Mat Zo - Near The End / Land Of The Free Album

Yet again this rising star of the UK Trance & Progressive scene continues to delight his followers with yet another stunning and fascinating double-sided E.P. These two tracks yet again display his trademark breaks, vocals and quirky layering but couldn't do so in any more of a different manner, as the first track is very much progressively-orientated and the second is much more synth dominated Trance.

"Near The End" is a fabulous prog-tech number with shades of Arnej hidden in the keys and pads, so anyone familiar with his Coldharbour work will most probably enjoy this too. From the start of the track you are introduced with a fairly 'regular' Zo intro with samples of those little sharp keys and a few vocal loops, as well as a mini-break. Slightly further on comes the main bassline (@ 1:00) - a deep, low-frequency, throbbing 'monitor-tester'. The build-up continues in wonderful fashion with the development of the keys, background and overall tempo before you reach the first set of lightly keyed-synths (2:12*). These are then used to create and control the main breakdown (3:02-4:40) along with a delicate piano melody (3:47-4:36), which further enhances the dreamy soundscape similarly featured in "Lucky Strike".

After this well balanced ambient interlude the bassline is re-introduced in uncompromising style along with those stabbing keys, which are then beautifully lined with the soft piano melody and uplifting synth before another sharp break in tempo. At 6:02 the bass and vocals are manipulated into a searing tech-break, during which time the track has an opportunity to take a more minimal farewell than usual - using only the pads, bass and kicks along with a short chopped-up vocal melee (7:59) in the last few seconds of the track.

Next up is "Land Of The Free", a dark, twisted and enchanting piece of soaring Leon Bolier-esque Tech Trance. Once more Mat Zo manages to pull out another encapsulating vocal loop (similar to "The Lost", or Adam Nickey "Shift"), a real moment of magic to set the scene for my personal favourite of the two tracks. 0:28 signals the first alteration to the vocal with the added element of a small break and pulsating bassline (128bpm). Throughout the next half minute is a teasing synth lurking in the background that eventually rears it's head at 0:55/0:58. This is used to find a brief gap for another short break in the bass addition of distorted drums (1:14, 1:22, 1:28, 1:32 etc) just to create further depth.

However, it is after this clever build-up that lies the true genius of this track. From the 2:10 mark the synths become the tool best suited to provide the main breakdown (2:30), here the vocal comes back in haunting fashion along with that synth-dominated melody. 4:00 sees the track wander into the previously mentioned Leon Bolier territory, as the synth becomes very much the signature sound - later backed up by a squealing (4:17) spaced-out secondary synth riff and return of that drum loop.

Nearing the end of the track (5:40) comes the multi-frequency rasping bass/synth crossover; once again the synths are used against the bassline to bring the track onto another level - this time the outro. Another inspired use of de-layering and musical proficiency is enough to bring the track to a close in a minimal yet still silky smooth manner.

All things considered this is another must-have for any Trance, Progressive or Tech lover 9/10 & 10/10.