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Review: Vierro - Inside Me
House | Monday 24th February 2014 | Pete
When the writers from DJMag describe a musician as a “Greek trance god” and “trance king” you can't help but simply know that, as a fan of house music, you should be listening to them. And as I'm sure many trance fans will tell you, Vierro is one of those artists. His newest album, Inside Me, offers the listener summery synth lines, calm and melodic vocals from Tiff Lacey and Cari Golden and “classic” yet modern-sounding trance beats, all of which are reminiscent of artists such as Chicane, Robert Miles and Finnish veteran DJ Darude all of whose tracks are played and recognised in thousands of clubs around the world.
The album opens with 'Honesty', an 8-minute track which starts with a light and spacey synth which is soon joined by the female vocals of Tiff Lacey and Cari Golden. Underneath the vocals comes the “dripping” synth notes and bouncy bass lines which quickly increase the volume of the track. We're also provided with cymbal taps and, of course, the inevitable bass thumps which are joined by a “buzzing” synth. By the end of track one, we're feeling less on the beach with a strong cocktail as we did at the start and more ready to rave hard.
Next up is the title track 'Inside Me' in which clubbers are given 2 or 3 minutes of relaxation and wring-out-the-sweat time with a small, quiet beat followed by sustained synth notes and a repeated triplet which is then joined by cymbal crashes. It's easy to tell already why Vierro has been crowned a trance king (although on his Facebook page he says “Trance is not a genre. Trance is a feeling. I make dance music and I play everything that sounds good to my ears”) and is likely to be heard in any of Europe's major clubs.
'Cruel Doubt' is a track that is somewhat similar to New Order's 'Blue Monday' mixed with Orgy's industrialised version, excluding the vocals. The tune begins with 30 seconds of quiet hums before the bass thumps come in. This is where I was reminded of 'Blue Monday'. The bass is soon joined by cymbal crashes and deep synth followed by an almost organ or horn-like synth.
Tiff Lacey's voice which fits in almost perfectly then enters, giving the listener a sense of euphoria. To add to the similarity to 'Blue Monday' a number of synth “bleeps” come in. The track finishes with the bass thumps from the beginning and leads into 'Future', a very quiet and slow track until the three-minute mark upon which things speed and louden up to create a track to jump and bounce around the dancefloor to. Not forgetting the synth around the four minute mark which sounds very much like a soft version of 'God is a DJ' by Faithless.
'Idol' sounds like something from the Scottish Highlands with its gentle whistle and fuzzy beats. For its whole seven minutes the track remains in this quiet state throughout until it finishes with gentle bass kicks and reverberated cymbal taps.
The shortest track on the album at four minutes thirty seconds is 'Ghost of my Heart'. Somewhat overly repetitive, this track is my least favourite on the album, but it's third from the end which is usually the point when “fillers” - less popular tracks which are used to increase the album length – are put in anyway so this might be expected.
'Senses' is almost too similar to 'Cruel Doubt' . However, after the similar intro, the track becomes something which could be compared to the works of Darude. This similar sound continues throughout the track until the outro which is another New Order-like bass thump.
Suitably titled as a final track is 'World Without End' which is another summery track which provides images of a red and orange horizon at the back of the sea whilst relaxing with that strong cocktail you had at the beginning of the album. Tiff Lacey is back with her soft and haunting voice singing over liquid beats and the previously heard dripping synth notes. Again her voice fits in perfectly with the track to help create an album that is likely to be hitting Europe's biggest nightclubs very soon.
So, how can the album be described in one sentence? Modern yet classic trance with summer vibes which provide images of that perfect clubbing holiday. If you already happen to be a fan of Vierro you'll know his newest album will be worth listening to. If, however, you've only just discovered him and are a fan of trance musicians such as Darude, Chicane and Robert Miles check this album out now. Alternatively you can wait till summer and get yourself onto a beach with a beatbox and this album.
