Out Taken
suchman | 06/22/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've simply got to comment on this recording, especially after being addicted to FLA's "FLAvour of the Weak" for so long. Pro-Tech is an eclectic mix of spin-off club trance-techno tracks, a bit of old school drum'n'bass with some house influences, some "FLAvour" sounding "outakes", and some more experimental adventures. First off, Chris Petersen just joined up with Bill Leeb for the "FLAvour" record and I would bet that much of this disc was recorded at nearly the same time, possibly as an opportunity for Chris to get used to Cyrogenic Studios? But, anywho, the title track "Pheromne" (sp?) is an awesome opening track for any electronic record. It is a ten minute, tasteful, trance techno track that slowly builds up about of nothing into a sleak and very dancey climax. That track showcases some really nice minor-scale chord progressions, some great basslines (of course), and has really cool break-down in the middle. THe second track is a kinda like Leeb-does-house track with some very upbeat melody work that is very atypical from this camp. "Thread Four" and "ReThread" are remixes of each other with only minor differences in structure. These two tracks are more minimal than the rest of the disc. They focus less on melody and more on building a mood and boppy rhythm than blowing you away fancy production. "Walls of Ice" is a really cool track, very atypical for Leeb. It is a straight up Drum'n'bass track with some MASSIVE basslines. Hope you don't have a pacemaker. "Recalcitrate" and "Eros" sound more like outakes from "FLAvour" with a more industrial-noise twinge and touches of desparate sounding melody. "Eros" has some especially interesting rhythmic work between a straight bassline, drilling drums, and a rigid backbeat. Finally, "Communication" has Chris Petersen written all over it judging by the watery, modulated synths dominating the mix. The track combines some rather funny answering machine messages into almost a "melody" to produce a very eerie, borderline distrurbing sound. Overall, definitely worth the purchase if you are interested in hearing something from the Bill Leeb camp."
Orbiting Cathedrals ~ Pro-tech
Bjorn Viberg | European Union | 04/19/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Pro-tech being one of Leebs countless musical projects has a sound which can be said to be a mix between Kraftwerk, ATB and , Nois Unit , FLA and Intermix. There are definite touch of trance and techno as well as the driving industrial baseline. The music is great for the dance floor and has great beats and baselines. I love the sounds and it seems like Leeb spends plenty of time just to pick out the right sounds for the tracks which is essential when it comes to this kind of music and this is probably his best choices since the 1992 FLA release TNI. The book-let is quite cool with a strange futuristic design and the logo of pro-tech is neat. I love the Nietzsche quote and that brings me back to my college days when I studied a semester of Frerdrich Nietzsche and his texts. This is such an amazing album that it ranks right up their with his monumental release TNI and is a must buy for fans of Leeb and all his side projects."
Pro>Tech - The best side project of Leeb & Peterson
Petar Vodogaz | Sydney, NSW Australia | 06/18/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a avid Delerium fan, I purchased this release only because I heard 'Walls Of Ice' on a friend's CD in his car and I liked the song and its rhythm. Pro-Tech is aptly named for it mixes and combines techno style themes with industrial beats and cool ambient moments. Once again Bill Leeb teamed up with Cris Peterson without the stewardship of Rhys Fulber. I enjoy the two together for they come up with some great sounding songs. I am surprised that some of these songs have not been picked up by club DJ's for they have groovy moves.
For me the three song picks in this album release from 1995 are 'Erotic Ontology', 'Wall of Ice' and 'Re-Thread'. Pro-tech combines the sounds of Delerium, Intermix and Synaesthesia together and many of the songs will sound familiar to the fans of these projects.
So this is a album not to be missed by any fan of Delerium, FLA or Synaesthesia."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1