TuneLab
Afterlife Voyage 007 by Denis Horvat
Denis Horvat takes the helm for Voyage 007, and if the Afterlife aesthetic sometimes feels like it's trying a bit too hard, the music here does all the talking for it. This is for the heads who want their emotion served with a side of grit, a mix that feels both vast and intimately detailed. Imagine the fog machine working overtime in a cavernous space, with pinpricks of light catching on slowly rising hands.
Horvat weaves a deep, melodic techno tapestry, averaging 127 BPM and predominantly working in the melancholic 12A key to establish a profound, introspective mood. The energy is overwhelmingly low-end focused at 0.78, a subterranean rumble that gives weight to every atmospheric pad and vocal snippet, with mixing that feels less like a series of tracks and more like a singular, evolving organism. The tracklist is a treasure trove: the aquatic mystique of Coni's 'My Secret Diving' opens the portal, while 'TVA - Radio Camaldoli Stereo' offers a lesson in hypnotic, sample-based minimalism.
The double dose of 'Monolink - Sirens', first in its original form then via Patrice Bäumel's more driving remix, shows a DJ thinking in movements. Horvat's own 'Bohm' is a deep, driving monster, and the inclusion of 'Tinlicker & Robert Miles - Children' is the kind of nostalgic, heartstring-pull that reminds us why we fell for this sound. The journey sets sail with 'Coni - My Secret Diving', reaches a sublime peak with the epic, nine-minute journey of 'Nick Warren & Nicolas Rada - Dead Eyes Opened', and docks peacefully with the organic percussion and warm bass of 'Jerome Isma-Ae - Baharat (Ruben Karapetyan Remix)'.