Sometimes, for one reason or another, music by great artists goes largely unnoticed by the masses. In the eyes of many chiptune fans lpower is one of those artists. His "soundtrack of a soundtrack", Abinox dropped in November last year and gained cult status among certain sections of the chiptune community. Many fans were overjoyed to hear news of a sequel, and today that sequel hit the internet in the form of Abinox II. Little is known about lpower himself, but Telefuture and Pterodactyl Squad have teamed up to make sure that's not the case with his music. The digital version of Abinox II is available for free through Pterodactyl Squad, while Telefuture have produced a run of 50 cassettes which are now selling for $8 over at the Telefuture store. The cassettes are a sight to behold, professionally duplicated with orange shells, white imprinting, and green tinted cases.
Word is that lpower is already working on the third and final part of the Abinox trilogy. Don't miss out on experiencing what Pterodactyl Squad are calling a release that "pushes the boundaries of chiptune".
With Abinox I lpower explored what makes a video game soundtrack tick. On Abinox II he returns with a similar concept in mind. Once again, the basic components (sounds, structures and emotions) of his favourite soundtracks are used as building blocks, this time using a wider sound palette, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and DX7 Synthesizer, allowing space for more experimentation and resulting in a deeper, darker release. Moreover, the compositions are longer but refuse to repeat or loop, creating a strong narrative and constant progression. Telefuture and Pterodactyl Squad can safely say that this is one sequel that doesn't suck.