Ametrom - Club Balkan
Review by Karl Magi
Overall Album Impressions
Ametrom’s Club Balkan combines expressive guitar playing, intriguing synth sounds with active electric bass lines and throbbing drums. The end result is an album with a strong percussive heartbeat, laid back sonic sensations and textural, ear-catching synth sounds. The music also showcases Ametrom’s melodic abilities. This is music for a summer’s afternoon, relaxing in a tree’s dappled shade.
The combination of Ametrom’s skilled guitar work and his melody writing abilities strongly appeals to me on Club Balkan. His guitar playing has a loose-limbed ease to it and his guitar tones are mellow and luscious. The way the guitar carries the melodies he’s written helps to enhance their elegant, flowing feeling and lends them extra depth.
Club Balkan’s mix of electric bass with strong drum work is another appealing aspect to the album. The bass playing is lively and creates strong grooves or pulses while the drums provide a steady, shaping and guiding flow to the tracks. I enjoy the sense of life that comes from the electric bass, as opposed to synth bass and the way in which the drums lock into the groove.
Ametrom’s synth selection adds a wonderfully layered quality to the album. His palette is full of many ear-catching sounds with resonant and tender timbres balanced with rougher-sounding synths and elevated sparkles that accent the other sonic elements. In the end, they suit the gliding character of the album while providing enough contrast to keep it interesting.
My Favourite Tracks Analyzed
“Catania” comes into being as wide, medium-low and slightly rough-edged synth pulses form a steady pattern doubled by throbbing drums that form a shaping motion underneath. Broad synth pulses oscillate as a guitar with a lush tone carries a warm melody with a gliding ease and an electric bass and steady drumbeat moves the music onward underneath it.
The rich guitar’s melody dances along, full of hope and a smooth groove that I find quite pleasing. Trembling, medium-low synth moves through in slowly flowering notes while the drums and wide synth support the lead guitar’s caressing melody. The track flows into a new segment with a funky bassline sitting in the pocket along with the drums. Slowly descending, elevated synth floats down over a unique, repeating figure carried on a round-sounding synth.
The bass groove is undeniable and the drums are locked in. Descending, raised synths tumble down and a different, hollow synth plays a hypnotic pattern along with the softly tapping cymbal and steady beat. Resonant, medium-low synth carries a bouncing pattern and the broad blocks of medium low synth dance. Now the guitar carries a secondary melodic pattern that’s yearning and energetic over the active drums underneath it before the track ends.
Tremulous, delicate synths vibrate into open space, tinged with a slightly tenuous emotional feeling as “Black Forest” opens. The drums create a propulsive pattern as the electric bass repeats a lick that I find addictive. Elevated, digital-sounding, reverberant synth echoes in brief bursts over top of the bassline.
A smoother, brighter synth flickers in between the fatter, rounded sounds as it becomes a sparkling light dancing in between. The drums have a smooth beat and the bass locks into an easy riding pattern. Now rougher-edged, full-sounding synth echoes out in a slightly melancholy pattern while digital, medium-low synth dances in.
High, intertwining synths flash in shifting patterns and the drums and bass sit in their groove. Trumpeting synth carries a breezy and gentle note pattern over the endlessly active drum and bass pulse before fading on shaking synth sounds.
“Breezy Nyx” starts as rapidly revolving, grit-edged arpeggios move in a dense pattern as the track opens, interlocking in a hypnotic pulse. Solid and sizeable drums form a throbbing beat that interacts with the arpeggios to create unfolding patterns.
Nasal, medium-high synth drifts through in a wandering pulse that is guided by the propulsive nature of the drums and echoing arpeggios. Raised synth flutters out and fades as the drums and bass lock together in the pocket. The drums and bass are an anchor as gritty, medium-low synth cascades down above them.
I am drawn to the way in which this music has a heartbeat to shape it. Now the wide, continually oscillating synth blocks create a repeating pattern that undulates along with the drums and bass, together creating the feeling of continuous motion as elevated sounds vibrate away above it.
Gliding drums and thick bass well up below distant, delicately touching guitar carrying a breezy melody to begin “Sky Mind." The lead guitar has a gleaming tone as it carries a gentle melody, full of tenderness and soothing emotion. I am drawn to the guitar melody’s emotional content here. Drums and bass form a pulsation that carries the music easily along above it.
Hazy synth unfolds and caresses the music as the drums and bass fade out. Glowing synth flares into life in circular pulses that are joined by ticking drums building in energy, and now the guitar flashes back into the music, a lacy swirling tone to it as the gleaming synths flare again and dance out.
Now the lead guitar melody sails ethereally with a relaxing feeling before brassy synth trumpets out in a more energetic line. Brighter synth contrasts with the guitar’s sliding feeling as the drums and bass drop out. Rough-edged, but still warming guitar trembles in slow lines before fading.
“Beats Moderne” kicks off as knotted electric bass intertwines with a smooth percussive pulse that coasts through the music. Resonant, jazz organ notes slowly float in as fluttering chimes move in the distance and gnarly electric bass shapes the music. The melody that the jazz organ carries cruises along with a tinge of melancholy that emphasizes its gentle nature.
Drums and bass interlock underneath to guide the track along. Rising, bright synth clouds swirl and delicately billow over the throbbing beat as soothing organ and soaring synth fly breezily high above. Rough-edged, buzzing synth vibrates over the steady motion of drums and bass before glowing synths rise and the organ-like instrument smoothly moves above the other elements.
Reverberant synth bounces and oscillates into open space in rapidly shifting patterns as “Sudden Head Key” gets started. The drumbeat balances the synth’s wandering feeling with something more grounded. Softly climbing, ethereal synth rises in a tenderly touching line over the richly throbbing note pattern oscillating underneath it along with the pulsing drums.
Rough-edged synth cuts through in sweeping notes that extend below the fragile, fluttering synth as it trembles out. Synth pulses volley and a gently gliding higher instrument trickles in round-sounding notes. Slicing synths move in and the drums and bass act as a shaping guideline for the track.
Now synth with a riverine flow sends a satisfying wave of relaxation over my mind while the drums stutter. Elevated, diaphanous sounds run feather-light fingers out through the track before rapidly shifting, active synth cascades in intertwining patterns and a high sparkle flashes out over the continual drumbeat.
“Wander Vogue” comes to life as gossamer, full-sounding synth drifts and electric bass and drums provide a heartbeat to move the track forward. The synth's lightness is broken into by tight, elevated string-like synth playing a dynamically moving note pattern. Bright, high synth sings an uplifting melodic pattern and the drums keep up their steady influence along with thick bass.
Steadily hissing cymbals touch the music and lush synth moves in a curtailed pattern. Higher synth pops in quick pulses while the electric bass steadily repeats and the drums push the other sonic elements on. Nasal, enfolding synth trembles in aching notes over raised sonic flashes and the steady drumbeat fades.
Conclusion
Club Balkan is an album that puts me at ease and soothes me. I find the music invigorating and stimulating, but it also suits a more settled frame of mind. Ametrom has a fresh, unique approach to making music that I personally enjoy immensely.
