ALTAR RECORDS E-Mantra Visions From The Past 2011 1. Visions From The Past 2. Forever 3. Secluded Trails 4. Menhir 2010 5. Hypnagogia 6. Mindfluid 7. Last Day Of The Butterfly 8. Emptiness 9. Echoes Of An Empty Room

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I do not know why, but recently I have a terrible backlog of listening to music. Did I miss my time, or maybe did I hide myself in a shell and start to prepare for a state of hibernation? Fortunately, these empty moments without chillout are gone into oblivion, and ironically I have found a truly filling, musical experiences, which I have not experienced for a long time. I am very glad that after a long slumber I had a incredible journey through some space sounds that I got to know thanks to Emanuel Carpus, who had released an album called VISIONS FROM THE PAST under a name E-Mantra. Fantastic stuff! I strongly recommend to all of you this gem straight from an inestimable Altar Records!
According to me, a very interesting procedure, which was applied by E-Mantra, is a fact that he has posted on the album cover a few lines explaining where did the musician draw ideas to record the new album and what was his intention while creating it. Specifically I mean the following quote:

‘I awake from a dream and grasped at those fading images and sensations
before they disappeared like wisps of smoke. I held them up to the light
and watched them shimmer with promises of past, present and future.

Looking back I traced a path through various memories and began seeing
patterns and how these memories were to be woven together.

What you will hear is a story that has gathered in my soul since
the first moment I opened my eyes.

This journey I share with you.’

The album of an artist coming from Romania seems to be an attempt to restore a dream, an extraordinary state, where you can connect up to three spaces of time: the past, present and future. The graphics of VISIONS FROM THE PAST cover creates a visionary whole and perfectly corresponds with the music, which can be found in various tracks of the CD. The imagery, impact on the imagination, stimulation of the soul – these are another features defining this disc. For me the album mastered by a brilliant Dj Zen sounds very organic, oldschool, dancing – while listening to it, I move spiritually to the beaches of Goa where I can see the smiling faces of people, drawn into the vortex of trance beat, performing a dance that is not just a playback of emotions, but it is also a manifestation of some kind of a spiritual energy, hidden somewhere in the farthest corners inside us. There is a lot of liberty, freedom, lightness, a sense of space here. I do not know whether in your, but in my case for sure, seventy-one minutes and fifty-eight seconds of E-Mantra’s music give a faster heartbeat, butterflies in a stomach and some moments of elation. In a case of VISIONS FROM THE PAST, Emanuel Carpus bases on a very deep, downtempo sound which he often extends to psytrance, progressive and opposing them, ambient themes.

Concerning this album, you can see a certain dependence, namely the tracks from the number one to fourth, ie VISIONS FROM THE PAST, FOREVER, SECLUDED TRAILS and MENHIR 2010 are maintained at a similar pace, and after them follow three tracks (HYPNAGOGIA, MINDFLUID, LAST DAY OF THE BUTTERFLY), whose rate increases and stimulates even more to the trance dance, summons some images of tribal dances in a circle. A remix of a track EMPTINESS (performed by Reasonandu, a friend of E-Mantra from Romania) and ECHOES OF AN EMPTY ROOM ending the album from the year 2011, returne to the pace at which remain the first four tracks.

Altar Records once again shows its strength, power, it holds a certain level and still occupies a prominent place in the world of psychill thanks to the albums such as VISIONS FROM THE PAST performed by E-Mantra. It is exciting, you can smell goa music and experiences of Emanuel, which arise from the formation of this species – we need to add that the artist continues his adventure with the sounds of goa from the year 2000 and probably therefore also his psychill album is so deep, addictive, dancing as this kind of music which is derived from the beaches of Western India. E-Mantra takes us into some spirals of melodies, tones, a cosmic space combining dreams with the reality, some dark visions with the bright, clear images. Since a long time no other album has surprised me so much, given me some shivering and let sit still. I recommend VISIONS FROM THE PAST especially to those who like rather those varieties of psychill which are full of beat – to those who, just like me, love strong and in the same time delicate face of this music. Great!

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8 / 10
Kasia