Wizzy Noise - Cyclotron

Wizzy Noise’s second album Cyclotron, the very first from Greek label Candyflip, was one of the hottest releases of 2002. Everyone had to own this album, and many of these tracks became regular fixtures of events here in Canada, a land swept by minimal mania and techtrance fever. After the worldwide success of Cybermancy, Wizzy returned to the studio to take a few tips from the leaders of the Elmshorn sound (Spirallianz, Midi Miliz, and X-Dream). The result is a slick hybrid of techno rhythms with definate full-on psychedelic elements in a handful of the later tracks. The great cover art was created by Micky Noise himself, and 73 minutes of sound make Cyclotron a complete experience.

Up until the seventh song, the album is fairly uniform. Each of these early tracks feature cavernous mechanical rhythms and spacious futuristic atmospheres. There is little to no melody, although each song will contain hints of a theme. Even amidst the sterile patterns of the title track Cyclotron one can perceive the underlying Wizzy groove. Radius has one of the coolest hooks of these early tunes, although Midi Miliz would later accomplish a much more polished version of this sleek and sophisticated sound with One Point One (released on Chronika Chapter Two). Oxidizer plays with techniques fans might recognize from Authentik: hard distorted kicks and hard techno hi-hats. The next song richly manifests the tortured post-apocalyptic vision of the barren wastelands. Velocity Engine is harsh and unforgiving; full of exquisite details and an aggressive drive. The hypnotic layers of cybernetic atmospheres really make the track. A highlight!

Tau Ceti loops through more harsh technical rhythms while noisy particles skate along on sharp trajectories, sounding dissonant enough to make it one of the low-points of this early sequence of songs. Tekknophobia isn’t much better, although it acts as the transition point for the album. Though it opens with techtrance motifs the story abruptly shifting into moderately more melodic territory after the third minute. The contrast of styles does not entirely work and the production sounds weaker than the surrounding tunes.

Painful Memory is unanimously considered the hit of the album. It begins with a sample from Shadow of the Vampire spoken by John Malkovich: “Ellen is a woman who discovers… the ultimate expression of love and the most exquisite pain imaginable.” From here on it the song displays the raw creative talents of Wizzy Noise at their best. A subtle evolution through mysterious realms leads up to an irresistable groove that blossoms shortly after the third minute. Though the rhythms are that of tech-influenced psytrance, the texture of the chords in this segment reflect later developments in progressive trance. A brief latin-flavoured interlude is seamlessly tied into the mix, with tasty acid lines flourishing in the moment after the return. Once Malkovich makes his speech again the track really takes off, with a richly psychedelic lead that gradually spirals up from the deep regions of the spectrum. This tight and sophisticated piece of trance music was a step forward for Wizzy Noise, and remains an enduring example of their creative ingenuity.

Tribal Dawn explores the rich possibilities inherent in the fusion of Wizzy’s synthetic drumwork with tribal percussion. There’s no question this is a great idea, and luckily the execution is nothing short of fantastic. Above this rhythmic decree the soundscape is flooded with intelligent futuristic atmospheres that drift and mutate throughout the track. The truly memorable feature of this track beyond drums and background noise occurs at the half-way point, when an array of choral voices rises to a spine-tingling peak. Now the Wizzy synthlines get to work, sneaking through the rest of the track like sidewinding snakes. The distinctive chorus returns again to provide more techgnostic overtones, but the end is soon to come. The result is a great piece of psytrance!

Unfulfilled Desire is closing in on the tail end of the journey, and the mood is consquently brighter. It dabbles around with scratchy melodies up until the eighth minute or so, after which it really begins to explode with one of those classic full-on Wizzy leads. This seems to be a remix to the excellent Twisted Love (based on the sample usage, and that last big rush) but it is hard to tell. Many people find this to be a highlight, but I think its a bit rough and not nearly as polished as some of the rest – especially in light of their later productions. Hit or miss.

Exodus is a droning conclusion to the journey through Cyclotron. The atmosphere is pregnant with menacing potential, while the stodgy rhythms and throbbing bass line give the impression of a zombie army marching in formation. Malkovich makes another appearance with a sample stating “across living faces that laugh and agonize; and our music will linger and finally overwhelm, because it will have a context as certain as the grave.” There’s really not much to this, but it serves well as a final farewell from the Wizzy maestros.

Cyclotron is a good album but it isn’t timeless, mainly because of the heavy emphasis on techtrance. It’s a style I really enjoy when it is done well, but a lot of techtrance relies more on advanced production value than alluring composition. Unfortunatly, this isn’t a recipe with which to forge a lasting impression; as sound technology advances, songs which were carried by their production value decay in value. Several of the early tracks suffer from this problem, in my opinion. Now, if one had really fallen for this album back in the day, chances are that these tracks will continue to have an effect – this is the “nostalgia factor.” The other downside I have noticed from listening to this album in 2006 has to do with the consistency of quality. Unfulfilled Desire and Tekknophobia seem to fall short of the production standards set by the better tracks, for example.

All complaints aside, this is still a better than average album. Painful Memory is the creative highlight of the release, but the solid dose of wicked Wizzy rhythms in Velocity Engine and Tribal Dawn are notable as well. The ordering of tracks is ideal, moving from the mechanical realms to the shining cybernetic heights of the Villa Straylight. There’s no question Wizzy Noise is one of the best producers of psychedelic trance today, but I don’t believe they had come close to a full-length masterpiece with Cyclotron. The following year saw the release of Elecktro Theater, which wasn’t much of an improvement. At any rate, post-millenial minimal fans are going to want to snag this one if they haven’t already, but modern Wizzy Noise fans might be better off cherry picking the better tracks from the album. I think it’s reasonably good, but I figure most readers are already going to have a solid idea of how they feel about this one. At the very least, give Painful Memory a listen!

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