Review of Virtual Drug Vol. 1

Introduction

"It`s a virtual trip!" claim the makers of this DVD. I`ll have to assume that they`ve been on a real one and can therefore compare it with this virtual experience. What you get here is a blend of audio and visuals along with a "special vision enhancement device", to give you a psychedelic type experience.

Those of you who remember the old PC demo scene of the early to mid 1990s will probably know what to expect on this disc. I`m thinking of things like Unreal, Second Reality and people like Future Crew, Skaven, Purple Motion, Trixter and Hornet. The visuals here hark back to competitions like Assembly and The Party.

Video

I`ve already mentioned the visuals briefly in the introduction. It`s all computer generated and if you`ve ever seen anything like this before (or any of those old PC demos), you`ll know what to expect. Fractals, polygons, mandelbrot, escher, and lots of three dimensional imagery. Things have rather moved on since those old PC demo days, but the concepts and ideas are essentially the same. Lots of raytraced graphics too.

Audio

A selection of 2 DD5.1 soundtracks and 2 DD2.0 soundtracks, all of which complement the visuals. The music also harks back to those old PC demo days and the works of Purple Motion, Skaven and the like. It`s all very chillout/ambient in style and certainly nothing to offend the ear of those who might not be familiar with the style.

Features

No real extras unless you count the "special vision enhancement device", or "pair of glasses that look like those things you got when you saw Jaws 3D in the cinema".

Conclusion

Difficult to sum this disc up. The combintation of computer-generated visuals and ambient soundtrack work well enough. I`d hardly call them a virtual drug, but perhaps this is a disc you can leave on in the background at your next trendy party. It`s not the first bizarre disc around (DVD Fireplace must take the award for most bizarre), but it`s difficult to see a market for it.

If you`d like to watch some computer generated images accompanied by some minimalist sound, then it`s for you. If you`re still wondering what the hell it`s about, then it`s probably not for you.