The highly anticipated second artist album from Leon Bolier has finally been unlashed on his very own Streamlined Recordings. 'Phantasma' is a truly colossal artist LP which just can’t be contained by just the one disc…

It's usually the case with most artist albums just the one normally aspirated compact disc will do the job just fine. Not Leon Bolier, his creativity in putting together his second artist album has taken over two discs and comprising of a massive twenty six tracks. Wow, plenty of music to get your ears stuck into with 'Phantasma', the follow up to his debut album 'Pictures', which as I remember was jam packed with tracks to. Leon is a man who does like to deliver immense substance with his albums. Thankfully though, the quality has not been degraded by the record overload to be found within 'Phantasma'. What the amount of tracks delivers is a passionate variation through the deeper styles’ of trance and highlights the production talent Leon possesses.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

TRACKLIST

DISC ONE

1 That Morning (album mix)
2 Dark Star (vs. Sied van Riel)
3 By Your Side (I Will Be There) (ft. Fisher)
4 Don’t Be Afraid
5 Highland Walk
6 War of the Worlds
7 2099 (vs. Marcus Schössow)
8 Off road (vs. Joint Operations Centre)
9 Substitute (ft. Marieke de Kruijff)
10 Avalanche
11 Eden (vs. Roger Shah)
12 Butterfly

DISC TWO

1 The Attic
2 Shimamoto
3 Saturn (vs. W&W)
4 Sweetest Lie (ft. Alana Aldea)
5 I Close My Eyes
6 Creek
7 Assembly Line
8 Irresistible (ft. Marieke de Kruijff)
9 Fly Back To Her (vs. JOOP)
10 The Knights Approach
11 Icarus
12 A New Dawn

This is an album that Leon has had a helping hand with. When I say helping hand, it’s more a creative meeting of musical minds resulting in some very tasty collaborations. It is also an album that Leon has had a vocal hand with the injection of Fisher, Alana Aldea and Marieke De Kruiff. Most importantly though, this is an album that Leon has really excelled as a producer in his own right, demonstrating that he has a wide range of electronic styles in his mainly trance armoury. There are many different moods to found over the two discs on offer here and musically speaking it’s as inviting as the flamboyant artwork on the cover. We managed to get the thoughts of this album from Leon last month about his second artist album and it’s worth a read to get inside the mind that created this masterpiece of electronic audio.

You will find a few already unleashed Bolier tunes in this album, the first worth noting opens the first disc and it’s an epic journey from start to finish. 'That Morning' does start as if you've just woke up at the crack of down and put your head out the door to see what the weather's like. Only for a moment though as it soon gets rolling into a deliciously uplifting and emotional lead. The real trick to this track is the spooky piano break that drops in after the build, it reminded me of the backing music when your taking Mario into Bowser’s castle. It’s after that we get treated to a Leon Bolier speciality, one monstrous driving melody that’s crisp and full of uplift. Melodies are what this album has in abundance. His collaboration with Sied Van Riel ‘Dark Star’ has a nice twist to it, starting off with a dark deep rolling bass line but breaking into a huge building melody that takes over when it arrives. It’s not just working on his own that Leon has a talent for as you will find his tracks with Marcus Schössow and Roger Shah bringing in both their influences to mix with Leon’s. The end result is trippy tech driven journey in ‘2099’ and Balearic meets synth driven melody with ‘Eden’. His production with John O’Callaghan turns out to be one of the chunkier, monotonic tracks you will find on the album. ‘Off Road’ is a subtle title for a track that’s rough and ready in all aspects.

That was a point that Leon talked to us about, in each track title there is a relation to be found within the music. He didn't just chuck words into a hat and whip out the tombola for this one. His choice of vocal partners for this album will bring up a well known name in Fisher, who is no stranger to putting her harmonics to trance artist’s records. Her vocal's in By Your Side are a joy to the ear, soft and inviting with the perfect key tone to the melodies and chords driving the music behind it. Keep an ear out for the delicate violin flavour strokes that work with the vocal for a very dramatic breakdown and build. It's a flavour that you will find throughout this album, a mixture of instrumental sounds as well as electronic produces ones.

The idea behind the two discs may make you think Leon has gone with two very different musical directions here but it’s not the case. Spread over the two is both the same kind of styles, its just Leon could not fit them all into one compact disc, the old shiny fella is getting on a bit now amid the digital media invasion. What I would say that I find with this album is the spooky feeling you get with a few of Leon’s tracks. No finer examples is the intro of The Attic where Leon uses striking violin strings and a sweeping vocal that’s draped into a choir style echo. It’s a feature that makes many of Leon’s tracks stand out before you even get into the melody and two veg. With a track like that he drops the same feeling with the melody that breaks in the heart of the track but delivers a deep beat and dark mood on the bass line to lead into it. The melody is nothing short of dramatic, like the ones found in many of his tracks here. One track in here that was looking keen to the eye is his collaboration with W&W, who have been on fire over the past few months. They don’t disappoint with the track ‘Saturn’ here that delivers a rumbling bass line but strikes with an aromatic melody that’s fresh as they come. The kicks before the beat, crisp hats and sweeping effects in the background add to a very appealing spot of progressive tech trance.

Another track on here you may remember is 'Shimamoto', the clue is there in the name with the music taking on board a Japanese influence. At least within the atmosphere of the track he does this very well, slipping in a Japanese female vocal working as a chord in the backdrop. The melody does have an oriental touch to it and for the album he's dropped in a chilled 8PM Mix. You might want some thing a bit lively when 8PM comes as his mix here is a pure down tempo chillout focusing more of the oriental atmosphere rather than an uplifting melody. This is just one example on the album of Leon’s supreme talent for production, even if your not one for the chilled stuff you can be nothing but impressed with the arrangement here. It features simply beautiful key tones that would relax the most extreme of energetic mind. Rounding off the two disc album is another ‘8PM Mix’, this time of an old track from Leon. ‘Ocean Drive Boulevard’ was a cracking single but he’s dropped an ultimate chilled vibe here with very church orientated harmonics and deeply relaxing strings.

One vocalist that you may not have heard before is Dutch born Marieke de Kruijff who Leon uses to great effect on 'Irressitable'. It is a pure relaxed dose of progressive trance using the vocal to drive home the story. It's the first time I have heard her vocals and I'm very impressed, her voice is simple gorgeous and suits the music Leon puts around it perfectly. She features again on the more up tempo ‘Substitute’ where the vocal is more up key on the lead but drops into a sweet tone as Leon builds up the melody. Crisp claps and highly sparked driven chord changing melody do the business here.

As an artist album a mixture of various sounds and styles goes down very well and although Leon has delivered that over his two discs each track just has that unique Leon Bolier feel to it. Progressive in places, harmonic in others, deeply gritty and dark elsewhere, you will find lots of moods in with the melodies here. One track that I would highlight as abit of a pick from the album is 'Avalanche' for its brilliant piano driven lead and tech elements that make for an enjoyable audio joyride. The effects used in here to create the melody and subtle echo’s are pure bliss.

Conclusion:
You won’t be disappointed with Leon's second venture into artist’s territory as it’s a super album. Within the mixture of trance, progressive and tech you will find some haunting backdrops and truly emphatic melodies that will ring the ears for many days. It’s as Leon wanted, dam good value for money with two discs and if you need a CD to brighten up the front room, the artwork created for the album will certainly do that. Leon Bolier, you can be very proud of what you’ve created here, top marks!