| In an era where articles from virtually any sector are being written by A.I. at an alarming rate and then copy-pasted on websites with some "writer" claiming credit, you can count on The Razormane Blog to bring you the human-written, irrelevant ramblings from a passionate, music-loving fool as has been the case since May 2012. ;) Enjoy! |
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| High Contrast Recordings || Cat# HCR459 | |||
| Friday September 12th 2025 | |||
| 01. | Extended Mix | 06:23 | B Min 142 BPM |
| 02. | [Radio Edit] | 03:19 | B Min 142 BPM |
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| 2025-08-15 / 08-29 |
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| On August 15th Benno shared a screenshot that finally revealed the name of the next Rank 1 single: "Lytherion". Two teasers had been dropped since April 15th and thanks to a little birdie I caught wind that a demo of Lytherion was in the hands of a colleague of Benno's... But as I went into Detective Mane mode and scoured 1001tracklists for weeks, constantly refreshing the "Genres: Trance" tab, I never ran into an ID that sounded like the teasers and for the longest time I had not title to go by either! But that wait has come to an end at last. Just how do they keep coming up with these cool names? First "Strobo", now "Lytherion"? I love how sci-fi that sounds, that is a great start. Of course, coverart can very much contribute to the "image" of a special tune (no pun intended, I swear xD) and for me, Lytherion's is perfect... I absolutely adore the color blue and there is an abundance of that going on here! Artwork and track title work together perfectly and I am so going to enjoy looking this track up on my phone and clicking play whilst being greeted by this beautiful, sleek cover! Oh! Can you imagine having this one on vinyl?? So this week finally saw Lytherion pop up in my Trance Genre Tab hunting on 1001tracklists: on the 26th, TEKNO dropped it on his Sound Escalation #253 podcast and then on the 28th Bobina did the same on Russia Goes Clubbing #880; Steve Allen, Ronski Speed, Andrew Rayel, Casepeat, ADDICTIVE SOUNDS, DJ Photographer, DJ Phalanx, Ithur, Armin van Buuren and Rafael Osmo all followed throughout the first half of September with usual suspects like Paul van Dyk and Ferry Corsten still pending. Not a bad start, right? So let's see what the boys cooked for us this time around! |
| Rank 1 - Lytherion [Edit] |
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| Alright, so Lytherion kicks things off with a nice firm build-up with a rolling bassline covered under some gentle "pensive" Trancy synths. Hmmmm I dig the Classic feel on this already! There are those Classic whitenoise sweep and atmospheric pads swelling gently in the background, ready to announce the impending breakdown. And man, if there was ever a moment to capture the sentiment that "Rank 1 is back", it's this. That awesome lead from Benno's Twitter samples starts playing a beautiful melancholic motif that fits in the tradition of masterpieces such as "7 Instead Of 8" (2012), "Black Snow" (1999), "Opus 17" (2005) and of course "The Greater Light To Rule The Night" (2021)! The synth choice here is a fiercer one, think "Transatlantic Communication". It's first loop is only backed by a subtle lower pad. The second loop cranks up The Epic a bit by introducing more pads and a gated choir of sorts, invigorating our needs for those delectable Classic Trance moods. But what's this?? Breakdown isn't quite over yet?? That's right, the pure Trance pluck from Benno's June teaser makes its appearance now to lift us to the climax of this proper Classic Rank 1 breakdown... Their signature snares/cymbal party at the height of the climax is followed by a melodic Trance drop, as it f*cking should (so godd*mn tired of these monotone, stale and boring fUtuRe RaVe/mEloDiC TeChnO drops)! So much energy in this, I friggin' love it!! This is Rank 1, baby!! :D So good to have the boys back tearing it up with tunes like this, Strobo, Take Me Away (Rank 1 Remix)... But wait... Is that...?? Second segment...? with a different melody?? And are those... Bervoets & De Goeij-era flanged pads??? Holy shit!! We just went from Melancholic/dramatic Rank 1 to Euphoric/Victorious Rank 1! :D :D :D Wait, no! It's over already?? AAAAARGH... Give me the Extended Mix right now!! A quick glance on the official High Contrast and Art Track uploads of Lytherion reveal merely positive feedback from people with many (positively) surprised that there is a new Rank 1 out, and that it sounds so much like the Rank 1 of earlier eras! You love to see it... :D |
| Rank 1 - Lytherion (Extended Mix) |
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| Long live the longer builds. o7 Spotify/streaming doctrine has waged war on the format of So the mighty pluck gets another play! You see?? THIS is why Extended Mixes are necessary! You get to fully immerse yourself in a majestic melody for a longer period of time! In this second loop, you can hear some carefully placed pads, that add to the epicness of this incredible, catchy melody. Alright, anytime now that second melody will surface, right? Oh, there it is... Just in time! Backed by a lot of claps, ooooh it's swelling and those pads are swirling (this is going to be such a SICK live track) and... ... ....eh? Okay, that went a little different than I expected...? It seems this bit does not have that second layer of fierce synths yet? Aaaah, it's still building up tension, huh? Oh hey, there is another more ferocious layer joining in and... THERE'S the second drop of sorts! Okay, now the energy is just right! :D Have to admit the second break caught me off-guard a bit, the Edit has a more natural consistency in energy between both melody parts. I wonder if it was done to for that "kneeling before the drop" gimmick that DJs employ, urging the crowd to kneel with them and only jump up when the drop really hits? Welp, I do hope to find out, possibly in February 2026? Rank 1 Live at ASOT anyone? It would be the dream of course! Oof that deep final phase as the track winds down... Like I said, THIS is why you NEED proper Extended Mixes! |
| In conclusion |
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| As far as ethos goes, this track is a fascinating blend of Airwave-era Rank 1 mixed with L.E.D. There Be Light-era Rank 1, packaged in their current Uptempo sound. For me it's a Grade A Banger. I know the choice for the fiercer/disorted synths isn't going to sit well with everyone but if you look past that, this is a true Rank 1 anthem-styled track. It's amazing to have these guys making faster stuff again but I love that they do it in their own style; blending various eras of their past into one with a lot more tempo/energy is working well so far! I can say Lytherion takes over from Strobo in style. Heck, if this was the old days, I could see both of them appearing on the same EP! Wouldn't that have been a killer vinyl? Side-A: Lytherion, Side-B: Strobo (Deeper Dub Mix). Hmmmmm, maybe if we blink with sweet puppy eyes at Be Yourself Music...? Nah, that's wishful thinking, isn't it? Anyhoo. Go show this track now that it's out! It releasedd almost exactly a year to the day Benno first announced his BnO project... It's been an incredible 12 months for Benno de Goeij fans! :D |
| Special Promo selection to celebrate the release: |
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| If you're interested in other reviews I made for Rank 1, please check out: |
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| https://razormaneofficial.blogspot.com/search/label/Rank%201 |
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