Matan Zohar – Our Self / Afraid To Let Go [Intuition Recordings]

Matan Zohar is no stranger to the trance & house scene.  Having burst onto the scene as Mat Zo in 2006, he’s had releases on AVA Recordings, Anjunabeats, Smuth and countless others. His sound has always been unique and captivating, with his ‘Foot and Mouth EP’ being my all time favorite of his.

Jump to the present day and Matan has unveiled his latest productions, ‘Our Self’ and ‘Afraid to Let Go’ under a new guise, Matan Zohar (which is coincidentally the bloke’s full name). Staying true to his mantra, ‘Good songs don’t rhyme’, this release packs loads of deep progressive trance, and his signature danceable edge.  His skill lies in his ability to smoothlessly integrate sounds, often times spanning many different styles and cultures.

Read on past the jump for samples and links!

Matan Zohar – Our Self

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The track kicks off with a ‘mostly’ standard bassline, which is punctuated by a solid and throaty kick. As we approach the 90 second mark we’re slowly introduced to the melody, and if my ears don’t deceive me, I believe he’s even side chained a little something for good measure. The first half of the track is nothing to write home about, but its exactly this feature that accentuates the breakdown, crash and last third of the song. We’re finally introduced to the meat of the melody, a lush and expressive piano riff. Unlike most trance build ups, this one doesn’t take you by the arm and throw you at breakneck speeds.  Instead, he capitalizes on a low energy, effectively forcing the listener to keep up and enjoy it at their own pace.  This track is quite simply a masterpiece of progressive trance.

Matan Zohar – Afraid to Let Go

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Distinctively faster and lighter in the low end than the A-Side, ‘Afraid to Let Go’ makes use of a vocal track in what sounds like a foreign language.  This doesn’t surprise me, and if you’ve heard his ‘Foot & Mouth EP’ on Praesul Records, you’ll know exactly what I mean. The track floats around for the first two minutes, much like ‘Our Self’ did.  Into the breakdown, you’ll notice much of the same spirit that you heard in ‘Our Self’, but unlike it, the melody remains soft and soothing as it plays along with the vocal track. The re-introduction of the bassline long before the crash allows Mat to extend the breakdown and really draw out emotion from the listener.

All in all, a fantastic release from the Intuition camp.  I would have rather liked more variety in the tracks selected for this release, but both are ace nonetheless.  My pick of the litter? Our Self…

Links of Interest

Mat Zo MySpace

Intuition Recordings Website

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1. Matan Zohar – First Glance EP
2. Orjan – Villa Blanca / Soulflayer [Intuition Recordings]
3. Mike Koglin ft Tania Laila – Find Me [Intuition Recordings]
4. Arney S. – The Night Before / Sunday Morning Walk [Intuition Deep]
5. Carl B – How Things Could Have Been [Intuition Recordings]