Trance2MoveU

Mind. Exploded. Forget all the grammar and misspellings. English is not the first language for a lot of people. It is mine however and one area my American education did succeed in was to give me fairly good reading comprehension. After reading and then re-reading, and then taking a shot of Irish whiskey and watching the dog lick her anus for 15 minutes I've come to the conclusion that whoever authored this parable was high as f*ck. This review is like the instructions for a damn Ikea Cd case. There were a lot of words shoved in there seemingly to prove that they knew those words. If you would permit me to write this review so that it may be presented in a more clear manner. While there are some cool sounds to be found here this Russian duo has successfully made a full-on album of the highest vanilla order. See? Not so difficult. Just take your check, hit the pub, stagger home drunk, and pass out while your dog licks your face.

Artist: Various Title: Inner Universe Vol. 1 Label: Manatargaq Music Date: September, 2016 1. p2 - Pure Sense 2. Cosmic Harmony - Crow & Owl 3. Omneon - Small Planet 4. Fiery Dawn - Juggernaut 5. Laatoka - Pillars of Creation 6. Fiery Dawn & Nova Fractal & Omneon - Kalachakra 7. Sinhu - Future Technology 8. Tavi - Mandovi 9. Quron - Expansion "I think he just can't do much of anything for himself!" Like a Republican politician's first time in heels this offering stumbles out of the gate, never managing to gain its footing. You know you're in a bit of trouble when the promo is is a smorgasbord of poor grammar and punctuation. Most of the artists are "up and coming" and unfortunately you can hear it in the quality of the tracks. Nothing terrible per se, but very formulaic with average sound choices and not a lot of oomph. There are a couple of bright spots with one of them being wicked f*cking good. Future Technology by Sinhu is a searing old school track that is miles above the rest here. Mantargaq Music Bandcamp

Artist: Various Title: Goa Trance Legacy Label: Spacedock Records Date: October, 2015 1. Digicult & U-Recken - Into The Heartland (Astral Projection Remix) 2. Power Source - Sparks (Remix) 3. Goasia - Haunted 4. Filteria - Memory Lane (Future Live Remix) 5. M-Run - Last Survivor 6. Omnivox - I Am The Storm 7. Prana - Boundless (ManMadeMan Remix) 8. Psychowave - Catch The Rabbit 9. Shakta - Amber Mantra This was the first compilation from upstart Spacedock Records and like the second one in the series it brought together a great line up. There are no unknowns here. Just veterans of the scene with some old schoolers represented. Right off the bat we get yet another Astral Projection Remix that was also featured on the Digicult album Soul Samadhi. It's really quintessential Astral isn't it? With it's shiny layers and pounding beat. Maybe one day when my kids have put me in a nursing home they'll release some new material. But probably another ep of remixes as a final f*ck you before I die. Power Source is back with a remix of a track that was found on an ep they released back in 2011. Never heard it because I never thought Power Source was that good anyway. Sure Goaway is great as is Memory Bubbles and I'll give you Granada...but that's it! On to the track, they have a sound in there that sounds like an alarm went off in a Tesco when you tried to walk out without paying for your girl's maxi pads because you're embarrassed. Be a man. They know it's not for you. Is it buttercup? It's a positive, shiny track that's a little too full-on. Like if Erasure made goa. Goasia is one of those projects that you either love or you think they're cheese merchants. I think they're great. Sure they're a little quirky, but so is Uncle Ted. Just don't sit on his lap at Thanksgiving. And this track is quirky, but fun. I like that it keeps changing, always staying very lively. Not bad, if a little long. Filteria needs no introduction and he's earned his bones with four great albums, but I've never heard this track. Sounds very Heliopolis. There are several breaks so there's ample time to reorganize. Pretty good. M-run authored one of my favorite goa albums in Some Run Just For Fun, and with this long beast he gets crazy. It's fast paced, powerful and that lead is like dancing on the sun. Relentlessly psychedelic. Great track. Fragments of Evolution (also released on Spacedock) was a melodic and powerful tour de force and this track is no different. Plenty of motion and leads that leave char marks. The ManMadeMan remix of Prana's Boundless is one of the most psychedelic tracks I've ever heard. All power and bubbly liquid it's super intense and futuristic. Golden! Psychowave is heard from much (still haven't listened to his album yet), but the stuff I have heard was really good. Here he slays with writhing 303's and adds an operatic female voice. Gives it a layer of eerie above the power. Gets a little weird near the end and the strings don't quite fit. Other than that it's pretty great. Amber Mantra by Shakta was pretty obscure until Suntip put it on his release. Great old school track that hasn't lost any steam. Way to go Spacedock, you pretty much nailed it with this one. Spacedock Records Bandcamp

Artist: Various Title: Goa Trance Legacy 2 Label: Spacedock Records Date: January, 2017 1. Artha - First Element Is Gone 2. Hypnagogia - Launching Green Lights 3. Omegahertz - Ecliptic Conjunction 4. Power Source - Goaway (2016 Mix) 5. M-Run - Trans Our Way 6. Goasia - Secret of Nazak 7. Prana - Derwish (Funky Gong Remix) 8. Total Eclipse - Blade Runner (Remix) 9. E-Mantra - You Are Empty Spacedock is sort of an outlier when it comes to the more well known labels, doing more with digital eps. That isn't to say they are a throwaway by any stretch with releases like the first in this series as well as Fragments of Evolution by Omnivox. With the second album of this series they have assembled quite the track list. The cover sports the same Matrix-esque style as the previous iteration just in blue, but let's see what's inside. First Element is Gone- Wow, why does Artha save his best stuff for compilations and Ep's? I wasn't thrilled with his latest Dream Telepathy, but this was absolutely brilliant in every single way. It evolved and twisted the whole way through. The more I listened the more I liked it with its crazy leads and M-run groove. Stellar opener! Launching Green Lights- This was sci-fi goa with sparkly and nimble lead sounds. There was a period where it seemed to lose steam, but still pretty good overall. Ecliptic Conjunction- Omegahertz took a giant step forward with the release of his last album Stax and this track also has some good 303 screech and bark. Good stuff. Goaway (2016 Mix)- Perhaps the most famous track in the Power Source catalog so it baffles me why one would remix an already fantastic track. I really can't tell that much difference between this and the original. Did you make it louder? See, and maybe it's just me, but ideally you take a track that is a bit on the weak side and attempt to make it better. It's a great track, but putting a remix label on it seems a bit disingenuous. Trans Our Way- His album Some Run Just For Fun is an absolute favorite of mine and I've been waiting for the next one with much anticipation. This is light and bouncy with a pretty simple bass line that I would consider good. Not great, and nowhere near his epic stuff from his album. What happened here? Secret of Nazak- This is another track that I felt was good, but not great. I felt my mind begin to wander half way through. New school through and through that could've used some more variation. Derwish (Funky Gong Remix)- I have never heard this track before so this is found money. This is a remix by Minoru Tsunoda who also remixed another Prana track Boundless on the Prana Remixes album from Suntrip. It's kind of eerie and has some really great bounce. He did a lot with a little. Blade Runner (Remix)- Any time I see Blade Runner I expect a grand science fiction atmosphere. I remember that the original was pretty good but had annoying sounds like the descending aliens from Galaga. Now those are still here (damnit!), but the rest of the track is more subdued with gentler sounds. Sounds less harsh, but also a little less interesting. Anyone else think of Jaws when you heard this? You Are Empty- An E-mantra track that is smooth, dreamy, uplifting...Can't go wrong! A good album that disappointed in a few spots, but was pleasantly surprising in others! Spacedock Records Bandcamp

Artist: Koan Title: Circe's Touch Remixes Vol. 1 Label: Section Records Date: December, 2011 1. Circe's Touch (Original) 2. Circe's Touch (Asura Remix) 3. Circe's Touch (Krusseldorf Remix) Koan is a Russian duo who have been at the forefront of chill-out music. Have you been to their Discogs page? Take a look over there and see how many releases they have. Plenty to explore. Which lead me to this digital ep. You get the original of course which is tear jerkingly beautiful and full of emotion. Heavyweight Asura lends a remix and the beauty continues. By far the most interesting was the deep and warm bass heavy version by Krusseldorf. Eerie and delightful at the same time. I was hoping to get most of their albums from their Bandcamp page, but only a few are listed. Had to go to Beatport. Check it out. Beatport

Artist: Eternal Basement Title: Nerv Label: Harthouse Date: March, 1995 01. 11'02" Woy 02. 9'34" Mind Out 03. 11'30" A Flyby 04. 9'38" Nerv 05. 11'07" When Sadness Comes 06. 8'01" Poem 07. 10'30" Hologram Eternal Basement is the project of Michael Kohlbecker with this being his debut album. I found it (and you can still do so) quite cheaply on Discogs and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. There has been fuss. I heard it. Lots of fuss. Wow. Let me say it again, wow. This is truly entrancing stuff. Talk about atmosphere and setting a mood? This thing oozes quality and demands to have it's own science fiction graphic novel. Nah, f*ck it an animated feature film. Starting with Woy it is packed to the gills with genre influences. Trance, goa, acid, tribal...truly mesmerizing. Each track is built layer upon layer as he shows in Mind Out that becomes a dark groover. And it's not just mindless beats, he builds around it making it an experience. Well, until the third track. And then... Yeah, that's when things went tits up. This album is truly a tale of two tracks. Now I'm not going to tell you this is a classic. Far from it. How could it be? Apart from the first two tracks this sounds pretty dated now. I wasn't feeling A Flyby and the sounds in Nerv made me want to be elsewhere. Too intense. When Sadness Comes was just straight ahead with no dynamism until the 8 minute mark. Too much time for meh to set in. Poem is a pumping acid track that demands movement, but probably could've done more with it. Hologram is a mid tempo acid/goa bouncer that again knows just one way, but was still enjoyable. Even though going one way for over 14 minutes is a long, f*cking time. So what began as an immersive experience quickly turned into where the f*ck are we going.

Artist: One Arc Degree + Cybernetika Title: Nether Moon Ep Label: Ektoplazm Date: August, 2015 01 - One Arc Degree & Cybernetika - Nether Moon (174 BPM) 02 - One Arc Degree - Ghost Comet (176 BPM) 03 - One Arc Degree - Ghost Comet (Cybernetika Remix) (176 BPM) 04 - Cybernetika - Stinger (One Arc Degree Remix) (87 BPM) Whaddya get when you mix 2 Greeks and a German? Some smooth electronic music. One Arc Degree (Vasilis Kesalidis & Ioannis Konstantios) and Cybernetika (Lars Goossens) combine forces for pretty decent ep. The science fiction style is well represented as drum n bass percussion pings off the hull of our observatory craft with Nether Moon. It also has a nice break and cool piano riffs. The kick thunders in Ghost Comet as gentle and warming tones twinkle above and then Lars gets his hands on it and makes it more dark and mysterious. The closing downtempo track is also mellow and mysterious. Not Earth shattering, but solid nonetheless. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: DNA Title: Virtual Jungle Label: Zion 604 Date: December, 2016 1.Chakra & Avi - Insignificant Form Of Life (DNA Remake) 08:14 2. Phreaky - The Second Moon (DNA Remake) 06:50 3.Joti & Avi - Etheogenic Spiral (DNA Remake) 07:46 4.Joti & Avi - Solid Bubbles (DNA Remake) 07:21 5.Dino & Avi - Tango Electro (DNA Remake) 07:53 6.Oli & Avi - Nuclear Fissionchips (DNA Remake) 06:59 "It's amazing!" No, it's not. But I'll get there. Zion 604 is a wonderful label which specializes in releasing hard to find goa trance or stuff that was never released. They do some artist stuff as well and for the most part have been (and rightly so) lauded for their efforts. Their latest is an update on an old-school album Virtual Jungle. Well...kinda. I mean 4 of the tracks are missing and they added Insignificant Form of Life. These aren't remixes just updates done by DNA, otherwise known as Dan Komen and Avi Alga..Avi Algaran...Space Cat. First let me say that this is far from my favorite goa album. The original was decent and quite good in places, but I could take it or leave it. I was gonna do a track by track review, but the more I listened to them the more I realized that what I was going to say for one track goes for all of them. The sound is much improved. Warmer and clearer with more punch. The groove is more out front and it sounds like something from Zion. I had forgotten some of these and it made me remember how psychedelic tracks like Solid Bubbles is. Here's where the disappointment comes in. Even though the sound is vastly improved now we have just ok tracks that sound better. I never listen to samples so I was hoping that they would do whatever juju magic they seem to have and make a diamond out of a zirconium. They did not. Mostly Couple things. Even though aurally it is super some of the tracks are missing that punch, that fury. The Second Moon is one of them. It's like they took the drama out of it. Nuclear Fissionchips wasn't a great track to start with, but the remake just made that more clear. Bottom line I think it's a good maxi-Ep (that's what it is), but with the quality of their output I cannot help but be a little disappointed that they didn't do more with this. One thing I will say...that cover is awesome. Zion604 Bandcamp

Artist: Unusual Cosmic Process Title: Mental Atmosphere Label: Gliese 581c Date: May, 2012 01 - Mental Atmosphere (136 BPM) 02 - Paranoic Minds (138 BPM) 03 - Unexplaned Process (138 BPM) 04 - Mystical Forms Of Life (136 BPM) 05 - The Message (135 BPM) 06 - So Far From Earth (138 BPM) 07 - Pulsating Galaxies (142 BPM) 08 - Sleepwalker (142 BPM) 09 - Immersion (142 BPM) "Da, make psytrance great again!" Ukranian Armen Akopov is back with another free release from Ektoplazm. The last one I reviewed (Weightlessness) had some really good floating ambient and even a stellar downtempo goa trance track Place On Earth. This time he turns to the progressive arena and brings the same amount of detail with long tracks and good sample work. Tracks like Unexplained Process evolve slowly with some sweet goa touches. With all the music he adds effects and touches which really go a long way into creating and maintaining the atmosphere. The one track that didn't wow me was So Far From Earth as it was the only one that seemed to go on too long without any support. Science fiction samples are a major part of what he does and he makes it easy to be a passenger on his space craft. I don't know if this would work on the dance floor, but it is great for home listening. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Various Title: The Forum Label: Big Foot Records Date: 1997 1. BLT - Soul Sacrifice 2. Allto - Allto 3. Shell Shock - Sunshine on Tokyo 4. P. Cok - Stone 5. Cybel - Kondicaus 6. Cybel - Bizzar 7. Realistic - Hypnotic Dark 8. Deep Blue - Water 9. P. Cok - Beautiful Day Nice try, but trash can is to the left. Just wanted to pop in and say a few words about this. Certainly there have been worse goa trance compilations than this, but is that the bar we're setting for ourselves? Don't know about you, but ain't nobody got time for mediocre muisc, much less a whole damn album of it. Most of this is filler without anything remarkable. No big layers, no driving beats, no total sound immersion... Suppose a couple of tracks can be listened all the way through, but again...low bar. For a year that is one of the greatest as far as goa trance is concerned nobody's putting this in the hall of fame.

Artist: Schuldt Title: First Error Code Label: Aurinko Records Date: 2003 1. Prologue 2. Stained 3. One Step Closer 4. Search For Salvation 5. Tearing the Fright 6. Constant and Sharp 7. First Error Code 8. Picked To Pieces 9. Traced Back 10. When Anger Cries 11. Deceived 12. Forget?! Is that...? Holy sh*t it is! Picked up a bunch of Cds from Discogs and this was one of them. It's an album by Tim Schuldt (actually it's an industrial project he founded) and it was cheap so I said what the hell? He was always on the fringes of psytrance with dark and edgy productions, but with this album he goes full industrial with his band and it is aggressive. The whole thing is dark with a futuristic feel. Looking at those track titles will make you think they needed more hugs from Daddy. When you hear it you'll think of artists like NIN, Skinny Puppy, Pig...But it's not just ballistic, all out sonic mayhem. Tracks like Search For Salvation really channel Front Line Assembly with it's dark, thematic overtones yet easily accessible melody. Even the bruising Tearing the Fright is a drum n bass track with eerie breaks and touches to make it heavy and light. He uses breakbeats to great effectiveness and even though I'm not a big fan of the screechy vocals often found in industrial, the musicality of it was so good that it had me wanting to find some Doc Martens and create some general anarchy! Gotta say a little something about the final track Forget. Starts off with a Korn-esque smooth break beat and has a lounge feel. It's over in 7 minutes, but contains 5 minutes of silence before it has a last industrial gasp. I hate that sh*t. Just make an epic dark ambient closer. Last track aside this is a great listen when you're tired of the triplets and common sh*t found in psytrance or goa. Great combination of psy, industrial, breakbeat, and yes guitar trance. Some of it is too heavy and noisy, but not a lot of it. Perfect for breaking stuff! Good work Mr. Miyagi

Artist: Virtuart (and Friends. He had a lot of help) Title: Virtuart & Friends (see, right there in the title) Label: DAT Motherf*ckin' Records Date: December, 2016 CD1 1 Virtuart & Chronomyst - Vashisht 2 Virtuart & Franky - Wakatoom On The Road 3 Virtuart & Kshoo - Esprit Libre 4 Virtuart & Chronomyst - Sacred Drop 5 Virtuart & Nagar Bhatti - 2068 6 Virtuart & Kshoo - N2 O 7 Virtuart & Maël - Neverending Party 8 Virtuart & Manitù - Red Spirit CD2 1 Virtuart & Chronomyst - Prospector M 2 Virtuart - Light Lifter 3 Virtuart & Chronomyst - L'Karnaj 4 Virtuart & Manitù - Indian Summer 5 Virtuart & Nagar Bhatti - Svadeshi 6 Underhead - Orejuna 7 Virtuart - La Sorcière Des Sables & L'Homme Libre (Sandoz Mix) 8 Virtuart - L'Annee Des 13 Lunes (Galactic Time Mix) Can we get a DAT Records appreciation festival? F*ck a thread, a festival. Just take all the artists who have released on Draeke's label and put them in front of a mountain or sea backdrop for a three day weekend. This is the view from my backyard. I have 2 acres and would volunteer the space. Waitaminute...I've seen what you guys do to a patch of land when the festival is over. Also I'm the youngest in my hood by a generation so you'd probably give them a heart attack. Besides thanks to our Cheetoh in chief (he's such a disgusting douche bag) you probably couldn't get into the states depending on which country you're in. Offer rescinded. But seriously, DAT just keeps on going with quality release after quality release. While I wasn't super impressed with Analog Dreams the rest of them have been home runs. This is an interesting release. Virtuart is Oliver Abitbol and like the title says he enlisted a lot of his friends to make this happen. Originally on the first disc was properly released back in the 90's and only 100 copies were made. The second disc was apparently out there also, but homie just gave it away. So this is nice to have a 2 CD set of music that was super hard to find. But that's what Feds does doesn't he? Oliver made several mixes of these tracks so for this release he compiled the best of those remixes and voila you have disc one. It is old school that churns and evolves with awesome melodies. The layers are thick with atmosphere and thanks to the mastering you can really hear them. I find the whole thing delightfully dark and mysterious and not too polished as to sound artificial. Sacred Drop is the only one I've heard and it reminded me a lot of Colorbox. Disc two has the hard to find tracks and Draeke said he tried to stay true to the tracklist that disc 2 was comprised of when he gave it away to his friends. Oliver's friends. Not Draeke. Draeke doesn't have friends he just bangs supermodels. This music is deep. Full of nice, long tracks replete with twists and turns to keep you interested. Driving rhythms. Let's see...a Pleiadians 3-disc set, a two-disc Etnica set, a Doof 2-disc album and now a 2-disc Virtuart Opus. Can you be my president? Bring your supermodels with you. DAT Records Psyshop Beatspace

Hold up. I agree with the overall sentiment here and probably couldn't wordsmith it any better, but perhaps a little more...detail. This is Samuel Malm with his only proper album release other than a few eps. Several confusing things about this release for me. Don't know why it's called a mini album with 8 tracks and almost an hour's length, but I also don't know how people buy Donald Trump's obvious and insipid bullsh*t. Also don't know why there's a bunch of candy on the cover, but again...that's neither here nor there. There isn't a lot of nuance here as he provides just a few weapons in his arsenal. He does however use them to maximum effect with raging 303s whether you dub it goa trance or acid trance it's pretty damn aggressive. Bubbly and electric. He kicks in your door with the powerful Altered States perfect for going full steam ahead without all that depth and layers getting in the f*cking way. Kick, hi-hat, bassline, some scant pads, and 303. That's pretty much it. You're not going to get lost in it, but it works great on the highway when you're late as hell for whatever. One bit I will disagree with the OP...Deja Vu was the worst track on the album for me. Didn't go anywhere. That aside, this is a definite get if you can score a copy.

Artist: Various Title: Gaia Tour Label: Futuria Productions Date: February, 1997 1. Manitu - Indian Summer 2. Bamboo Forest - Frogies Airline 3. Hilarium - Hilarium 4. Jaia - Tweested Zone 5. Fuzzy Logic - Spice Invader 6. Alkaloid - Electrode 7. Elixir - Four Dimensional 8. Section X - Jesus Krist 9. Ariane - Second Fly Man this one swung for the fences and boy did it connect! This is old school goa trance with wonderful storytelling. Ripping 303s and convoluted melodies hearken back to the good old days. There are just so many twists and turns. Even the tracks that perhaps didn't begin as well turned up the heat near the end. Now it's not without its blemishes of course. Jesus Krist wasn't very interesting, but what it lacked in detail it sure made up for in speed. The closer (made by the same duo) slowed things down to progressive tempo and didn't fit with the vibe of the rest of the album. But for the most part the CD is full of great tracks that we haven't beaten to death.

Ooohhh....how embarrassing. For you. He probably got a penalty shot for this. And while not as gut-wrenchingly humiliating as that prodigious swing and a miss, this compilation lacks punch. The two Infinity Project tracks are clutch of course, the ones from Adrenalin Drum were decent (but just so), and your boy Boris has certainly made better goa tracks than what you can find here. The remix of Zoa could've been so much more and the two Crossbreed tracks seemed rather boring.

Lots of weird noises here. Alas weird noises alone doesn't mean psychedelic. I found myself wishing the artists would hurry up and get the f*ck on with it. Think it needs to go back in the oven.

Still dreamy and bouncy! This one holds up well if you're into some nice smooth progressive vibes.

The recipe here is take good to great tracks and destroy them with full-on chicanery. Make no mistake this is some boring sh*t. Aside from the first track these remixes have basically neutered any vibrance the original once had. Trip-Tonite has been so watered down that it's in danger of drowning. There was more cheese in whatever the Buddhas did than is in the entire state of Wisconsin. The Rastaliens and Fractal Glider tracks just seem to drone on endlessly. I was yelling at them like I did the old Asian lady in the left lane with the right blinker on. Like the sample said, this is a total tear down.

Damnit I listened to it again! Ok don't beat yourself up over it. Dude you're not even touching...are you smiling? And wouldn't you know it, Wicked from Damage is here too! Methinks the Psionic series recycles tracks. Was there a shortage of music you coulda used back then? Why the f*ck am I listening to this again? It's not like I don't have hundreds of albums that I've yet to get through on my computer. Perhaps trying it with an open ear. Nope, still sh*tty.

"You understand that our time is limited, don't you?" Not limited enough I'm afraid. Another entry in the Psionic series and what the... Is that...? There is Highest Party again. On another of your compilations. In the same year. Nah, f*ck that, within 6 months. Shenanigans! This came out before Psionic Tales and puts the lighter stuff in the beginning before getting dark. It's pretty noisy to be honest. Few good ones. Like I've said before, Highest Party isn't bad (pretty good actually), but Corrosion shows why Chris Hoy will always be a legendary bad-ass. Kluster's track ended up pretty good once you get through all the weirdness. Once thing I will say about Dark Nebula. I always loved the robotic or science fiction themes in Richard's music. Unfortunately I have never felt that his execution was that great so I'm usually disappointed with his tracks. Weird.

Artist: Various Title: Psionic Tales Label: Digital Psionics Date: October, 2005 1. Kluster - No Doubt (Rmx) 2. Fripic Bounce - Inflated Troll 3. Frequency Deluxe - Our DNA 4. Rastaliens - System Shock Rmx 5. Bon - Problem Child Rmx 6. Xatrik - Specific Procedure 7. Damage - Wicked 8. CPU & Skazi - Highest Party 9. Space Tribe Vs. Psywalker - Twitch 10. Scatterbrain - Hex 11. Dark Nebula - Firefighter "Welcome to the highest party in the world!" The label identified by the kissing door knocker was already 6 albums deep into their Psionic series by the time this came out in 2005. This compilation tries to have it all by combining lighter and darker tracks, some with identifiable melodies and some just good old fashioned pounding psychedelia. Inflated Troll by Fripic Bounce destroys while hanging onto its goa roots while Our DNA and System Shock Rmx blend together for some sick psychedelic madness. Specific Procedure is futuristic mayhem as is Damage's Wicked, but the bass is pitched too high for me and the lead is too screechy. Side note, I never realized Skazi was an actual person. Thought is was just a ghost story used to frighten children. His thumping and acid laden team-up with CPU wasn't half bad and then Twitch had its moments. The final two were just noisy nonsense and not very interesting. I was listening to this during my workout and it's partially mixed so oftentimes I didn't even notice when the track changed. But sometimes the mixing wasn't done that well and it was impossible to not notice. Minor quibble. Not a bad compilation considering when it was released. Psyshop

Artist: Various Title: Unstoppable Remixes Label: Mechanik Records Date: October, 2014 1. Unstoppable (Shameless Remix) 2. Unstoppable (Outer Signal Remix) 3. Unstoppable (Brain Attack Remix) 4. Unstoppable (Resonanz3 Remix) 5. Cosmic Connection (Abomination Remix) Let me stop you right there. I like the Deliriant project, always have. Their aggressive, dark and melodic style was a staple for years showing the kids how it was done. Normally I don't review remix albums where it's just one track being remixed because I don't believe the artists truly understand what a remix is. For God's sake too many treat it like a f*cking copy machine. If you're going to do it make it your own. And maybe some did a bit of that. But you don't have to make it stop and start annoying do you? Most of the tracks are just inferior variations of the original, but the Resonanz3 remix was I think better. Pure power and acidic mayhem. The final track is pretty good stuff too, but nothing groundbreaking. So a couple of tracks are worth it, but hardly something you have to have. Juno Download

Artist: Digitnick Title: Virtualizer EP Label: Liquid Seed Recordings Date: January, 2015 01 - One Mantra (Digitnick Remix) (140 BPM) 02 - The Dark Passenger (142 BPM) 03 - Overview (144 BPM) 04 - Virtualizer Off (143 BPM) Is droning full-on a thing? Cause that's what this is. There are long stretches where nothing happens. Kind of a progressive vibe with psychedelic touches, but the execution falls flat. The basslines aren't very interesting and the whole ep is low on the dynamic side of things. Super linear. Pass. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Cryomatter Title: Cryomatter Label: Ektoplazm Date: November, 2016 01 - Cryomatter - Intro (150 BPM) 02 - Cryomatter - The Collapse Of Time (150 BPM) 03 - Cybernetika - Physical Limit (135 BPM) 04 - Cybernetika - Chrono Wave (143 BPM) 05 - Cryomatter - Lunar Maze (124 BPM) 06 - Cryomatter - Reassembly (182 BPM) 07 - Xenofish - Shifted Machines (190 BPM) 08 - Xenofish - Twisted Horizon (170 BPM) 09 - Cryomatter - Cold Dark Matter (175 BPM) 10 - Cryomatter - Conversion (200 BPM) 11 - Cryomatter - Decaying Timelines (100 BPM) 12 - Cryomatter - Azure Particles (138 BPM) 13 - Cryomatter - 7-Dimensional Stasis (170 BPM) If you're a fan of science fiction themed psytrance then you know who these guys are. Cybernetika (Lars Goosens) and Xenofish (Christian Becker) have pooled their considerable talents in a Reese's Peanut Butter cup team-up that should have people salivating. Dark and cold foreshadowing a futuristic dystopia the music is Blade Runner on steroids. It begins lightly, but it doesn't last. With mind bending bpms they unleash a percussive onslaught that at times pushes me to my limits. 200 bpms? That's damn near face melting levels! Both of these guys have been quite prodigious when it comes to this type of music, but I can't help but feel that we didn't get the best they had to offer. The music (while superb in places) felt like b-side stuff without much cohesion. It's relentless pounding with a frenetic pace that gets really heavy. Think...thrash metal drum n bass. Even when the tracks weren't punishing (Chrono Wave) it wasn't that interesting. The best bits for me were the short dark-ambient interludes as they contained the most emotion. Tracks like Decaying Timelines. So while I appreciate both artists, I came away from this disappointed feeling an opportunity was missed. Now...a dark ambient album from these two...that's something I would certainly pay for. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Oliveira Title: Stellar Communication EP Label: Troll n Roll Records Date: January, 2016 01 - Oliveira vs Varanta - Stellar Communication (137 BPM) 02 - Oliveira - Hypnosis (146 BPM) 03 - Toxic Anger Syndrome - Trollskogen (Oliveira Remix) (149 BPM) I was initially drawn to this ep because of the beautiful cover. Very vivid and dreamy. Oliveira is from Sweden and this ep is described as psychedelic Scandinavian trance. All three tracks are indeed very psychedelic and on the light side. Please realize just because I said light doesn't mean simple or non-complex. They are all very lush and detailed. Stellar Communication bounces deftly through space remaining interesting throughout. Hypnosis is deep with effects and outer space sounds even if the tune itself isn't that memorable. The Trollskogen remix had a foresty vibe in it while not being forest trance. Not bad, but too much speaking kinda took some enjoyment away. BTW none of these tracks had any particular goa flavor despite the label. Decent ep with the title track being the star for me. Free at Ektoplazm