This review covers the ambient track Enigma – Push the Limits.
This track was released in 2000 on the album The Screen Behind the Mirror.
The track starts with some snares and a subtle voice sample. A violin makes a sporadic appearance. A drum kit then enters the track along with a synth melody. This is backed by a synth pad. Some subtle choirs make a brief appearance.
After that, the synth melody drops out and another, more sweeping synth melody appears. A more prominent choir element appears after. After a bit, a whispering female vocal joins the track for a bit. They drop out with a delay effect for a moment. In the second appearance, a reverberation effect is added to the vocals.
A vocoded choir elements is added after most of the track drops out. Some reverse kicks make an appearance in the track. The synth pads then make a return. Pitch bending is added to the vocoded choir elements for a moment before the drum kit returns.
The vocoded elements drop out briefly before returning. Some traditional percussion’s make an appearance.
After that, the synth melody returns, replacing the vocoded elements. After a bit, the track drops, leaving a few subtle voice samples, some reverse snares, and a few other drum kit elements. The drum kit then gradually comes back more fully.
From there, the synth melody makes a more low key return. Chopped whispers also continue. The synth melody then comes back briefly before the track then quickly ends.
For me, there are strengths and weaknesses in this track. The synth melody is definitely a weakness because, for one, it hits a few green notes here and there. Additionally, I’m not sure it is well filtered because it seems just a bit out of place.
Meanwhile, a strength is definitely the voice samples. They have some nicely done reverberation and delay effects applied throughout. The chopped portions work equally well.
A weakness is the ending where it more or less just drops out shortly after a build up. It makes for a rather awkward ending.
A strength is the vocoded elements. I thought they added an interesting texture to the overall sound. As a result, they worked quite well.
Overall, this is a fairly average track. It has strengths like the vocoded elements and voice samples. The weaknesses include an awkward ending and the out of place synth melody. So, a fairly average track in the end.
Score
6.5/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
