Rating: 3 out of 5
The label Aural Alliance released Stage 1, a group album featuring 16 tracks each produced by a different artist under the label to present the label and each artist to a wider audience. The label, formed this summer, was founded on socialist ideals, according to the Aural Alliance’s website. To that end, their revenue goes to musicians, and all of their music is licensed under Attribution 4.0 International, so their music is free for use for any commercial purpose as long as they are credited.
Funny enough, I found this label because I saw someone complaining that in the application to join the roster, the person must agree that punching Nazis is always morally correct.
The album has great variety in its genres and styles. However, the variety also hurts the cohesion of the album. There’s no consistent tone or theme with the whole album. Some tracks are simply enjoyable to hear, while others may have more serious topics. While most people would enjoy a portion of the album, it is not likely for someone to like all of the tracks given how much diversity there is. I went from listening to an 8-bit instrumental to a metal song about misinformation. They are two completely different styles, and the instrumental doesn’t even have a topic. Despite that, I enjoyed the album, and below are my favorites from Stage 1.
“Pixel Blast” by Duzzled is an upbeat, playful, 8-bit track that weaves in more calming tones near the start and end. The flow of the song is just perfect, and its clever use of 8-bit to make the music is just absolutely amazing. It’s the perfect song to play when you need to focus on something not too serious like drawing or playing games.
“CANINE ANTICS” by ARRYTH is a mediocre piece. The opener is an amazing, slow buildup of suspense and dread leading to the vocals. However, the vocals are incomprehensible and weak, making the track unenjoyable. I was expecting much more from that rising-tension opener. Despite that anticlimactic ending, the beginning is still good enough for this song to be one of my favorites.
“Screaming at the Top” by Schewee is the best track on the entire album. It’s fast, and it stole my intention instantly with the screaming at the top repeatedly, each time followed by a different reason for screaming. It starts with “Screaming at the top of my lungs ‘Cuz I want to!” and the transition to “‘Cuz I need to” is very smooth and just sounds amazing. The singer even encourages the audience to scream too. The message is that people should do what they enjoy. In the same way, the singer finds fulfillment in screaming, the listener should do what makes them happy no matter how “off” it may be.
Overall, I enjoyed a few but was indifferent to the rest. The entire placement of tracks could be better. And some of the tracks have individual problems from hard-to-hear vocals to really long instrumentals. Fortunately, the label has released stellar albums in the past, and I would recommend listening to those instead. “BLISS IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAIN TIDES” by Gojii released two months ago is one of the best albums ever released, and it’s criminally underrated.