Le Dos-on’s Voice of the Wolves is the biggest Splash Energy Recordings release for quite a while, appearing on CD and digitally a month or so ago. Fans of Le Dos-on’s recent sound will find lots to enjoy here, but there are enough elements of his older, FINRG-influenced style to widen the album’s appeal beyond that.
Anastasia is good example, with a sound somewhere between UK and Finland, and would likely mix well into either style. Quite an uplifting track then, followed by the Substanced/Transcend-esque Chaotic Infection. Again, not an especially dark tune, but more than matches most of the harder stuff we’ve heard so far this year, with some excellent work on the filters. The title track, Voice of the Wolves, harks back to Le Dos-on’s older tracks, with the classic ‘catchy melody over some twistiness’ and a very short break keeping the pace high. One of my favourites on the album, this.
Umbla drops the bpm for a Aryx/Paocala-style trancy tune that starts really well but fades away a little, just as you’re expecting the next level to kick in. I’d be interested to hear a remix/rework though, there’s lots of potential. Tsukumogami has more than a hint of Hybridize to it, what with the piano and simple-but-catchy melody. We’re back to freeform speed here, and plenty of melodic-mix potential.
We Are Here, We Are Waiting sets off into UK freeform territory after a deceptively promising intro. There’s even an electro section for those who like that sort of thing. This leads into a bona fide trance track at 145bpm, Signals Intelligence, featuring some really nice elements that lead into a lovely breakdown. The melody again seems just short of the complexity you’d expect, but it’s a nice change of pace.
Unnamed is by far my favourite track on the album, and manages to channel some of the emotion you often hear in Le Dos-on’s best tracks. There’s a Nomic-esque feel to the intro, before some echoes of Betwixt & Between with the pianos in the breakdown. As the drop arrived I was praying for some demented filtering, but sadly it wasn’t to be – still, this is a quality tune and lifts the album into must-listen territory.
Overall Voice of the Wolves is really worth checking out. Personally I feel the addition of a Psycho Stalker track and some more of the melancholy that Le Dos-on does so well would have improved the album no end, but after so many releases on various labels that might have been a tough ask. The CD is still available, but all the tracks are also online at Le Dos-on’s bandcamp.
