Over Drive Adventure
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Album Title: Over Drive Adventure |
| Record Label: Troubadour Record |
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| Catalog No.: HZMT-0029 |
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| Release Date: December 31, 2019 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Sweep Record |
Overview
Over Drive Adventure is the next iteration of the series formerly known as Overdrive Hell and continues the tradition of hardcore and experimental electronic EPs featuring Ayako Saso and Shinji Hosoe. In addition, Fumihisa Tanaka and Takahiro Eguchi are now credited on the albums as well. While not for everyone, it does feature some interesting music for those fans of this style of electronic music. How does this album compare to the previous entries in the ongoing series?
Body
The album opens with “Valley of Death is dead” by Shinji Hosoe, under his moniker Sampling Masters MEGA. Flamenco guitar, in the intro, blends with hard techno beats and gabber vocals and the occasional synth melody, which splits between synthesizer and vocal manipulation. It has a Ridge Racer feel to it and would fit perfectly in a racing game. Saso’s “Murder boomerang,” under her Sampling Masters AYA moniker, opens with ominous narration and synths before transitioning to a hard style beat and aggressive synth usage. Distorted vocal samples are present in the sample. The oppressive atmosphere is broken up, at times, by some brighter synths, but the end result is a largely tense and cold tune thanks to its heavy beats, distorted vocals, and the tense synth melody heard behind it all. Fans of this style will certainly enjoy it.
Takahiro Eguchi’s “Cursed triforce” opens with pitched vocal samples and clapping samples before moving into some aggressive drum n’ bass work. Despite the overall heavy aspects to the tune, it isn’t as intense. However, it does switch up its soundscape frequently, making for a varied listen, but the end result is a bit underwhelming. Lastly, Fumihisa Tanaka’s “Down thrust kill” also is a drum n’ bass/hard style tune, but the end result is a far more melodic venture compared to the rest of the album. This focus on melody when juxtaposed with aggressive beats and the chiptune elements makes for a retro feel. As a result, the tune does feel a bit all over the place, but is surprisingly cohesive and flows quite well from start to finish due to the focus on melody throughout.
Summary
Over Drive Adventure is quite successful for its arguably polarizing nature. The heavier tunes feel like they would fit into a classic Ridge Racer game whereas the other tunes offer different ideas that may not always be successful, but make for a dynamic listen. Fans of the series or of other Sampling Masters output will most likely enjoy what they hear on this release.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on May 20, 2020 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on May 20, 2020.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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