Markus Schulz – Scream (Album Review)

Posted by Spice on September 17, 2012

On August 31, trance maestro Markus Schulz (just voted America’s Best DJ by DJ Times Magazine, incdentally) dropped his first album since 2010’s Do You Dream? The aptly-titled Scream is a long, multifarious journey through Markus’s talents, featuring a number of arena-friendly vocal singles in addition to techier tracks that harken back to his underground roots.

While the album is arguably a tour de force, I personally think that Markus is at his best when he’s deepest, darkest, and edgiest — and would therefore recommend taking an a la carte approach to this behemoth. My top picks? The deft and eerie “Triotonic,” the sublime “Universe is Mine,” the spacey “Soul Searching” and the riveting and nuanced “Digital Madness.” Anything involving Aruna and her beautiful voice is automatically okay in my book, so “Sing Me Back To Life” — which is genuinely transcendent at moments — is utterly worth the DL. The stirring and creative chord progression in “Absolution” is enough to counterbalance Mark Frisch’s rather incongruous vocals. And you should hopefully already have Loops & Tings, Markus and Ferry Corsten’s monster collaborative reboot of the 1993 classic of the same name. Finally, expect to hear a lot of “Love Rain Down” in the coming months — its catchy hook and melodic, bright synths make it a surefire winner, in addition to the fact that a remix from 4 Strings will be the next single off the album.