Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Rick Pier O'Neil - Shimmer of Light EP [SMD065]

Lithuanian progressive house label "Suffused Music" has been on the rise in recent years, seeing an increase in the frequency of releases for their rostered-artists as well as giving new and upcoming artists a shot at having their music heard by the masses. Yet for this release Suffused Music have called on the skills of a relatively "old-hand" to provide a significant boost to the label's credibility and notability and the results of the 5 track release are well worth their efforts.

Rick Pier O'Neil (aka RPO) has been consistently pumping out a variety of house and tribal tinged underground music for over a decade on various labels including his own, "RPO Records". The frenchman has had a somewhat quiet 2013/2014 so it was a welcome surprise to hear what he'd cooked up for Suffused Music as I personally have been a fan of Rick's music for many years, liking especially his signature dark-moodiness leanings and his mastery of the mid-track buildup and tension release. The "Shimmer of Lights" EP consists of 5 tracks:

"Feel the Beat" - Part 1 commences with a rumbling tribal beat which definitely means business, even moreso when a growling spoken-word vocal stamps its mark early-on and the track picks up the pace. Large sub-bass accents peek through the rolling percussion creating a real heads-down vibe that will definitely fire up any darkened dancefloor, even the relatively short break-down chooses not to interrupt the groove.

"Feel the Beat" - Part 2 strips back the tribal attitude and replaces it with a storming techno beat, equally as appropriate for the darkened dance-floor as Part 1 but with a few melodic segments to intermittently lighten the mood and tease the listener with a somewhat uplifting experience. It's a fantastically epic ride which creates a big-room mood and would do very well in a festival environment.

"Kan Balam" shows a rather straight tech-house groove and Rick's signature melodic stabs and pads, heading into progressive territory but with a solid purpose and drive. As the track unfolds it alternates between the steady chugging groove and uplifting trance-like synth elements creating a delicate and well-crafted balance reminiscent of producers such as Cid Inc. It all results in a clever track which would suit the tension-building part of any contemporary progressive-house DJ's set.

"Onix Beat" - Part 1 returns to techno-percussion and a charging bassline creating another track that would be prime for a darkened dancefloor, breaking down here and there into effected vocal-loop mayhem and returning to the groove with crowd-pleasing rises and drops. Big-room crowds will be prime victims of this beast of a track.

"Onix Beat" - Part 2 extends the big-room vibe from Part 1 but adds a hint of tribal swing and layers on thick swathes of melodic beauty, elevating the track in much the same manner as Rick showed us for "Feel the Beat" earlier in the EP. Techno-lovers, such as myself, will really dig this track especially when the groove is stripped away and we're left with the lush pads and strings during the breakdown. My favourite track of the EP.

A very strong overall release from RPO and Suffused Music, a welcome addition to their strong 2014 catalog

Rick Pier O'Neil - Feel the Beat (Part 1) [Suffused Music]
Rick Pier O'Neil - Feel the Beat (Part 2) [Suffused Music]
Rick Pier O'Neil - Kan Balam (Original Mix) [Suffused Music]
Rick Pier O'Neil - Onix Beat (Part 1) [Suffused Music]
Rick Pier O'Neil - Onix Beat (Part 2) [Suffused Music]

Text by Rich Curtis
Mastered by Cid Inc
Artwork by Michael Gaida

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