Gothic System ~Trancecore meets Gabber~
[2005; Hardcore Technique]
9.3
No, I am not reviewing the remixes, because they could be their own separate release, and honestly, I don’t feel like analyzing five versions of Gothic System when there are eight tracks made by the man who single-handedly got me interested in doujin music: DJ Technorch. After listening to his free downloads, I went through a Japanese Hardcore Techno faze which took around two or so months to snap out of, only to realize that most of it is generic and all of it doesn’t even deserve to be placed under the same classification as anything DJ Technorch has made, much less have the honor to piss a urinal away from the man.
Gothic System ~Trancecore Meets Gabber~ is the first full-release album by DJ Technorch, featuring eight glorious tracks that still srand unparalleled by not only the hardcore techno scene, but the whole doujin community as a whole, and five remixes you wouldn’t bat an eye at as soon as you separate them from the preceeding tracks so as they don’t get dirt on the real meat of the CD, which I will at times find myself repeating after finishing. What separates Gothic System from your average hardcore techno release is that it’s not just hardcore and no song can be pigeonholed into one genre. The Cosmosmith opens up quietly and slowly unveils itself with fast, intense melodies and breakbeats, all the while losing none of its tranquility. The minimal oddball Machine’s EXtream boarders between ambient techno and psychedelic experimentation.
While many “J-Core” artists will constantly bust out the “HARDCORE NEVA DIES”, you can find Technorch sampling speeches by Malcolm X over breaks accompanied by low-tone piano chords in opening 極楽鳥 (Oldskool Mix). Title track Gothic System keeps repetition fresh through effectors, turning a normal synth melody into something fluid and lucid. Even the drum machine-centric 暗転 leaves a number of producers in the dust. PARANOiA TCN 〜Dirty Mix〜, a definite nod to the KCET mix from 2nd Mix Plus, is the most traditional remix of PARANOiA we have had in years from someone who has been apart of any Bemani project.
No song tries to be a Hardcore anthem or displays passive Tourettes through sampling. DJ Technorch is a man who goes on producing songs and ignoring the trends, the tired tropes, the clichés that swallow up many of the “artists” today in the hardcore techno scene. Even on an off day, Technorch can still take groups and artists like DJ Sharpnel and P*Light to school and even leave competents like REDALiCE, M-Project, USAO, and kors k a damn good lesson. Gothic System ~Trancecore Meets Gabba~ is one of the very few doujin releases that I can point at saying "this album as got balls", throwing in minimal, ambient, and hardcore onto the same compact disc. If you start out with J-Core with this artist like I did, you will be most likely setting yourself up for heartbreak if you're pinheaded enough to find someone like him.
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