Depths of Despair - False Sense of Security

Depths of Despair is Shahar Melamed, who has been making music since 1997. He is also the resident chill-out DJ of the Luna club trance line in Haifa. This is his first CD, released on the independent label Spiritual Beings.

Passive Aggressive makes an intriguing opening and presents us with Shahar's unique style- soft and smooth sounds and melodies melt together with harsher sounds. The Burn (T2) follows with a very dark and quirky atmosphere, conveyed by very odd and different sound. When the drums start drumming the track turns into a drum and bass nightmare. Patient is a little more chilled yet the hard beats and percussion are still dominant. Voluntary Disappearance (T4) starts with a very consuming groove. As the sample says, it does make you distort. As usual, we can find some milder sounds here too. Now, it's time to go to sleep. Obsessive Compulsive (T5) starts with a soporific speech. After two minutes or so, you'll be waked up though. The percussion is starting to get progressively more intense. Don't try to sleep at night with that one :). Repeating Patterns (T6) is one twisted motherfucker, jumping between dreamy and buzzing synth lines. Suddenly moving to the next track (Madame Venus Se Faschere) which is another mellow piece of chilled drum and bass that turns darker and faster, and changes yet again. End of the Tunnel is another drum and bassy track, a lot faster this time. Very good vocals. Next, we get more spacey and crisp d'n'b piece with even more sampled vocals. Track 10 (Between Black & Grey) is much darker as the name insinuates- twisted. The last track is Dawn of Despair- a worthy ending for the album, completely disturbed and disoriented.

Recomendation:  This is a very invigorating trip. The music is different, way different, from anything that is released today. Shahar knows how to create dark atmosphere, his tracks change all the time, and they are also different from one another. The sound is very unique but the production is not top notch. It's pretty understandable though, due to the huge diversity. Moreover, I bought this CD for 30NIS, a very attractive price which is made possible because this CD is practically homemade (but you won't notice it).
Favorites: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9.