Never seeing... (TDO) (the_dark_orchestra_-_never_seeing.it)

Overall Impression (10/10)

Never Seeing is just a simple demostration of what TDO was capable of at the time, extremely well produced, composed and arranged material. Dark is the main word for this, but also Scary and Nostalgic at times, mindblowing in all senses and the long duration isn't a problem here since the development is more than effective.

Technique, Arrangement, Composition (9/10)

As usual for the duo, the mod is huge with tons of channels full of detail, but what i like the most is a simple approach on tracker terms, you don't see lots of effects most of the time and leaves it as simple as it can get for a composition like this, mostly focusing on leaving clean transitions in every string sample or quick changes on percussive elements. Basically a simple arrangement approach in that matter, but with flawless execution without mistakes as usual from

Development (10/10)

This track shines for the dark ambience but also for the perfect stereo work done over it, doesn't get pretentious at any time since all the work done over the strings and harmonies is perfect for making the piece sound as full as possible, there is almost no problems with the overall mixing of the piece, this just resonates perfectly. Sample-wise there is nothing to critizice, loops are almost inaudible, no clicks or noisy samples, all of them are clean and well put-on, and even the louder samples like the bassdrum is well mixed, i just wished the movie speeches were more present..

Creativity (10/10)

The speedcore doesn't get so intense and it leaves enough room for all the ambience and the melodies to sound and kick in, which was a small problem that some ambient speedcore productions had at the time, like early Lord Lloigor works for example. TDO was known for their ambitious approach in melodic speedcore as seen here, and their blend on really dark orchestral work with intense speedcore still is one of the most creative things the speedcore tracking scene has ever seen, while some works rely on one repetitive melody work to sound correct (noisekick's world of darkness for example) TDO prefered to have a buildup of emotions and sections just like an orchestral piece, that approach was just unique at the time and still is surprising to hear such a successful blend of ideas being brought together, the work is almost emotional and as usual from TDO the works tends to get heavier while time is passing, this track doesn't escape from that formula but works so, so well that inmerses you in a pool of different emotions while everything gets scarier and more intense.

Enjoyment (10/10)

It's hard to not appreciate the work behind this track, considering it's an orchestral piece mixed with extreme 90s speedcore, as someone who loves all kinds of speedcore there is nothing to dislike here, the progressive overload this track gets is why i think this stands out in the TDO catalogue, making podium with tracks like Against The Light or Beyonder. Never Seeing is an example of how someone should approach melodic speedcore, creating an amazing formula that gives you enough identity to give chills to the listener.

Additional Comment

The Dark Orchestra (aka GabbaTerror) released a CD on Hate system and then disappeared, every speedcore fanatic that knows enough remembers USN and TDO's appearances on the label, it's hard to remember such unique works. Never Seeing marks the first release of TDO in 1999, featured in the "tracker promises" compilation Ultracore, then they got the room for some wax releases on USN and their 2001 CD, before this they already released all of their material on Hellterror Records, a trackergroup owned by them. The Dark Orchestra is still one of the best experiments speedcore has ever seen and is hard to top their productions nowadays.