Time Traveler leads us down a dark techno path with his debut LP – I’m Made of Stars/Journal

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Artist: Time Traveler
Title: I’m Made of Stars/Journal
Label: Chronicles Diary
Release: 30th September 2016
Genre: Techno
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Here we have something that will leave its make on you. Time Traveler has put together something very special. A grinding, almost dark stepping off point on the intro track, ‘I’m Made of Stars’, sets the tone for everything to follow. ‘Alpha’, brings a raw kick drum that almost feels it has been employed to restrain the aggression of the pulsing and overdriven synths. Fantastically moody stuff.

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The dark texture carries on into ‘Dark Priesthood’. There is a rasping synth that runs out the speakers while you are waiting on the other elements to reveal themselves. It is definitely worth the wait. To follow, ‘Corruption’ kicks things up a notch and moves towards something a bit more dancefloor orientated with its punchy kick and earworm bleeping synth. A nasty synth starts to wrap itself around everything as the track progress.

For both ‘Restricted Areas’ and ‘Interstellar’, things flip back to being a bit more abstract in their sound design. It’s a thin line to work with producing a sound that is abstract but also has the ability to keep things engaging. It is all too easy to push the boundaries and Time Traveler has down a great job here by creating and using sounds that are not traditional but fall in line so well when the drums pull everything together.

This style and sound that has been the foundation of the album so far continues into the slightly acid, ‘Supersymmetry’. ‘Chronicles from B-29 Superfortress’ gets a bit of a darker run at things in comparison to the 3 previous tracks. This one would have to be considered a bit of a dancefloor weapon. Tension filled and full of elements to keep you planted on the dancefloor. We are definitely looking forward to hearing this on somewhere at 2:15am.

Time Traveller keeps things aimed at the dancefloor with ORXE and sets about beating up some speakers with this driving, energy filled, cracker of a track. ‘Chaos Theory’ continues the trend for the dancefloor but goes back to using more abstract sounds for that main stab while a precisely overdrive laden synth rolls around underneath. A great combination of elements here.

For the next 2 tracks, ‘Timestretcher n*17121985’ and ‘Stardust’, we see things move further into darker more aggressive territory. Where everything is a bit rawer, a bit tougher and a bit harsher but just as engaging as the rest of the album. To close, we do move back to the abstract sound filled, ‘God is Word’ for the outro.

 Overall, this is a great album. A genuine collection of tracks that work together as a whole piece of music to listen to but also, any track off this can stand up and fight on its own too. This one will be on repeat here and Time Traveler is on the “ones to watch list” for sure. Top work.

Tracks
A1- Intro / I’m made of stars
A2- Alpha
A3- Dark Priesthood
A4- Currupttion / Ghost Track
B1- Middle break / Restricted areas
B2- Interstellar
B3- Supersymmetry
C1- Chronicles from B-29 Superfortress
C2- Ω ~ R × Σ,
C3- Chaos theory
D1- Timestretcher n*17121985
D2- Stardust
D3- Outro / God is word


About the Author

With almost 8 years of music production under his belt while producing bass music as DROKKR and more recently, electro and techno under his Dave Mono moniker, the Cork based producer & DJ has enjoyed a truly tireless love affair with all forms of electronic music. From Aux 88 and right through to Venetian Snares, everything has found itself a little place in the heart of this Corkman.