Röyksopp: Profound Mysteries III – 2022

Review zu Röyksopp: Profound Mysteries III – 2022

Facts:

Artist: Röyksopp
Title: Profound Mysteries III
Country of Origin: Norway
Format: Album
Release Date: 18. November 2022
Label: Dog Triumph / Embassy One
Genre: Electronic
10 Tracks • 61 Minutes

Bei Qobuz erhältlich in
16 Bit / 44.1 kHz Lossless, Stereo

For the German translation of
this review >>> click here <<<

Intro:

On November 18, 2022, Röyksopp released the third (and hopefully final) part from the Profound Mysteries series on Embassy One/ Dog Triumph. The alum features guest appearances from Alison Goldfrapp, Susanne Sundfør, Astrid S, Jamie Irrepressible, Pixx and Maurissa Rose in the well-known Röyksopp manner. Also released on 11/18/22 is the Röyksopp Vinyl Box – containing Profound Mysteries I, II and III on a total of 6 LPs.

Review:

Masterminds Svein Berge & Torbjørn Brundtland on Profound Mysteries III:
„With Profound Mysteries Part III we conclude our triple album project. Beneath its golden, shimmering sheen lie layers of ambiguity and contrast, the sweet and the shocking, the wonderful and the wrong. We are human, we dream.“

Berge and Brundtland describe Profound Mysteries as the biggest project in Röyksopp’s career. It’s meant to encapsulate the unique sound they’ve been honing for decades, and to expand on it. It is a bold look into the future and a tribute to the artists, genres and musical trends that first inspired them.

Röyksopp has always been a concept-oriented band with set pieces of classical film music, prog-rock elements, synth-pop melodies and some reference to house and club culture. Thus, it is fair to say that Röyksopp, with their very own sound universe, have almost created their own unique genre over the years, always with an eclectic approach and the urge to free themselves from any limitations.

The Bottom Line

So far – so good. However, it has to be said that Svein Berge & Torbjørn Brundtland have unfortunately overstepped the mark all too clearly with the last part of Profound Mysteries. With Profound Mysteries III the two have created an album without any highlights, at most „The Night feat. Alison Goldfrapp“ stands out a little from the uniformal sound spectrum. The album is not bad, but you can’t get past the classification as „boredom at the highest level“, moreover the final third part leaves quite a few questions unanswered.

If Röyksopp want to sell this trilogy to us as a concept album, then the question arises, what it is supposed to be about here at all and for which reasons they had to throw a trilogy on the market, because this concept album project seems to be overambitious.

Secondly: if the first two parts were released in 24 bits, the fact that the third part only comes in 16 bit leaves a more than insipid aftertaste, especially since the master files are in 24 bits, which can be seen in the audio files provided. What are we supposed to do with this misguided release policy?

Profound Mysteries III was simply unnecessary as a release, seems overambitious and lets even the bright brilliance of the first and second part pale very much. The release strategy due to the 16 bit version can only be described as downright sloppy. With Profound Mysteries III Röyksopp have done themselves a disservice.

Rating:

My Testequipment:

Studio 1 (High End):

• 2 x System Audio SA Mantra 50 (front)
• 1x System Audio SA Mantra 10 AV (center)
• 2x System Audio SA Legend 5 (Rear)
• 1 x System Audio Saxo 10 (Subwoofer)
• 4 x Onkyo SKH-410 (B) (Dolby Atmos)
• Auralic Altair (Audio Streaming Client mit max. 32 Bit / 384 kHz)
• NVIDIA Shield Pro mit Plex, Kodi (max 192 kHz für  Audio, Tidal (MQA Streaming Client)
• AppleTV 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Amazon Cube 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos (restricted), HDR, Dolby Vision
• Panasonic DP-UB9004 (4K UHD Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Oppo UDP-203 (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Yamaha CX-A5100 (Preamp) 4K, Dolby Atmos, Hi-res
• Yamaha MX -A5000 (Power Amp)
• Sony KD-55A1 (TV) 4K OLED, HDR, Dolby Vision

Read More