The Third Man - Beyond The Heliosphere

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  • For techno heads who despair at the scene's domination by dub and industrial sounds, Toby Leeming may sound like a saviour. In the Londoner's world, minimalism never happened. His take on techno is big, busy and dramatic—the Belleville Three by way of Funk D'Void's full-throttle techno or Dominik Eulberg in deep, pummelling mode. With their choppy acid lines, neo-progressive melodies and retro, Detroit-classique synth stabs, the two opening tracks from his new album, Beyond The Heliosphere, are something to behold. They blindside you with their sheer balls-out energy. Once the novelty of that has worn off, though, Leeming's first proper album settles into a spacey, reverb-soaked groove that, while never less than well-turned, doesn't always leave much of an impression. "Betrayal Of Another," for instance, takes about four minutes to get to its rather underdeveloped melodic lead. Songs like "The Tracker" and the equally relentless "Beneath The Mine Chamber" sound rather samey. This despite Leeming's intention, clear in the press notes, that Beyond The Heliosphere should work as an album of tonally distinct tracks. What Leeming is great at is bringing non-techno elements into the mix. "A Hero Scene" is a sonic weapon of serrated synths and whomping bass, equal parts dubstep and techno. "Battle For The Tabernacle," which gradually evolves from cool, purring electro into a violent storm of lasers and shattering glass (complete with a stadium-ready breakdown), could easily slip into a Boys Noize DJ set. In the context of Beyond The Heliosphere, this kind of thing adds vital colour to Leeming's palette. At its brilliant extremes—the Vitalic-esque vibes of "Pipes At The Helios Canyon," the widescreen ambience of "Free Man"—there is clearly a lot more going on with Leeming than mere Detroit revivalism. He is, you suspect, more talented than this album suggests.
  • Tracklist
      01. Intro (Sleep It Off) 02. Double Dawn 03. Rise & Fall 04. Betrayal Of Another 05. The Tracker 06. Beneath the Mine Chamber 07. A Hero Scene 08. Battle for the Tabernacle 09. Pipes at Helios Canyon 10. Lantern 11. Free Man
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