Juno Reactor - Labyrinth (9 tracks) +Album Reviews

What any fan can wish for

A. Scudiero | Minneapolis, MN United States | 11/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Die hard fans of Juno Reactor will not be upset with this album. It has all the elements of the classical Juno Reactor sound and musical style. Then they threw in some really fun new twists: a lot of flamenco-style guitars, orchestral and even some choral integration. The ability to keep your established sound while adding something new and interesting to the music is something so few bands can do after an album or two, Juno Reactor is to be highly commended for their acomplishment in this album.

I personally find much of the music on this disc to be some of the best modern electronic fusion with traditional styles of music since Enigma III: Le Roi est Mort, Vive le Roi. If you like that disc you'll appreciate Labyrinth as well. It has a feel similar to some of the more recent works by Delerium. On the other hand, if you like any other Juno Reactor, you'll probably still like this album.

Some of the content on this disc sounds to have been influenced by Don Davis, the composer of the score to the Matrix with whom Juno Reactor worked for the soundtracks to those films. This includes tracks other than just Mona Lisa Overdrive (which I might add is a great track). I have no complaints about that however.

Overall this is a good disc for fans of classical Juno Reactor, and a good disc to give a chance to even if you haven't like them in the past because it has so much new."

Uneven...

drefractor | Arizona | 06/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose if I had never heard Shango, I probably would have rated this latest effort from Juno Reactor as a 4, but Ben Watkins and company set a really high standard of complex musical synthesis that is hard to surpass.

"Conquistador" adds some nice arcosanti-sounding bells (part I) and interesting sounding backwards percussion (part II) to a laid back spanish guitar piece that echos "Pistolero," but otherwise adds nothing sonically to the superior efforts in Shango. "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is nowhere near as compelling a composition as "Masters of the Universe"... And so on...; I'm not adverse to recycling musical thematic ideas if the resulting songs are at least as good as the originals, but many of the tracks on Labyrinth fall short.

There were a few departures worth mentioning; "Giant" attempts to add rock drums to a generally uninspired composition and fails badly; "War Dogs" fares considerably better by using rock drumming to augment JR's usual polyrhythm mayhem.

"Zwara" was much more along the lines of what I hoped for in Labyrinth; drawing in ever more stylistic elements into a great groove -- all kinds of fun. "Navras" and the tense almost creepy ebb-and-flow buildup of "Mutant Message" were also very good extensions of the JR sonic universe...

So with about 50% of Labyrinth breaking new ground or at least tilling the soil well, I cast my vote with the reviewers that gave this outing a 3.5. The better moments here are exceptional and are well worth the purchase."

A step forward...but not JR's best

Rotorblade | LA / CA / USA | 01/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having been a fan of JR since Transmissions, I've witnessed their sound evolove album after album. In context of all their albums, this is tied for second with Beyond the Infinite. My personal favorite is Bible of Dreams. Anyway, after hearing Hotaka awhile ago, I had a pretty good picture of what to expect from this album...a mix between Hotaka and Shango (which I'm not much of a fan of) with a dash of the stuff from the Matrix series thrown in. Onto the track by track breakdown:

Conquistador I - 8/10 - A nice intro with great Spanish guitar style a la Pistolero, but not nearly as jazzed up. Chimes and female vocals also add to the track well.

Conquistador II - 3/10 - Starts out strong with a pretty good beat, but in comes that tribal voice (or whatever you want to call it) that I hated in Shango. Ruined the song for me.

Giant - 5/10 - Very chaotic sound which I'm mostly indifferent to. Feels like JR just threw everything together in this song.

Wardogs - 10/10 - My personal favorite on the album with a great style to it including a fantastic mix of guitar and other stringed instrument sounds and great vocal samples.

Mona Lisa Overdrive - 9/10 - Rehash of one of their songs from the Matrix Trilogy. Reminds me more of their older style than their newer stuff. Good addition to the album.

Zwara - 9/10 - Another hard hitting song which brings back the taiko drumming machine of Gocoo for a good solid song. I found the woman repeating Zwara annoying after awhile however.

Mutant Message - 8/10 - Starts like a slower song, but alternates between calming and exhilarating. Well done.

Angels and Men - 7/10 - A beautiful and peaceful song. Well crafted and quite enchanting, but not my cup of tea.

Navras - 9/10 - The second of Matrix songs. This is one knock your socks off hit of epic proportions. I found it quite enjoyable in its over the top style.

Overall, this is yet another solid album from JR, but it just doesn't have the same listening effect as their previous albums, particularly Bible of Dreams. Labyrinth is an album that shouldn't be passed up, but if you're just starting in on JR, then think about getting Bible of Dreams first to set the mood.

=)"

Sweet God!!! (Juno)

SINtHetEk UphoriA | 11/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All I have to say about this album is that in many instances it is exactly what I wanted "Civilization" to be like from FLA. Such as the song "Mutant Message," that is now one of my favorite songs ever in that genre. I mean seriously, Ben Watkins created the perfect industrial ambience song ever. The rest of the album is great too. However there is one thing I don't like about well, two. A.) being that giant (no offense Ben if you read this) is not very good. And in my opinion the vocals from Taz should have been left out and the song reworked to compensate. Secondly, B.); is "Navras". While a beautiful song, it should have been remixed with the awesome synth. work that he did and more beats and more of an electronic sound. I mean seriously do not get me wrong about Navras I love that song, it is just that I all ready have it from the soundtrack and I was anxious to hear something new and energized. I love the new version of "Mona Lisa Overdrive" and I frequently catch myself driving a little to fast while listening to it! Also "Conquistador Part 1/2" are awesome; a perfect portrayal of the Aztecs seeing Cortez as a god and someone who will bring peace (Pt. 1). And then in a stroke of absolute annihilation began to destroy their beautiful empire (Pt. 2). All I can say about this album is that it is really a great thing to listen to while playing games (i.e. Halo2 and Star wars Battle Front). And fro a final note if you have a 5.1 - 7.1 sound system from your computer make sure you have a M-audio Revolution, it makes it an awesome experience"

Defying Expectations Yet Again...

Reaktorleak89 | Riverside, CA | 10/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Comparing Labyrinth to Juno Reactor's previous albums is pretty impossible since the band's style changes so drastically between each CD. Transmissions and Beyond the Infinite were pure trance albums and Bible of Dreams has since been the turning point in their style, incorporating trance, rock break beat, and tribal elements into a genre can't be defined. Shango is definitely their greatest achievement, but I can't help but prefer Labyrinth because of it's irresistible cinematic quality. There's heavy usage of strings and female voices, and a good balance of blood-pumping dance songs and slower, mellow tracks.

Conquistador begins perfectly with a cinematic atmosphere reminescent of the opening title of a war movie, and Edwardo Neibla's guitar skills are undeniably awesome. The Latin lyrics also add a cool aspect to the album as a whole. Hopefully I can get them translated sometime soon. I wonder what happened to Steve Stevens from Pistolero and Hotaka though. I should also mention that the main reason this album's style is so drastic is because quite a few members, including band cofounder Mike Maguire, are missing. This is most likely temporary since Watkins spends anywhere between a month and several years on each song. Hopefully we'll see the likes of Stevens, Maguire, and Alex Paterson on the band's next release.

Amazingly there isn't a single track on this CD that I did not like, which is amazing because I didn't like half the tracks on Bible of Dreams, and Hule Lam was...downright questionable. The worst song on this CD was Conquistador 2, and even that's a pretty good song, which says a lot about the overall quality of Labyrinth. Zwara is an amazing sonic experience with a bassline that'll start pumping your blood for you. Giant is menacing, heavily dramatic, and has some catchy rock elements. War Dogs is an orchestral piece that still manages to stay fast paced with ethnic vocals that enhance the atmosphere and a magical guitar sound that makes the song one of my all time Juno favorites. Mona Lisa Overdrive is rewritten in a style reminiscent of the last two songs from Shango. Thankfully, Navras was left untouched. Mutant message is another dark, brooding bass track in the footsteps of Komit and Insects, and sounds like it would belong in a vampire movie. The piano also adds a beautiful atmosphere to the song that echoes endlessly until the synth lines catch up.

Angels and Men is probably one of the best songs Juno Reactor has ever made, despite being so soft and low-key, but that's one of the aspects that makes the song so enjoyable. The saturated guitar is gorgeous and complements Taz Alexander's gorgeous voice perfectly. Hauntingly beautiful, gently paced, and complete with a human soul that puts all other electronic music to shame, this is definitely my personal favorite. From start to finish this album is an amazing trip well worth your hard-earned cash. It starts with an inviting whisper , soars beyond expectations, and ends with a hell of a bang, just the way an album should.

"

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