Trance2MoveU

My favorite album by Josef was his second Dreaming of Places. It seemed like the perfect combination of his old South African psytrance bombast with the "baroque" steampunk orchestrations. Antic nailed the review, as this one left me wanting for the good old days. It seemed to lack power and the insanity which drew me to the project in the first place. Good, not great.

I also only have 2 choices. Default and CleanCut

Artist: Thenaria Title: UFO Ep Label: Space Baby Records Date: December, 2016 1. Display 2. UFO 3. Ultegra 4. Acceleration 5. Microscope Thenaria is a project consisting of two lads from the Ukraine who seem to dabble in a few genres of electronic music. One could surely be forgiven if upon listening to this conjured up images of any number of horses from the progressive stable of Ovnimoon Records. Indeed their Ep Fantastic Universe released in 2015 sounded like all the other progressive trance you've heard (yet even that one was expansive and deliciously detailed). This Ep has that smooth feel, but the difference is it's drenched with heavy goa themes. On the surface it's nothing that will rewrite the annals of goa trance, but the production value is high as the tracks twist through multiple layers of melodic goa clouds. They seem to be quite good at telling a story and generate an immersive atmosphere. Their ponderous downtempo closer hits all the right eerie and mysterious notes. Like I said, nothing groundbreaking, but very talented and on my "ones to watch" list. Space Baby Records Bandcamp

Artist: Perfect Blind Title: Stratum Label: BMSS Records Date: September, 2017 01. Stratum IX 02. Manifest Destiny 03. Ancient Machinery 04. Last Torch of a Dying Star 05. Burning Mass (feat. Jay Kay) 06. Foreseen Consequences 07. Escape Velocity 08. The Expanse (Spaced Out) 09. Abyssentient 10. The Long Silent Igor Čeranić otherwise known as Deimos and Perfect Blind has produced a lot of material as well as been the guy you could count on making other artist's work sound great. I've said it before, but he could do the mastering on my toaster and have it sound competent. I first heard his work as Perfect Blind with the stunning Three Spires Ep which you can download in all its FLAC goodness for free from Ektoplazm. He treads in various genres and has shown proficiency in all of them. Industrial influences abound within this dark and brooding album. He is the anti-Ultimae with sharp edged and rumbling waves of sound in a Orwellian post apocalyptic world. Tracks could have easily come from the minds at Cold Meat Industry as the desolation sticks to the skin like burning cinders. Long intros illustrate a panoramic grey landscape with lush textures. Ancient Machinery reveals the tools of a bygone age wet with corrosion and seeping with forlorn mechanical regret. Last Torch of a Dying Star with its thunderous percussion draws the lines of warring tribes readying themselves for conflict. Burning Mass is the result of that conflict with its distortion soaked guitar and blistering volume. Forseen Consequences surveys the charred battlefield steeped in loss and regret as the battle all but blotted out the sun leaving only mottled grey clouds. The Expanse is as boundless as its namesake while Abyssentient continues down the long road of human destruction. The Long Silent bears witness to what we have done. This is so f*cking interesting and descriptive it invites you to create your own futuristic movie. People please pay attention to this. I don't believe it's hyperbolic to say that Igor is our generation's Tim Schuldt. When music can evoke crystal clear images and an emotional response that's when you know the height of the art form has been reached. Drawing on industrial influences he creates a world I hope we never see yet at the same time I must see. Stratum is a special piece of music best enjoyed at full volume, listened all the way through when you have ample time to devote to it. Brilliant and breath taking and oh so vast in scope. P.S. I haven't heard the bonus Ep so therefore I cannot comment on it. Perfect Blind Bandcamp

Artist: Frantic Noise Title: Trance Nodriza Label: Dark Prisma Records Date: 2017 Actual footage from inside the recording studio. Imagine every electrical appliance in your kitchen suddenly becoming conscious and deciding that a mechanical orgy of noise and sharp edges was best accomplished at 110 miles an hour. F*cking Benny Hill trance where the music lives up to the name of the artist. Why? How is this enjoyable? I just watched my toaster oven just hate-f*ck my can opener. If his mission was to make the most abrasive noise possible at the highest bpm well, mission accomplished. This isn't music you put on to feel good. This is what you use to flush out perps in a hostage situation. Remember how entertaining the Nordland Orchestra was? Yeah, this ain't that. Easily the worst thing I've heard this year. Psyshop

Gonna take a lot of fuel.

This is such a massive release. 4 Cds? That's a hell of a lot to digest. I'm only beginning to make my way through the first CD and it certainly is bombastic. Love what I've heard so far.

Because I don't know how to embed a YouTube video.

Artist: Frozen Ghost Title: Sin For Dinner Label: Disasterpeace Records Date: 2009 1. Sour Kangaroo 2. Foxxy Underwear 3. Freakazoid 4. Rapture 2.0 5. Betelgeuse 6. Nine Kinds of Crazy (Cold Turkey) 7. Hiyarant - Smug (Frozen Ghost Remix) 8. Arranged 9. Sin For Dinner "I used to be beautiful. What happened to me?!?" Loud. Drenched in acid. Funky as f*ck. Madness. Relentless. Thumping. Temple pounding brain shredder. All avid descriptions of the insanity that Barry Wynne has created over the years. If you like South African psytrance with all of the qualities I listed above then this should be right in your wheelhouse. Think the Midnight Storm series rolled in cocaine. This was a digital release in only 256 mpbs quality 8 years ago, but recently he offered it for free in Wav quality. Unfortunately I can't locate it any longer, but here are some spots you can get it. One other thing to note, the Wav version differs from the one released in 2009. German Amazon I think DJ Shop Dj Tunes

Artist: Power Source Title: XOXO Label: Dacru Records Date: July, 2017 1. Introstellar 2. The Question 3. Night & Day 4. New Sparks (Space Cat Edit) 5. Skywalker (Filteria Remix Edit) 6. Astral Projection feat. DJ Jorg - Mahadeva (Power Source & Innerzone Remix) 7. Power Source & The Muses Rapt - Galactic Wilderness 8. Seville 9. Dasvidanya Ah Power Source clearly all out of f*cks to give. One of the more notable names that was almost a seminal figure in the goa scene. This project (which began as a trio and is now the sole property of Shahaf Shvarzman) beat us over the head with some say their only standout track Goaway. I however believe them to have had at least a few more with Memory Bubbles, Granada, and Skywalker, but clearly if you kicked out their contribution the goa pyramid would still stand solidly. So now it's back and we know the trap that can be a hazard of returning artists. It's a trap that Power Source jumped into with two feet screaming "F*ck it!" all the way down. This album is pure Dacru full-on with goa and trance elements which might require you to get some sunglasses when listening to it as the shiny and modern production could very well blind you. I like what Space Cat did with Sparks and even though it's pretty good we already heard the Filteria Remix of Skywalker on Ten Spins Around the Sun. The Mahadeva remix was also entertaining, but it just made me want to hear the original. Look I was never a huge fan of this project to begin with, but If you can listen to the last track without dry heaving than perhaps you should apply for sainthood. What the unholy f*ck? It's not bad with it's great production and power, but I don't have time for just not bad. There was potential here, but for me there wasn't anything that was particularly memorable. Psyshop Beatspace

"Music is the soundtrack of your life." Whoo hoo that remix of Atomic Children!! Tarsis I didn't know you had it in you! The second half of that track just propels you into deep space. Good compilation!

Not the strongest effort in this series. As many have said, the Tandu opener is king, the Miranda track was disappointing, but I was pleasantly surprised by the breakb eat track from Funkopath. The real psychedelic treat though was Psychedelia Junglistia. Eerie atmosphere, punchy bass, and jungle percussion. There are two camps...those who like the Celtic melodies in Jiggle and those that go full Scott Summers and laser eye everything in sight.

Artist: Various Title: Gate To The Past Label: Zion 604 Records Date: May, 2017 1. Radical Distortion - Year 2488 2. Declaration of Unity - Ohm Sun 3. Sandman & Radical Distortion - Tweakers 4. Shunak Idou - Journey 5. Radical Distortion - Voltage Source (Radical Frequencies Remix) 6. Cactus Arising - Solar Echoes 7. Radical Distortion - The Wizard 8. Cactus Arising & Radical Distortion - Ammos 9. Cydelix - Induction On the heels of the decent yet underwhelming Virtual Jungle re-issue comes a compilation of tracks put together by goa powerhouse Radical Distortion. Hell this could very well be a new release from that duo as their fingerprints are all over this. The release itself is very Greek centric with regards to tracks, mastering, and artwork. And ain't nothing wrong with that. The music is mostly goa trance done well (The Wizard is a powerful track which was released last year, the bouncy Induction, Journey, Voltage Source Remix, and Year 2488), sometimes goa that's a little too fluffy for my tastes (Ammos, Solar Echoes), and then a blurring of the line between goa/psytrance on Ohm Sun. So it's pretty good with outstanding sound quality, but I can't help but feel that the label is in a bit of a rut by releasing comfortable albums. And by that I mean albums that are good, but haven't reached that level which they have in the past. Weird to say that after I just told you that the compilation was pretty good, but I feel it's been since 2015's Robotized that the label has hit a home run. Still, a compilation worth having. Zion604 Bandcamp

Antic did your Avatar just get older?

Comparing the second CD to the first is akin to comparing John F. Kennedy to the bloated orange buffoon currently infecting my country's seat of power. I'm not one for mixed Cds in the first place, but the track quality isn't as good anyway. It's not even close. I mean two Cwithe tracks? Did I spit in your soup? Why would you do that to someone? Point of No Return and Snarling are always good, but I'm not sitting through a mix Cd of mediocre tunes just to get to those.

Superb compilation. The first disc is just classic after classic goa trance. I thought disc 2 was going to be terrible, but it had some belters in its own right. Micronesia of course, but Rebel Without a Cause was a long burn. The Voodoo remix of Trommelmachine was nice also. Even though they aren't the most names in the genre, the second disc was a pleasant surprise. Love me some Corn Baked! That 303 gets me everytime.

It's funny how that happens. For years I have slammed Mugen by Prana, but now I don't find it repulsive!

Artist: E-Clip Title: Biointegrated Design Label: Iono Music Date: April, 2017 1. E-clip & Zen Mechanics - Sundowning 2. E-Clip & Mickey Noise - The One 3. Chemical Bond 4. E-clip & Subliminal Codes - Apex 5. E-clip & Avalon - Isotonic Tuning 6. Radio Entelechy 7. Semifluid Substances 8. Occult Lore 9. Welkin And the award for the most disappointing follow up album goes to...E-clip! "First and foremost I'd like to thank God for without whom nothing is possible. I'd like to thank my family. Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all the expensive software that I used to pump out generic progressive trance tracks. They said we couldn't do it, but I believed! I'd like to thank the label Iono for getting fooled and believing in me after my successful debut album. I realize this is a step backwards with tracks that sound like all other progressive music, but sometimes you have to put in minimal effort and throw creativity out the window if you want to make a mediocre album." I'm exaggerating of course, but really this is not a positive step for this artist. The tracks themselves are decent, but they sound like everyone else. When you set the bar high with a superb debut and compilation tracks, not reaching it has to be disappointment. The lush details and atmosphere of his debut Shuma are noticeably absent as he seemed to move in a more minimal direction. Melodies are not as apparent in a series of tracks that fail to capture the imagination. I would blame it on excessive collaborations, but one, that's never stopped him before, and two, even if that was so most of the tracks are just his. Let me be clear it's not a bad album, but he has shown that he has produced much better stuff than this. Iono Bandcamp Digital Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Witch Freak Title: Freakazoid Ep Label: Banyan Records Date: November, 2016 1. Illogical Journey 2. An Infected Tale 3. Freakazoid I was so impressed with the darkness and detail of this label's release Arborum Susurri that I decided to check out some of their other stuff. First I would like to say that's an awesome cover by Shiva Om. Great detail. This is Alexander Tacconi and if you look at his Discogs page he's only had one other EP release. The dark forest vibes continue with this 3 track digital ep which is pretty good. Bubbling along with hammering bass lines are the course of the day. The last track has a female vocal that doesn't belong, but that adds to the eerieness. Banyan Bandcamp

Artist: Hypnoxock Title: Sounds From Another Time Label: Self Released Date: July, 2017 1. Wormhole (Remastered 2002) 2. The Final Passenger (Nocturnal Mix 2015) 3. Mismo Plastico (Virtualmismo Tribute Remix) 2011 4. Dr. Livingstone (Unreleased 1999) 5. Progresion Ecliptica (Special Edit Ozora 2013) 6. Deluxaflex (Unreleased 2004) 7. Blue Monday (Tribute Remix to New Order) I have always liked this project. Imagine South African psytrance loaded with goa elements. Victor Solsona may not be one of the premier names in psy, but he always delivers the goods. I'm still working my way through his most recent album Eurythmia, but this came along not soon after. It's a name your price wav download of unreleased and remixed tracks dating all the way back to 1999. I believe his strength is the constant evolution of his tracks. His current style is never a stagnant 4/4 full-on borefest, but he interjects new melodies and rhythm patterns. He takes tracks in different directions and is very good at adding atmosphere to provide a more lush sound. And that's what you get here for the most part even though some of the tracks are pretty old. One other thing he excels at is really good break work. Even the uber cheesy remix of New Order's Blue Monday wasn't as bad as it could've been. Usually when an artist releases something like this there's a reason it was never given a proper release in the first place. Not so here. Wormhole is a rollicking good goa track and The Final Passenger changes enough to keep it fresh. Mismo Plastico keeps the goa vibe going, while Dr. Livingstone is a slow burner full of darkness. Tracks five and six are more of what you would expect from an album like this and even they aren't bad. Bottom line this is a great release that doesn't behave like a bunch of older, re-imagined tracks. Oh by the way...can someone explain to me the Japanese fascination with tentacles? Bandcamp

Artist: Ovnimoon Title: Voyage Label: Ovnimoon Records Date: May, 2017 1. Mystica (feat. Moon Tripper) 2. Be Human (feat. Spiritual Mode) 3. Asension (Ovnimoon album Mix) 4. Voyage 5. This Makes Sense To Me 6. The Honest Meditation 7. Tranceport 8. Universal Healing Transmission (feat. Spirit Architect) 9. Dance With The Creator (feat. The Digital Blonde) Hector Stuardo just keeps chugging along doesn't he? Since 2006 he has released an album every year or every other year not to mention all his compilation work. Dude's a machine. And it wouldn't be such a big deal if half of them were sh*tty, but he puts out quality music each and every time. This album comes on the heels of his last two (Holistic, Trancemutation of the Mind) that have been firmly planted on goa soil. Sure his bass lines aren't very varied, but to me that's the only minor flaw located within. He has this ability to slowly carry you into goa bliss with his melodies, turning the cutoff knob ever so slowly. While he doesn't overload you with melodies he does more with less, building layers around that bass line. The sound is always immaculate and with both the upper and bottom end represented well. Another home run for me. Ovnimoon Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Schallusion Title: Morphologic Tales Label: Self Released Date: March, 2012 1. Shaman 2. The Aborigine 3. Transcendance 4. Harmonic Tales 5. Crossover 6. Collaborator 7. Future Stomp Wow if you believe what the announcement thread says sounds like these guys hit a home run. Let's start with this. If you open your debut with a 17 minute track you better know what you're doing. Yeah they did. Luckily this German project seems to have a pretty good handle on this whole psychedelic thing. Coming out of nowhere they dropped this hot potato right into our eager laps. For free. 5 years ago. This album is loaded with long tracks that reside in a variety of psychedelic genres. As others have said that opener was quite spectacular. Very lush and not boring for any of those 17 minutes. Aborigine only has one way to go and unfortunately doesn't come close to the depth or scope of Shaman. Just 11 minutes of noodling. Transcendance is a bit better, but again it fails to maintain the high hopes brought about by the opener. Harmonic Tales is better still with a haunting vibe and more of an alien flare. It's futuristic and heavy. Crossover charges full steam ahead for a pretty good track. Collaborator goes full goa with some glitch riding shotgun. Future Stomp closes it out with some more alien goa. When you make an album that only has long tracks you walk a fine line between overload and boredom. For the most part I think they straddled it pretty well. The album was psychedelic and sounded great even if some tracks went on too long. Is it a classic? Nah, but several tracks kick some ass. As I mentioned this came out 5 years ago so they're due to release some more music. Schallusion Soundcloud

Artist: Rayavana Title: Exit Human Perception Ep Label: Neogoa Date: June, 2017 01 - Secrets Of Time (155 BPM) 02 - Back From The Future (157 BPM) 03 - Perennial Journey Through The Mind (158 BPM) 04 - Tetra Zod (160 BPM) Neogoa has released their first foray into the high speed niche of nitzhogoa. I'll come right out and level with you that I don't care for this type of music. It's oftentimes cheesy and all the time mentally exhausting. But even though I don't like it I can appreciate it and the fact that a lot of people do like it. And if you're a fan of this particular style then this is a must download. The melodies are typically fast and furious with great sound. I didn't find it particularly deep, but I did like his use of layers. There is a lot of energy here. I think the holy grail for goa freaks who are hesitant to give this music a chance is a nice balance between Nitzho and goa trance. As Antic mentioned the debut album from Agneton fit squarely in this category. This leans more towards the frenetic Nitzho side so hardcore goa heads will probably give it a pass, but it does nitzhogoa very well. Neogoa Bandcamp

This is decent with some chunky psytrance tracks. You can hear the progressive Ticon blossoming amidst the goa touches. Wish there was more goa and less long progressive stretches, but still worth a listen.

Okay...this guy loves the darkness. But does he push his goth image too far? Is it now comical? Or is he an actual vampire? 14 years old and things don't shock us like they used to. I mean I just watched a movie called Human Centipede where this crazy surgeon sewed three people together linking their digestive tract. Use your imagination. There are moments where he puts scary second rate direct to video horror samples over a monotonous beat. Did I miss anything? Sounds of torture and supernatural possession. Prophecy forshadowing? How old are we? Isn't this the kid that smoked cigarettes in the high school bathroom and put pentagrams all over his textbook covers. Covers by the way adorned with Slayer and Pantera logos. But then there are tracks like Tzelmavet where regurgitative sound effects are used well. Dark track that one. Tree of Death also is one of the better ones. As entertaining as this was it's a novelty. It is. It overly relies on horror movie samples to the detriment of the tracks because musically it really isn't that special. Too much. You can't blast this in your car without feeling a little self conscious. Got a whole South Park goth thing going on. But for home listening when you're in that mood...? I can see it. P.S. If he made an album of dark ambient a la the title track I'd be into it.