Namlook • Montanà - Labyrinth 3 FLAC album

Next Labyrinth and next genius work. 10/10. Music for everyone electronic lovers ;-)

Definitely a grower. On first listen only a couple of tracks impress. However, nothing here is disjointed or cobbled together willy-nilly. After the 3rd listen it really clicks.Extremely atmospheric and dreamy. Wonderful working music. Great flow between mellow and energetic bits.Track 5 is where things heat up. Amazing echoic downtempo with a brilliant flourish every few bars; it reminds me of something from long ago, but I don't know what. I love this song!Then an instant FAX classic in track 6. Super catchy tremolo synth lines noodle in and out above crisp broken percussion. Anthemic in its scope, it totally belongs in a classic NES video game (Megaman, Zelda or Bionic Commando maybe?), but sans the 8-bit quality. PK does some guitar work near the end that fits nicely, echoing the synth line. Bravo guys!Moody track 8 climaxes on an alien landscape high. Namlook's melody note choices are flawless and inspired. Breathtaking. Perhaps as good as DSotM 9!It would be tough to decide between Labyrinth 3 and Labyrinth 1. More listens are required. Run, don't walk, and buy these albums now!

I'm trying to spot the EMS duplication you mention in both tracks and I can't. Can you give me precise in-track times to look for it? Home Shopping t5 is quite long with a lot going on. I'm not even sure I'd be able to identify an EMS synth sound. Is there an old FAX trance song (say one of the ones on PK08/01) that is a good example?I still can't get enough of track 6! I can see how it would sound programmed. Like I said, it sounds like a Nintendo in-game theme song. To me, that's great! To others, it might detract. It's a simple, catchy melody. Reminds me a bit of early Syn/4Voice stuff. I think I really like the beat as I just realized it's really jungle, in a subtle, disguised form. Good jungle always has me bopping to the beat. If you don't like jungle, then that might detract.And I almost always love it when Pete gets the guitar out... the bit at the end where he starts matching the synth line with the guitar is sublime!Labyrinth 3 is for sure my fave compared to L1 now. I just sat with L3 on repeat t5-t8 for 4 hours! t8 is probably the most emotional FAX track in a long, long while.Cheers!

Nice review. I agree that it is hard to decide between 1 and 3 as these are the best of the series so far.Track 5 has the same EMS synth line as Move d/Namlook VIII's Mouse potatoes ;)Btw Somehow for me track 6 is the weakest of them all. It all fits, but it sounds pretty programmed and the rhythm is boring.

Namlook and Montana deliver in less than 6 months after Labyrinth 1 already the third installment of Labyrinth. Although it's very hard to pick one favourite, this one maybe even the best for me. I'm very impressed that they bring another record with many new and original ideas. Of course it has the same trademark as the previous releases: Namlook's typical background synthlines and solo's combined with Montanà's complex idm/glitch drum programming. This time however they bring more calm breezy ambient which focusses more on the overall sphere that all the elements create together.The result is a more subtle record with tracks which all fit nice one after another. In contrast with the tracks on the first and second part which mostly tell their own story, the tracks on this release are more integrated. It feels like one journey.This has maybe something to do with how they make use of DTS. The extra dimension in DTS has already become common, but the way they move the sounds from one speaker to another create amazing effects. By times it is even pretty spacey, though without being cheesy.My only complaint is that the rhythms sometimes sound too static. Some may find that the use of some typical Namlook synth work sound too familiar here and there. The hardcore FAX-fan could recognize for instance the background EMS synth line in Path XXI that is similar to Move D/Namlook VIII's Mouse potatoes. Still I think all the elements are very well integrated.After listening to the album several times, I must admit that the magic wears off a bit. Still above average music, but somehow it loses the "alive" feeling.