BEATROOM 01 - REVIEW OF THE COMPILATION ALBUM BY PRZEMYSŁAW MURZYN

Electronic Roller Coaster.

Photo by Peter Guellard. Cover art by Tomasz Jerzy Tumidajewicz.

On the 29th of April 2020, a compilation under the mysterious title Beatroom 01 has been released. This is the first compilation of KROMP ROOM RECORDS label, whose founder is Piotr Krompiewski. Together with Tomek Grochola, the founder of Agressiva 69 - the now cult Polish group playing industrial rock, they listened to and selected 8 songs from 21 releases, and completed them with 5 more, which were created especially for the needs of this compilation. The result of this collaboration is an amazing journey through various genres of electronic music from the raw industrial sounds of Misery track, through the trance Road to the atmospheric film music in the track Mroczne Spotkanie. It is a real musical roller coaster.

The compilation is opening with the track In Cold Blood by Blitzkrieg remixed by Piotr Krompiewski and Tomek Grochola aka Kings in White. The song was originally on the Holy War album in 1992. The cold, dark wave track after passing through the Kings in White mixers gained momentum. From the very beginning, a distinct breakbeat makes us rock in the armchairs and reflexively turn up the volume. Guitar riffs are adding a feisty claw to the song, and everything is complementing by the vocals of Peter Guellard, which blends in perfectly with the whole. Our roller coaster starts at full speed. Peter has liked the remix so much that he has been created a music video for this remix that is promoting the entire release.

After this ejection of adrenaline into the body, we are going to the next song - Agressiva 2069 (Beat mix) by the band Agressiva 69, which is taking us into darker, more industrial climates, we are entering a tunnel. You are listening to the spooky vocal of Tomek Grochola, so well known from the band's first albums, and the raw, industrial guitar riff. Beat mix version was specially prepared and remixed by Kings in White for Beatroom 01. The previous version of this remix (Agressiva 2069 Kings in White remix) is released on EP A2069 in 2019 along with the reissue on vinyl and CD of Agressiva 69’s first album - Deus Ex Machina, and that's where the original song is coming from.

The third track is Kromproom - Cyborg (NASA’s spacewalkers), which is transporting us to outer space but is not the same space so-known as from Interstellar or Gravity films. It is taking us to a "retro-space" where Jean Michelle Jarre and Crystal Method would take us. The track is taken from the EP entitled Transmitter released in 2009. Kromproom is the solo project of Piotr Krompiewski, who had taken his first steps in music in the early 90s, using Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga. He was also a member of the Virtual Madness group, operating on the so-called demoscene, which is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audio-visual presentations.

The fourth on the tracklist is EKS-port - Jsem (Kromproom mix). With this track, we are catching our breath, rocking in the clouds, sailing away. If you know The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds, so you know what's going on. The EKS-port duo has founded by MC Else and Kromproom. Their production is a mix of various styles of the independent electronic music scene: hip-hop, rap, electronics, trance, breakbeat, with elements of ambient, vocals, and live sounds. The track is taken from their debut album entitled eks-peryment, but it had not published before in this version. It is a fresh breath and confirms our belief that this compilation is surprising with every track and changing like a kaleidoscope.

Centurio - Hunter (Kromproom mix) - number five on the playlist. The first 15 seconds are building tension and then pulling us down from the clouds. With a stronger beat, the tempo is increasing, we are beginning to move by the rhythm of the music. Clear breakbeat and aggressive samples, we are gathering momentum and we want to turn up the volume again. Breakbeat and aggressive samples are getting gather momentum and we want to turn up the volume again. Jens Esch Centurio is a German photographer, filmmaker, producer, writer, composer, and vocalist. He produces pop, rock, electronic music, and soundtracks for books and movies. The Hunter track is taken from the soundtrack for the book Revolution, Baby! by Daniel Bosch aka Dan Davis or David Simon. The Kromproom mix version has been created especially for this compilation.

And we've reached the deepest and darkest abyss. Our roller coaster took us to the depths of industrial hell. Misery (Remastered) is ahead of us - one of the most disturbing and dark songs in the work of Agressiva 69. Tomek Grochola's demonic vocal pierces through us, the music is building tension to move into a crude industrial beat in the middle of the song. This was recorded by Tomek Grochola and Jacek Tokarczyk in the years 92-93 for the debut album of Agressiva 69 - Deus Ex Machina, which was re-released in 2019. A music video was made in China, which reflects the atmosphere of the song.

At the next track, we are returning to Daniel Bosch and EKS-port again. This time we are listening to a very atmospheric Dog song in the rhythmic ambient style. The track is taken from 2015’s Abgrund album, which is a soundtrack composed for the autobiography of Daniel Bosch. The title Dog is an extraterrestrial that resembles a hybrid of a dog and a dragon. Similarly, the song itself is a hybrid. Calm, with expressive female vocals, which is smoothly changing from declination to melodious singing. It is also very disturbing and intriguing. This song is nothing like Jsem (Kromproom mix), here we are not dancing in the clouds, here we are moving in a mystical fog.

We are remaining in the mystical fog, Centurio - Heat and Love are not allowing us to leave it. This incredibly atmospheric song, reminiscent of Bill Laswell's songs such as Hashish Poem or Above the Earth, taking us on a psychedelic, oriental journey to ancient Persia straight to the Nemrut mountain. A music video was made for the track, which is a photo collage of the image of the German alternative photo model Xarah von den Vielenregen. This hypnotic song was first released on the Freedom mini album in 2012.

Kromproom - Annihilating rhythm, the next song on this compilation, slowly is pulling us out of the magical land. It doesn't do it brutally, but it clearly indicates that our roller coaster is starting to accelerate. Rhythmic drums combining with cosmic samples introduce us to the world of breakbeat. As in the case of Cyborg (NASA’s spacewalkers), we are again heading towards the stars, but this time to the world of robots. This track has been released twice so far - in 2014 the EP Annihilating rhythm has been released, which includes two versions of this track, and on Kromproom's latest album Tenacity in 2015.

Kromproom feat. Tomek Grochola aka Kings in White is giving the beat a faster tempo in the track Road. As they define it like the trance-rock-electronic style. There is a trance beat reminiscent of a moving train, the rock vocal of Tomek Grochola, and electronic samples of Piotr Krompiewski with a solo at the end of the track. Again, we are driving our roller coaster at full speed, again we are overcoming more loops and sharp turns. This is the duo's first single released in 2017, although the cooperation of both men dates back to 2015 when they had met for the first time at a club in Cracow.

We are going to Centurio beatz Kromproom - Weite Reise (Trance funk mix) without slowing down. Trance rhythms, pulsating samples, African djembe. Much is happening in this track, but it doesn't overwhelm, it is even staying and looping in your head in for a long time. CbK is a collaboration between Jens Eschem Centurio and Piotr Kromproom Krompiewski. The project was created in 2011 and only one EP was released in 2012 by the Dark Daze Music label owned by Carlos Perón. The Trance funk mix version has been specially prepared for Beatroom 01.

At the end of our journey, we are getting a real surprise - Carlos Perón and his track entitled Mroczne Spotkanie. Carlos Perón is a legend of electronic music and a co-founder of the band Yello. Carlos's cooperation and acquaintance with Piotr Krompiewski have resulted in Carlos's involvement in this project and presenting as a special guest. Carlos has shared one of his unpublished track that is on this compilation under the Polish title. The track is completely different from the rest. It sounds like film music, but you can hear electronic samples mixing with orchestral sounds. It brings to mind the best scenes from movies like the Matrix. This composition is slowly breaking and bringing us to the final of our roller coaster ride called Beatroom 01.

The album is closing with Blitzkrieg - In Cold Blood - Kings in White remix - Video Edit. This is a more than four-minute version of the song that has been used in the music video promoting this compilation. To sum up the whole: it is an extraordinary ride that is surprising us with every track, brings to mind many associations and comparisons, and most importantly it is diverse. It doesn't get boring after the first listen. With each listening session, we are beginning to notice more flavours and increasingly appreciate the work that Krompiewski and Grochola have put into it. This is a roller coaster, where after finishing the ride you are screaming: I WANT AGAIN!

Review by Przemysław (Murin) Murzyn

Music distribution by Rebeat Digital GmbH