TWO VERSIONS OF THIS ALBUM ARE AVAILABLE at NativeDSD, you are now on the “SMOOTH” version’s album page, to find the “RAW” album page click here
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Naxatras have succeeded once again in surpassing themselves, releasing an album containing more than an hour of highly original and authentic psychedelic rock, reflecting their increased level of experience through more complex compositions and remarkable performances! Considering that they actually performed their music live to analog tape, with no technical assistance, it is easy to understand why they do not do multitrack recordings: They simply don’t need it, because they already sound splendid when performing live.
In preparation for the DSD release, we were discussing whether the processing with the equaliser should also be done for the DSD version or not. We realised it might be wise to leave this choice up to the individual user. Thus, the DSD release comes in two versions, the Raw version, and the Smooth version.
The Raw version is a more accurate documentation of the real event, whereas the Smooth version was the processed version, intended to maximise acceptance by a wider audience. It conforms better to norms of how things “should” sound rather than how things “do” sound. If you are curious about the difference between the “should” and real life, just compare the two versions and find out for yourself!
Note: The Raw version is exclusively available in the DSD format.
Naxatras is a hard psychedelic rock band from Greece, formed by John Vagenas, John Delias and Kostas Harizanis. They play a warm psychedelia full of fat grooves, dreamy melodies, heavy riffs and trippy guitar solos all with the vintage touch of the 70’s.
They have been developing their sound since 2012, and finally recorded their first full-length album at Magnetic Fidelity, Jesus I. Agnew being their sound engineer and consultant, who contributed his in-depth knowledge of analog recording and the independent music industry. Only analog equipment was used in the recording/mixing/mastering stages of the album. Their debut album “LP”, which was released in 2015, became one of the best selling releases of their genre internationally and is already considered a classic. In 2016 they released their second full length album “II” as well as an EP, once more recorded fully analog and performed live.
The band has developed a reputation for high-energy live performances combining elements of psychedelic/progressive rock, stoner, funk, jazz and oriental music with a psychedelic video wall to accomplish full stimulation of the senses.
In summer 2015 they went on their first tour playing 5 countries in the Balkans. In summer 2016 and 2017 they toured all over Europe and the Balkans, as well as the Middle East, playing in more than 10 different countries and many festivals.
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:05:13
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | NXTRSIII-S |
| Qualities | |
| Channels | |
| Artists | |
| Genres | |
| Analog Recording Equipment | Telefunken M15A, Manley Variable Mu Mastering Compressor/Limier, Manley Massive Passive Mastering Equalizer, Thermionic Custom Green Fat Bustard, Magnetovolt Sideways, Variety of Microphone Pre-amplifiers, FWRL Spring Reverb Unit. |
| Cables | Variety of cables, including Van Damme OFC, Viper, Cordial, and custom wiring consisting of 99.99 % solid silver wires, along with gold plated connectors by Neutrik and some miscellaneous connectors by Amphenol and Switchcraft. |
| Digital Converters | Burr-Brown. |
| Editing Software | none |
| Mastering Engineer | Jesus I. Agnew |
| Mastering Room | Magnetic Fidelity. |
| Microphones | Various including models by AKG, Electrovoice, Lem, and Shure. |
| Mixing Board | Thermionic Culture Custom Green Fat Bustard. |
| Notes | The DSD release comes in two versions, the Raw version, and the Smooth version. The Raw version is a more accurate documentation of the real event, whereas the Smooth version was the processed version, intended to maximise acceptance by a wider audience. It conforms better to norms of how things "should" sound rather than how things "do" sound. If you are curious about the difference between the "should" and real life, just compare the two versions and find out for yourself! The Raw version is exclusively available in the DSD format. |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Producer | Naxatras and J. I. Agnew. |
| Recording Engineer | Jesus I. Agnew |
| Recording location | Magnetic Fidelity Live Room. |
| Recording Software | ATR Magnetics 1/4" Master Tape, if this counts as software… :) |
| Recording Type & Bit Rate | DSD 5.6MHz, original at 15 ips, CCIR eq, +25 dB over 185 nWb/m. |
| Speakers | Magnetovolt Full Range Monitoring System based on KEF drivers. |
| Release Date | February 22, 2018 |
Press reviews
The Obelisk
“[…] If you ultimately choose the hi-fi route, and let’s say, relax with a highball in your it’s-been-a-long-day burgundy housecoat and put III on your vintage turntable to ease your worried mind, no doubt you’ll find it does just that. It is a work of such patience as to be legitimately soothing in a way few records that can still justifiably be called heavy are, and yet that presence of tone and weight of rhythm is still very much a factor in what Naxatras do, even at their funkiest or quietest. If you go the headphone route, the listening experience is somewhat lonelier, but the spirit of III continues to resonate that calming, wholesome sensibility that seems to derive purely from the collective performance of Harizanis, Delias and Vagenas, and if one is listening to Naxatras and perhaps looking to understand what it is that has allowed the band to have such an impact and to find such a considerable audience in a relatively short amount of time, the answer is right there in their interaction as a trio.
They may decide their next time out to just up and down and take a more active approach overall, or they may continue down this path of turning heavy psych jams into a statement of counterculture folksomeness to represent a movement of heavy hippies that, if it exists, could hardly ask for better PR than it gets in “Prophet” and the penultimate “White Morning.” Whatever they do and wherever they go from here, Naxatras have put all questions to rest about how well earned their place is at Greece’s heavy psych forefront, if there were any to start with. Their jams have an individualized character that speaks to the honest chemistry shared between them as players, and each of their successive full-lengths has furthered the seemingly ongoing process of their cohesion. […]”
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