraft, obwohl es ein reines Piano-Stück ist!
Schön ist auch, dass dem Regen am Anfang und Ende eine respektable Zeit gegeben wird.
The combination of Martin Kohlstedt's very original style of Piano play and his synth lines is very unique. In addition, his recent usage of percussion beats to give the tracks an actual rythmic feel is really great!
It's fun to listen to these LIVE-tracks and try to hear out the studiotracks they're based on and mixed together. a clever combination of playing studio tracks live, while still creating something entirely new!
I would always welcome a 2nd Livealbum release in the future!
Alpha I & II were the best releases since "So Long, Eternity".
I really hope State Azure keeps this level up.
I especially love the great drum sounds from "Odysseus Sector".
What is also noticable is that the usual synth solos are quite subtle this time, which is part of the reason why I like this release so much!
Really hoping to see more development in this direction, maybe with an Alpha III or a Beta project.
Don't get me wrong, this is still a very decent release and the continuous mix puts everything in a very nice journey with many field recording-sounds and much more!
What I think this release really lacks tho are melodic sounds.
Melodic pads, plucks or something that'll stick into your brain, something that you can vibe or maybe dance to.
I think if there were one or 2 tracks with such highlights, this release could've been much better than it is now.