Review of The Secret Brotherhood of 33Hz by 3rd Witness (TCT11)

3rd Witness is a recording name of Martin Kristopher who also records under 3dTorus, Trium Circulorum and Kanal Drei. He is a prolific producer of consistently high quality albums and I’d definitely recommend checking out his back catalogue, there are a number of reviews I’ve done previously on my blog.

 
This is a truly outstanding album, excellently crafted sounds that are superbly arranged results in an album that has techno as well as dubstep elements and a solid sound. Often the movement and softer sound of the synth provides a contrast to the more intense and driving techno feel.

The percussive rhythms sound meticulously crafted along with the synth sounds too. Each element has its place, the arrangement is superb.

Rip Curl
Superbly atmospheric opening with strings and subtle percussive sounds, the drumming pattern has a dubstep feel and there’s a subtle movement in the sound which creates a great flow.

BassLife
A brooding feel to the opening from percussive rhythm and synth that sits low in the mix, I love the control that hints at going full on dubstep returning to the more controlled sound. Tension builds really well through the song.

Phasing Rhodes
Plucked string type of sound and percussive opening with great bass presence, there’s a great contrast between the riff and techno feel of the song.

Gasoliner
Excellent synth lead with percussive rhythm and bass, great layering and movement creates a superb sound.

Hallucingenic
An industrial sounding percussive rhythm with glitchy bass, the synth adds a great element. Superb layering and a great movement in the sound again.

Trypstep
Atmospheric opening from percussive rhythm, drone type bass, layered sound and bleep type sound for the riff. Great change to a more urgent sound and some excellent percussive sounds.

Zingularity
Superb percussive rhythm to open, synth sound has vocal type qualities. It’s a solid techno sound with superb layering.

Prexistence
Synth arp to open with subtle layered sounds, the drumming has a subtle dubstep feel. There’s an excellent movement from the swirling feel of background sounds.

Dead Dummy
Another superbly atmospheric opening with synths, layered background sound effects and deep bass, there’s a great interplay between the synth rhythm and percussive rhythm. The song has quite a sparse rhythm and a kind of ambient techno feel.

Mo Fifi
Excellent layering of synth which acts like a bassline, synth arp, distorted drums / percussion and bass which sounds like a hum. A bit glitchy, a great sound.

The Kink’s Ring
Excellent processed drums to open accompanied by bass, the synth has frequency drift which creates a great tension. Excellent arrangement again.

Trapped Under Purple Skies I
Rhythmic opening from distorted percussive sounds, the synth sounds a bit like sonar. Layering creates a complex rhythm with great use of delay and pitch bend.

Trapped under purple skies II
This song has more of a trance feel with the opening synth riff, background sounds create a great soundscape. The drumming pattern with bass gives a laid back dubstep type of feel. Great contrast between the bright synth and darker / heavier sound bass and background sound effects.

Gho5t F8dEr
Synth arp and swirling pad to open, the bass is dark and drumming pattern suggests dubstep at times and gives a great momentum. It has a kind of Sci fi feel.

Botaniquesk
Rhythmic synth and bass to open creates a groove accompanied by excellently processed percussive sounds. The acid type synth riff adds an excellent element.

The Blueberry Dilemma
A brooding quality to this song with processed drumming pattern, growling bass and synth with a sound that’s really hard to describe, a kind of percussive dripping sound. Excellent use of panning on delayed sounds.

Gladiator Baby Walk
Deep bass, synth and drumming pattern to open, the synth lead is subtle and distorted which gives a great edge. Excellent layering again.

Guardian Angel
Deep bass and percussive sounds to open, drumming gives a a great momentum and the percussive sounds add to the groove. I like the subtle use of synth. A great Minimal techno feel.

Fyretrap
Synth arp, bass and distorted background sounds create a dark Sci fi type of song. Great movement in sound, it’s another minimal techno kind of sound with excellent production.

Refraq
Great synth sound with distorted percussive rhythm, the bass is deep and growly. Excellent layering again, the synth provides a great contrast to the harsher bass and percussion.

Secret Mindset
Swirling pad to open with processed percussive sounds and sub bass, there’s a great contrast between the more ambient sounding pad and harsher percussive sounds and darker, heavier bass.

Stone Roll Deep
An uptempo sounding opening from delayed synth, swirling background sounds and distorted percussive sounds. The bass is deep and rolling, it’s a minimal techno sound.

Dread drummer
There’s a dubstep feel to the opening drumming, the chime type synth riff is contrasted by a deep growly bass. The chime type synth sound has a kind of menacing quality.

White Out
Percussive opening and deep bass, there’s an excellent synth arp and brooding quality to the song. Great layering again, some excellent processed percussive sounds and complex rhythms.

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