The Vitals

Label: Next Dimension
Genre: Tribal, Progressive, Tech House
Number Of Tracks: 4
How To Obtain: beatport.com
Release Date: March 15, 2006

Factor Scores:

• Production Quality: 7.5
• Programming and Arrangement: 6.7
• Entertainment Quality: 7.0
• Total: 7.1 – Good

Brian's Take:

From Tastyfresh.com's own Webmaster Dave Richards (a.k.a. Redsavior) comes the "Liars With Egos EP". It's an excellent four track tribal EP, featuring several different attitudes throughout.

The first track "Fuzed" is a fitting opener. Representing the calmer side of tribal, it peaks with a multitude of serene, uplifting sounds. Next, "Discount Bin" is a funky main course ride, with a tech-house edge on the side. While entwining a spine-tingling vocal sample, the track spends a steady nine minutes building from opening to peak and back. Rounding the corner, "You Said" takes us back to the dark side with a malevolently creative high end, accompanied of course by Richards' common heavy bass section. Ending the release, "Dreams" takes the listener on an intelligently noisy percussive trip. Making it obvious where its name came from, "Dreams" is easily one of the best tunes on the release.

One area this release could've soared higher in was the way the bass was written in each track. There were a few points where the sound was new and interesting, such as in "Discount Bin", but for the most part the bass was just the "same old" tribal bass. All the vocal samples and high-end percussion elements blended well with each other as well as the rest of the track. However in some points the higher synths could've been mixed in better with the tracks.

In conclusion this release is not for anyone who dislikes progressive or tribal. Selective DJ's who like to keep their sets high energy should stay away from this one. However, whether you're a DJ or not, this release is a necessity for any tribal collection. Even if you're just looking to try something new check this one out.

Bill’s Take:

“Liars With Egos”, the newly released EP from Dave Richards, a.k.a. Redsavior, is a four-track collection of churning progressive soundscapes that heavily emphasize tribal percussion and atmospheric pads to maintain a dark, if not angst-filled mood. That formula serves as an effective creative base for the producer that twice hits the mark with “Discount Bin” and “U Said”. Both of those songs are worthy of single release, and they both represent moments when the dark tinge is counterbalanced with other elements to make them thoroughly entertaining. Unfortunately, the other two songs on the release are smothered under a cloak of oppressive moodiness and a general boringness that makes them sound like filler material.

I want to be clear that I really like the best two tracks a lot. As a matter of fact, I think that the egocentric vocal samples heard within “Discount Bin” give it a confident swagger that is just plain cool. It’s a unique song with a nice progressive groove to it and I will definitely give it a spin or two. “U Said” is easily the most daring of the four songs, flexing some muscle with a more aggressive tempo, a very edgy vocal, and some nice synth stabs. I think that the arrangement of the song is just a touch too full at points, but it is still very playable for progressive jocks. Like I said before, I think the other two tracks just aren’t memorable. “Dreams” actually has some very cool string-like synth work and a nice bassline, but the constant rackety percussion prevents it from being the minimal spooky track that it probably should be. “Fuzed” just doesn’t take me anywhere and I don’t feel the raw, semi-angry emotion that I hear in the best moments of the release.

An EP like this is a perfect example of why I am grateful to be living in the mp3 digital download era. There are a few tracks I don’t like, but there are also a few that I think a lot of you will really enjoy (for a very affordable price at that.). If you are a fan of progressive or tribal, or if you appreciate electronic music with attitude, then you should definitely check it out.

Editor's Note: Through the miracle of miscommunication via email, we have two reviews of this release. As each review highlighted different aspects of the release and took time out of each of the review's lives, I decided to run both and average the factor scores.