Artist: Descent
Title: Virtual
Label: Open Up Recordings
By: Mark Holloway | 19 December 2005
Tracklist:

• A: Piece Process Mix
• B: Original Mix

Descent "Virtual"

Dj Eval is a DJ and Producer who also goes by the name Descent and has been releasing a wide variety of respectable Trance music since the start of the new millennium. Descent's latest track titled 'Virtual', is released on Open Up Records and delivers to separate mixes that can serve two entirely different purposes.

The A side is presented with the 'Piece Process Mix' and begins with a clean, crisp kick drum and a humble tribal beat. Slowly, the warm swells and bass line begin to stand out as vocoded vocal samples ride over the top. As the song progresses it opens up with up front hi-hats, additional swells, stabs, and a really catchy little synthesizer snippet that exists in its own frequency spectrum and stands out as one of the track's unique characteristics, despite it's simplistic sound. The breakdown is straight forward with a consistent formula of pads and tribal elements. The remainder of the song continues to carry itself well and ends exactly how it started, with a solid kick and nice tribal background.

The 'Original Mix' occupies the B side and falls somewhere between ambient and breaks. With an introduction lasting one and a half minutes, it’s a feeling of atmospheric pads, bleeps, blurbs, robotic voices, and other interesting anomalies. Once the breakbeat begins, the track goes to another level and feels more computerized with tonal sounds from something like a sci-fi movie. A few short minutes later the track moves in to the breakdown, which brings back the ambient vibe, with a swarm of whirling bass lines. The breakbeat is re-introduced but yet again it's only for a short period of time. The final remaining minutes of the song carry the beat, minus a kickdrum, until the very end of the track. This is not the typical version of a song one would think of mixing while performing a DJ set. One thing that comes to mind is a track like this that could easily provide spontaneous creativity for those who prefer to DJ with Ableton Live or something similar.

Virtual is a release that steps outside the normal boundaries of what one would typically expect. The Piece Process Mix definitely delivers on the Progressive sound and is a fantastic track in its own right. The Original Mix opens itself up to a different palette of creativity and although it may not suit everybody, it’s a very worthy release.