Tarsis – Evolve

Evolve is the fourth and final album from Tarsis, an influential German act that had been reduced to a single member by this time. Linus Wessel left the group sometime after Melt (2000), leaving Sebastian Krüger (SBK) to continue Tarsis as a solo project. Evolve is archetypical German progressive trance: finely crafted, deeply hypnotizing, steady and linear, with small developments taking place over long stretches of time. It is a formula that can easily become boring, but Krüger, being a pioneer of this approach, usually has the capacity to make even the most basic arrangements engaging.

Lakota opens the album in a massive way. This is a stylish piece of tribal progressive fusing Krüger’s polished chrome rhythms with live conga drumming from Dieter Gerbe of Element. Repetitive yet satisfying!

Dance hastens the pace and digs deeper into the minimal aesthetic. There are absolutely no melodies here; only percussive tricks and haunting vocal samples. It somehow manages to be quite captivating nonetheless—a sparse, early prototype of The Witness.

Back when I was only purchasing vinyl, I purchased the the vinyl sampler from this album to acquire the title track, Evolve. It is the one that does not quite fit with the rest; largely due to the presence of an absolutely gorgeous shimmering lead that drifts across the song. With a light touch on the atmospheres and more excellent drum programming, this is a sly and subtle morning tune of the highest order.

Lift Off is the first piece that really feels like psychedelic trance. The bass is heavy and synthetic, backing a stomping rhythm layered in shuffling hi-hats and quirky electronic noises. The peaking moments are downright oppressive, as a countdown sequence spurns an explosion of nervous sounds.

Accelerator is a pumping morning tune that sounds more Swedish than German to my ears. SBK’s tribute to Headcleaner? It builds slowly, with smooth gliding passages and serene melodic sweeps. A hint of tribal drums provides the finishing touch. Lovely tune!

Disconnected is very dark and absolutely minimal. The production value makes it sound tight, but there isn’t enough of a hook to make it stand out. The sample is the most memorable part of the track: “there’s an element of psychosis involved here.”

Music is a crotchety old tune with some geezer chattering on about the subject in the title. Timid piano chords and mournful atmospheres pass across the dry and repetitive rhythm. This feels as if it is missing something.

The album comes to a close with a collaboration with Greg Coyle (who would join Krüger on the Randy Expander album two years later) and Hayden Strom of Antix. Submerge has a slightly different flavour as a result, although SBK has remixed it to suit the album. This is deep and meticulous, with subtle drifting atmospheres and chunky drum work. Easy listening, in other words.

Evolve has a promising beginning, but I don’t feel as if the second half of the album continues the trend. Aside from Accelerator, the later tunes are all generally flat and uninteresting, although they are certainly well made. Fans of minimal progressive trance in the German style are liable to enjoy this far more than I have been able to. Since there are a few really nice tunes here in amongst the filler, I would call this a release of average quality. It could have been much better.

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