Welcome to the first Radioactive Review brought to you by our Bad Haz Techno Beatport Review Team! This is a new series of blog posts in which we select a current track from one of the Beatport techno top ten charts (Peak Time / Driving, Raw / Deep / Hypnotic, Hard Techno, Melodic [House] & Techno, or Minimal / Deep Tech), and a team of our promoted producers gives their thoughts on the track in a concise manner, including a Geiger Counter Rating (out of 5)! With many of our promoted producers having different backgrounds, experiences, and most of all, opinions about all things techno, this should provide a fun and varied evaluation of the track. For this track review, our review team consists of promoted producers, Hegstraction, Many Elephants, Peter Harich, DZM, E1GHTH PLACE & Sam Kitt.
The track for this blog post review is The Sound of Space by Enrico Sangiuliano, taken from the Beatport Techno (Peak Time / Driving) Top Ten Chart, and was the number one as of 11th September 2022.
Here are the thoughts and comments from our review team (if you'd like to join in, you can post your own review in the comments below):
Hegstraction - "First off, I like that it's an eight-minute track version on Spotify, the same as on Beatport; I guess when you are this famous you don't have to worry about playlist curators complaining your track is too long! The intro is tentative before the kick comes in (Submithub curators would pummel you for that, haha), but then it gets going. Typical kick and hi-hat elements throughout. I like the repetitive, stuttering effect on the vocals. The synths are a bit light for me, too trance-like, however, some of the spacey sci-fi psy-trance sounds are fun. Overall, it's a fairly simple track, nicely executed as you'd expect. Not a particularly interesting track for me, not that much fun to dance to, a bit catchy, but pretty average."
3/5
Many Elephants - "The phrase 'this is something designed for your senses and nothing else' is fitting for this track as it is clearly aimed at building a feeling, and it does a decent job of achieving that. For me though, you never quite get a payoff from the build-up. It would work as an early atmosphere builder in a set in a smokey club but would not be your set highlight."
3/5
Peter Harich - "I have always liked Enrico Sangiuliano and usually use his tracks in my sets for a simple reason, he is great at building atmosphere. The Sound of Space is no exception. The plucky melody is great, and the track is driven forward by the trancey bassline. I think the vocals should have been processed more, they are a little light. That first break though, the tension that it brings all the way to the first build up. I do however feel that the first drop is a little weak. I would have liked to see it come directly after the first build up. Perhaps it's been done a million times before and Sangiuliano wanted to do something new. But the simple fact is that it's been done a million times before because it works. The fusion of psy and techno is a hot potatoe for some, for me it's perfect. I love to explore the segment myself although I have a long way to go before I'm at the same level. The Sound of Space gets a 3/5 from me, because it's not an "The Age of Love" but still a solid track. I recommend everyone to listen to "Future Dust" instead which is a solid 5/5."
3/5
DZM - "Don't quite get why this would be a Beatport No 1 track. Nothing about the track is particularly interesting, perhaps with the exception of the stuttering effects on the vocals. The plucky melody is very basic and not expanded upon. From a sound design perspective there is not a lot going on here, and so without melodics and sound design trickery we need a solid groove which is ... okay, but not much more than that. I can imagine that this works to fill some time in an intense DJ set, but this has zero re-listen value to me."
2/5
E1GHTH PLACE - "For a track that disguises itself as more of a trance song with techno influences rather than a minimal and melodic techno track, I kind of expected there to be a bit more involvement as far as the melody goes coupled by a really great buildup that has a nice memorable and edgy hook during the drop/chorus. For a title that has the word space in it, it honestly felt pretty flat and uninspiring, and while there were some catchy moments, especially during the rhythmic section of the track, it didn't interest me all too much from start to finish. Regarding the atmosphere, I wanted to scream when there wasn't any panning done to some of those sound effects that really could have benefitted from it! Aside from that, there was some presence known within the track that fills up some necessary space (no pun intended) that gets the job done for the most part, but I still felt there was a lot left to be desired. A touch more in the reverb or even a decay and filter increase in those pluck synths during those impactful moments would add a lot more intensity and suspense and it would catch my attention a little more. As far as psychoacoustics go, not a fan to be completely honest. Those stuttering vocals were a little too chaotic and didn't fit in with the track where it should nestle in nicely with the rhythm. There was a lot of push and pull happening. Sure, the track does sound coherent and the mixdown is decent, but it just lacks character overall. With that said, I give the track a fair and honest 2/5 rating on the geiger counter."
2/5
Sam Kitt - "I'm a long-time fan of Enrico, love most of his releases and how he has grown over the years, but honestly I'm disappointed in this release. I've found he has always developed his tracks and sound into something new and exciting most if not all times. This track though just lacks the originality and boundary pushing that I look forward to hearing when I see 'Enrico Sang...' as the artist. This has all his trademark sounds, god-tier mixing, and fx shots, but without any substance behind them to actually push the track into a top tier one for me. As sad as it is for me as a long-time fan, this is on par with most of the demos I get sent which I just ignore for not pushing the envelope. 2/5. Unremarkable, especially since I'd give some of his older track top marks."
2/5
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Credit to Many Elephants for the inspiration behind the 'Radioactive' naming & 'Geiger Counter Rating' ideas, in keeping with our 'Hazardous Material' theme stemming from our first Bandcamp compilation, and also in part due to influence from Daz Scott's epic track, Geiger Counter, which was an early Bad Haz Techno promo. Have a listen below :)
Thank you for supporting Bad Haz Techno, and we look forward to bringing you more Radioactive Reviews in 2022.
