Realtime Journey Into Space Play Sample:   56K Dialup   Broadband   Download Sample:   500K   1.5Mb (Excerpt from track(s) 'Chandra')

This CD-R comes from the SynGate label. I enjoyed the last CD I reviewed from the label (Traumklang's 'Elements'), so I popped the disc into the player with some optimism. I wasn't disappointed.

A gentle, high-register, mid-tempo sequence and silky analogue string pad combination rise from silence to herald the opening track 'Lost in Space'. We are very much in mid-eighties TD film soundtrack (Risky Business/Thief) territory here – but without the guitar work. Choral voices and snatches of string melody add weight. A gentle hi-hat pattern slowly builds and underpins the rhythmic throb of the pad – now we simply enjoy the journey. It's simple, traditional, but very good.

A chunky, analogue sequence opens proceedings for 'Journey Into Space'. Almost immediately a second is deployed to create a cleverly syncopated rhythm. Hi-hats are added and synths swell in the background. A beautifully dark, analogue lead gives this sequential skeleton a melodic heart. A bass throb and Mellotron strings are the final pieces in this Berlin-based jigsaw. This one really got me moving! The sequences mutate as the track continues on its glorious voyage. Various melodies come and go. Vast choirs emote. If you like the Berlin 'schule' you'll love this. The sequencer is, again, engaged from the very start for 'Cosmic Opera'. It's a rather staccato, chunky one this time. A choral drone sits beneath the pattern. Hi-hats again herald the electronic percussion. Realtime have created quite a trance-like state by the 4 minute mark, at which point snatches of a heavier rhythm are given. It becomes even more dramatic as choral 'stabs' begin to punctuate the track. Gradually the choir takes more of a melodic role and the percussion beds into the track. It's all subtly done – this lot know how to build and sustain a track. This is excellent stuff. Berlin fans prime your credit cards!

A very Vangelis synth flourish announces the arrival of yet more sequences. We have entered 'Another Dimension'. We have two sequences, one bass-laden the other a light airy one, both pretty rapid. Symphonic swells and colossal choirs, and we're only 1 min 30 seconds in! Things get even more symphonic before a sudden end.

Two sequences dance around each other, appropriately enough, for the opening to 'Dance of the Aliens'. The patterns constantly mutate, and various symphonic flourishes add harmonic interest. The sounds are totally retro and analogue – it just sounds superb! 'Chandra' closes the album. Solar flares and a string pad set the scene before a rapid but mellow sequence comes into life. A second, brighter sequence is added, just seconds before a bass pattern cements the rhythm. White-noise percussion is gradually introduced. Yet more patterns are added, along with drum 'crashes'. Then it's suddenly over.