Tengri – Icaros

English / Polish version

Tengri - Icaros
    PEAK RECORDS
    Tengri
    Icaros
    2013

      1. One We Are
      2. Aural Well
      3. Vrelo
      4. Moon Magnet
      5. Rift in Time (with Ajja & Atriohm)
      6. Dance of the Crow (with Vlastur)
      7. Anastasia – Coming Back Home 2 (Tengri Rough Edit)
      8. Izlez

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Peak Records from Switzerland is the first label focusing on psychedelic music (I mean their both downtempo and uptempo productions), which I admit, I have been following with interest since their first release. I want to add also that from the very beginning I enjoyed the discs released by them, which are characterized by an interesting, original sound and solidly polished material. Although the label is relatively young, because it was founded in late 2003 by the musicians having quite recognizable nicknames now (Ajja S.F. Leu, Dj Gaspard, Master Margherita and responsible for the visual part, Tanina Munchkina), it managed to earn a reputation as the 'mainstream’ on the world’s scene.

At the beginning of the year 2013 appears their next album entitled ICAROS, behind which hides a debuting artist, Leonid 'Leo’ Golcev from Macedonia, who operates under a name Tengri. This talented pianist began his adventure with the psychedelic music in the early 90s, and few years later he started playing as a DJ on both main and chillout stage. However, his fascination with the combination of psychedelic chillout, goa, dub with elements of ethno caused he decided to work and create on his own, I mean to deal with the music production. Together with his brother, Sasha he assumes a duo, which turns to be a new breath in the world of dark trance and in a smashing and quick way it gains the fans and notoriety around the world – of course I mention the project called Atriohm. But his admiration for a bit more delicate varieties of that kind of music seems to prevail, because ultimately he leaves the project and focusing on a bit more subtle variations of the psychedelic music, in the year 2011 he brings to life a new, this time solo project – Tengri. The name of the project, as in most cases, could not be accidental, and it refers to an ancient Asian religion called tengrism (or sometimes tengriism). In a literal translation, in Mongolia this term means 'blue’ and it is derived from the original god father, whose adherents aspired to live in a harmony with the surrounding world and the blue sky all around (Munkh Khukh Tengri).

The album itself knocks me on my knees, both literally and metaphorically. For a long time no disc caused such increased flow of endorphins through my brain and spinal cord, that would result in such a bliss. It is actually a combination of the old, hackneyed, but still evoked with a sentiment early productions from the sunny beaches of Goa, beautifully juxtaposed with a modern sound honed to the perfection – besides the responsibility for it takes no one else but Vincent Villuis. Yes, yes, the frontman and founder of the French Ultimae Records, better known under his stage name Aes Dana, has done the mastering of the album and only this fact for many should be the determinant that the album could not belong to the average ones. Undoubtedly, ICAROS is a remedy for clichés and hackneyed to the limits albums that are springing up like mushrooms after a recent rain. A fusion of psychedelic, electronic sounds perfectly intertwines with some ethnic and organic motifs, skillfully surrounded by the vocals repeated as a mantra, and creates a mystical whole, which is impossible to be ignored.

In conclusion, I will write briefly: wow! And it is such a really solid wow!
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9 / 10
Marion