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Wizzy Noise are a funny act. I want to love them; heaven knows I used to. Cybermancy was nasty, Cyclotron was Blade Runner, Elecktro Theater was genius. Then Stereo Electric started to get a bit fullon, and up until their compilation tracks and Sabotage pt 1 smacking them in all too much with the European festival bigboys.

This album isn’t bad as albums go, but the one thought you’re left with, like a sour taste in your mouth, is that they really didn’t need to go down this particular road. Unsynced starts out nicely enough, there’s a fair nod to the slower tracks from Sabotage 1 which, in the humble opinion of this jaded hack, were that album’s high point.

Jon 00 Fleming guests on Endelehia, a much better track that you might expect from the combination. (Interestingly, on his own site and in IDJ magazine, Jon reviews this album as “trance music in its purest form,” something that can be disagreed with by anyone willing to stamp the letters H, A, R, T, H, O, U, S and E across his forehead with something hot.)

Sisters Of Darkness is painful, it’s a thwacked-to-death retread of their tried n’ tested potions that’s about as subtle as a shit-covered brick through your Christmas morning window. Ultra Magnetic is similarly messy: there are moments that shine through, little elements of what made these boys amazing, but they’re too few and far between. Oceanica has a neat little breakdown for a “psychedelic” hands in the air moment next time you’re somewhere hot and surrounded by Italian poseurs, and Origami isn’t bad but there’s many more in the Wizzy cannon that do the same thing better.

The title track features Michelle “still not getting the message are we” Adamson and is awful, Detuned Swarm starts out excellently but loses its way in amps-up-to-eleven overblownitude and general embarrassment. Next.

Monofonik is probably the best standalone track here; it swarms nicely, there’s plenty of stopstarts and little tricks, and the sound is as mecchy and tecchy as it should be. Nice to see they can still pull something original out of the hat, not so nice to see it relegated behind all that bloody fullon.

In the current climate of psytrance, and nestled in with what we’ve been fed this year, this isn’t necessarily that bad. But compared with Elecktro Theater, it’s piss poor. Buy that  instead.

5 unless music started in 2006, in which case 8