Eagle I Stallian - Reckless Gods

In early September, Brutal Resonance introduced its audience to the unique and bass-heavy throwback to progressive trance that is Eagle I Stallian. This Quebecois production duo are releasing tracks at a quick-fire rate, and since BR’s review of their Reminiscence EP less than a month ago, they have already released a new EP. Entitled Reckless Gods, this EP is noticeably heavier than previous efforts from the Eagle I Stallian, but it’s still quite progressive and trance-y. Since we already introduced Eagle I Stallian (EIS) in a previous piece, we can eschew the usual background and get right to the good stuff: the music. The original article on EIS can be found by clicking here.

Reckless Gods only has two tracks, but both are quite heavy compared to those in Reminiscence. Said tracks still operate well within the progressive house and trance wheelhouse. Track one, “Poseidon’s Dead”, was tagged by EIS as “future electro”. That’s a pretty bold claim, especially when the track opens with a clear progressive trance beat. It’s not terribly futuristic either, but the samples are metallic and computerized-sounding. To be fair, there are some electro overbeats but the heavier pieces of this track come from tribal bass sounds. Overall it’s well-produced and has a lot of influences and elements merging in a way that is surprising and unexpected. If history is anything to go by, this may become a signature of EIS, and it’s not a bad one to have. Taking elements of rave eras gone by and making them new and interesting to the current rave climate seems like it will be good for everyone.

“Gates of Hades” opens like a good old down-home funky house track from the 90s. Think “Miss You” by Everything But the Girl. It sounds like it will go into progressive house or trance from there, which it does beat-wise, but again the melodies and samples are much more modern. The overbeat/bass sounds like it was done on a couple of oil drums, again with a sort of metallic feel. It’s tribal yet modern. The first sample, a break which cuts up the monotony of the trance beat a bit, it actually an old standard melody riff from the heyday of progressive and Goa trance, but it’s cut up and rearranged so that it’s almost unrecognizable. There are a number of breaks in this track which again speak to EIS’s hodgepodge production attitude. Sometime they’re very small subtle breaks while others they’re full interludes or even rock-style drum breakdowns. This track, also tagged as “future electro” by the duo, is more true to that label composition-wise as it doesn’t have much of a melody or even a crescendo. That said, it’s so tribal and deserty that it’s still very hard to extract it from its roots of progressive trance or Goa.

Perhaps Eagle I Stallian feel that the future of electro will be a return to progressive house and trance, but it’s doubtful. If they were looking to create something different that their previous efforts and pull away from those progressive labels, they certainly succeeded in doing that. However, the soul of the two tracks on Reckless Gods is still very much informed by trance and progressive house. If labels are pushed aside for a moment, however, these two tracks show that EIS are further carving out their signature style while showcasing their diversity and clean production. The tracks are well-produced and ready for the big room stage at festivals, especially of the more tribal ilk. After all, at the end of the day labels aren’t important if the audience enjoys and wants to dance to the music.

Oct 03 2016