Jon Cocco

Why don't you just try some elevator music.

New updates and feedback on most recommendations. I'm also updating via my second big post on PAGE 1 and this one, etc...as I hear more from your recommendations so check those places if you posted on that page and are interested. I really like this one!! The Nordland Orchestra is very dark and groovy with MELODIES!!! I think melodies really add character and compliment dark psytrance if kept in tone with the mood as they do here. This album gets climactic in parts which I really like! Thank you for this!! Again, samples here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5985 First of all, "MENIS: TEMPORAORY INSANITY" is a great one I don't have or know much about. This is another example of what I'm looking for!! Menis: Temporary Insanity samples: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ease.asp?id=243 "TOI DOI: TECHNOLOGIC" I heard of and never heard. It's dark and there are definitely some kickass melodies!! Some of these sound more goatrance-influenced as Tandu is. Great reccomendation! Thanks Seraph!! Toi Doi: Technologic samples: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ease.asp?id=957 X-Dreams: Radio is classic of course and Psychaos, I have both. They've made some excellent dark psy/goa songs!! I agree Miranda isn't that dark to me, more like nighttime music. And Juno Reactor has made some very dark songs ("Children of the Night" for starters) but JR isn't a dark psytrance group. They are light, dark, spiritual, etc. However, those two artists have made darker goa/psytrance songs that came to my mind when I was compiling the list. They're considered great by many so I added them, and sure, not every great dark psy album is there I presume. Miranda's inside flip on Real Rush or Northern Lights actually says Dark psytrance I believe, but it's more "intense nighttime tone and feel" in it's style than it is truly "dark." I tried BotFB's Demonoizer several times for some reason and just could never get into it. Tracks I like most by Botfb are on their debut Twin Sharkfins album: - Tigerhill - Neuroglider - Lord Of The Dance - Marsmellow (Miditation Mix)" That last ambient/goa song is like a visual trip into Hell on a ship going through the lava deep down in caves underneath the Earth or another realm or planet Electrypnose - Le Tireur Des Ficelles I was actually sampling again the other day and I really like it. Thanks for mentioning it here. It's pretty good and I might buy it. There aren't many melodies but the production is very good and he really likes to play around with sounds and alterating them via mixing, reverses, echoes, speeds, etc..and he does it with character and style. Thansks! People can sample it here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5540 Dark Nebula's song called Cyber Cult is good, but the Structural Failure song on their Robotic Tongue album excellent!! 1:07 into that track is awesome. Stuff like THIS is another example of what I am looking for. Great recommendation!! Thanks!! Samples here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4432 I bought Four Carry Nuts: Mechanical Age when it first came out and love several songs, especially tracks 1 and 7...(1-2 others I find great also). It's high octane, dark, industrial/metal influenced psytrance with some great melodies and energy!! I was overall very impressed with songs on this album and I'm NOT often impressed as I was here with tracks 1 and 7 and 1 (and at least wo-thirds the album is both good or great IMHO with no bad tracks). I'm not big on the few guitar tracks but they're not common on this one. Sample it here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4065

I'm moving my next updated responses to page 2 so ppl see my replies.

double post. *Oops!*

I absolutely love track 5, Thanatos Awakening. There's something beautiful about it as it progresses, a sound or melody that packs so much emotion. This is one of my favorite goatrance songs ever!!

I've wanted a new album for years now. I bought the first one and it's great. Some songs have a same/same feeling to them however. More stand out songs such as Cosmic Lobster, Distant Lights (2003 Mix), Cosmic Lobster (Dreamweaver’s Infinite Space Remix) would be awesome in a follow up. Some tracks are much stronger than others. It's like, many have all the right sounds but lack the higher entertainment direction of the potential regarding the creative, what can be done with the sounds. All Systems Are Go (Expand The System Mix) for instance starts out so catchy and interesting. But as it progresses, traveling Goa sound aside, the song does little to arrest my attention. It lacks zest and dynamics, a more delectable sound and evolution. However for progressive (more traveling) Goa, Ethereal is one of the best their is. I've noticed Ethereal doesn't make aggressive Goa songs. They should try once in a while to go all out, filled with twists, turns, climax, etc. That would be interesting and fun to hear.

Thanks Otto! Yeah the samples are very short and poor quality. I can't fully judge the songs yet but from what we're given so far...the initial reaction is that it's disappointing which is no surprise to me. There were only 6 songs of the 9 available so... My question is: Why didn't they put some samples up on this site to get feedback from listeners, fans... from us??? That would have been a smart move on their part. There are some very aware psytrancers on this site that could've really hooked them up with insight. Now it's too late I presume. The track actually called "11 seems to carry some good goa sounds. I'm interested in that song, but the others sound like boring, regular Full On. When I heard the melodies in "11," I thought okay...it's not I.F.O. or F.O.L., but okay, this is actually cool by these two members, if they keep this cool, newer goa/psy style. But if 11 is the only track that waves layers of sounds like that...this album will lose my interest fast. I don't see why they couldn't have made the entire album in this more goa-esque sound as it seems they have on the track called "11." It sounds like any artist producing Full On now days could have made these songs and attach the "Pleiadians" name to it. Far as I see it...the two remaining artists in the group had an opportunity to create great, innovative tracks that are their best tracks since F.O.L. So far things aren't looking too hot, but then again, those samples are bad quality, but still...they sound pretty weak tracks regardless. The other track I'm more curious about is "GALACTIC" because you mentioned it above...but I was unimpressed by the little melody they have going there. Of course it's a 20 second sample and I pray this isn't the middle of the song or anything...just a layer that will develop with many more layers of sounds and melodies. This is all speculation I suppose, especially coming from all these sites that keep advertising Pleiadians as "THE GREAT MENTORS ARE BACK!!" huh? I thought they were releasing disappointing songs over the past 7 years? Where in Gods great ass crack did they come back from?? Wow...a massive and solid release! Let's celebrate with bathtubs filled with cocaine! Highlights for 2006??? They'll write anything to sell copies. I think this will be THE biggest disappointments of 2006 because Pleiadians were one of the TOP Goatrance names reduced to creating basic dance trance. How awesome it would have been if they through together 7-9 melodic masterpieces that are also danceable like the older stuff. Sadly, nothing they've done to my knowledge in the past 5 years have led me to expect much. It's like Terminator 3. The franchise should have ended with T2, where James Cameron ended things...the sequel hurt the originals IMHO. Sometimes a great impression is altered when a classic name is associated with something poor or average. It taints the image. Saikosounds link: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5981 Samples: http://www.discobole.gr/en/product.asp?pid=108849

The first song is cool. It starts off slowly/interesting before taking off into this fast, somewhat more intense tech-trance. The MELODY(s)...They're catchy! Several others are cool but I like the first one most. Unfortunately, after hearing other songs on this album....I don't find any of them nearly as engaging. Track 5 sounds pretty cool with it's transistion change in the middle of the song...*whoosh* sounds that return the song to the more tech/trance-sounding rhythm. Track 5 has more character and sounds as it progresses which I like, and a cool little melody. But this album is NO Dragon Tales, or Forever After, or Great Unknown. Actually, it's not even being compared to their debut like the others so people may generally like this album more because it's in a totally different sub-genre me thinks. The melodies here don't engage as well as few songs. I suppose track 6 is okay but that background repeating sound ever present throughout track 6 grates on me after a while. Tracks 2, 3, 4 are too repetitive and uninteresting IMO. They never evolve into great action...dragging along as the minutes. Then again, this IS tech-trance. The artists add and subtract different psy-sounds as the song progresses. It's too basic sounding to me and I really enjoy a good amount of their earlier work.

First, thank you everyone for your time and suggestions! These recommendations will likely help others also who also are looking for the BEST newer dark psytrance with meloldies out there! Which ones have I missed? The last recent dark psy album (with melodies) I bought because it rocked was Ghreg On Earth: Sigilweaver, so that's an update of another sound I thinks very good in the "newer dark psy genre." And there's more. Ha. Yes, Psykovsky's "Wishful Sinful" track is my fave off his debut album. I wish he made more tracks as good and better. With Psykovsky, I know many people seem to have been impressed with his debut release. I like tracks Wishful Sinful and Beloochi Remix, but some tracks seem overkilled in their own noise over the repetition. Don't get me wrong, it's hard, dark, twisted psytrance. But is it me or are most of his song very repetitive...with tons of twisted sounds thrown in all around and on top of the hard, repetitive beat?? I've heard tracks where the only thing changing are the sounds while the songs initial bass/beat structure never really develops. It's a harsh, rough style with some definite skills in being what it is but not my type as a whole. I sure like those two songs though. Samples for Psykovsky: Debut here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5352 Rinkadink I bought and found less engaging on more listens. It starts out interesting though and has some very cool songs...(dark with melodies!)...It was definitely one of the better dark psy releases of 2004 I felt. Samples to Rinkadink: Rabbit from Darkside here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=3887 Suria: Dark Side Of The Sun is decent, it has melodies and it's definitely dark, but I'm looking for something with more juice, punch...as I write more from other suggestions you'll see what I mean and thanks for mentioning it! It's not bad, just not great IMHO the track names are cooler than the actual tracks. Samples for Suria: Dark Side of the Moon here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=4328 Thanks for the Flying Scorpions recommendation. I never heard of them before and they don't sound all that dark to me...but neither does Miranda and she's called "dark psytrance" when you read the inside flip of one or two of her album covers. Procs sounded definitely different but I had difficulty getting into that "Stuck in the oven with me" album. Few songs stood out to me as really good or great. It's certainly not bad tho...true there are some cool melodies. Samples for Procs here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5205 Funny you mention that...Tales From the Dark Forest is actually the other comp I ordered along with the There is No Tomorrow one I mention above when I said two comps in the past 2 years. The "Tales...Forest" one I didn't find as memorable although it had two songs I liked enough to buy, (tracks 2, 7) because of the melodies, but a handful of songs were nothing great I felt. Anyways thanks for the suggestion. The Schlabbaduerst comps are definitely interesting because there's always 2-3 songs I really like one them while other songs are often too heavy or harsh. Regardless, I often like the BotFB songs on comps and I wishSchlabbaduerst comps were sold on psyshop and saikosounds because I trust those sites. I wasn't too impressed when I first heard the newer Penta album because I found Penta: Pentafiles superior. I'll hear the samples again though. Samples for Penta: Funraiser here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=5014 Lemurians - Secret Message I really like and it's been in my collection. It's good!! With "Lemurians: Secret Message" and "Space Monkey: Psychotic Episode," I learned that there exists quality, creative dark Full On psytrance. Thanks for mentioning them! Samples to Lemurians - Secret Message here: http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=3923 Yes, I really like and have this one. I agree it has a dark feel to it. Recent stuff like Misted Muppet, Talpa, Nystagmous (that Tommy track is GOOD-dark with melodies) and Ghreg On Earth is what I consider some of the best newer psytrance "with dark tracks with melodies." Those synth/symphonic sounds on Misted Muppet are very cool sounding. Oh, haha, I thought you were promoting a new one for 2006. Don't you know I bought that one already and posted a review on Ka-Sol? ... And UX I can't find anywhere available to buy for years now but one day I am going to buy that damn thing. Promon: Funky Fumes sounds dark with bubbly/crunchy sounds. I deff like parts of it and the children singing on one of the tracks is unexpected cool! The albums has some very cool sounds and melodies combined...and random unexpected parts for starters. Thanks for letting me know about it. Samples for Promon: Funky Fumes here. http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=2658 Oh wow...this is the one then, heh thanks!! Checking out now. You know I've been trying Mr. Peculiar's album to buy now for some time. It's underrated cool. Checking out some of the others now. Thanks!!

What are the BEST dark Psy/Goa Trance albums ever? I'm missing some. That's why I opened this thread. Please contribute. In Alphebetical order - Battle of Future Buddhas: Twin Sharkfins - COP: Urban Alien - Cydonia: In Fear of a Red Planet - Dark Nebula: Robotic Tongue - Dark Soho: Sun Spot - Dark Soho: Cumbustion - Darshan: Awakening - Delta: Scizoeffective - Double Dragon: Continuum - Four Carry Nuts: Mechanical Age - Fractal Glider: Parasite - Ghreg On Earth: Single Weaver - Infected Mushroom: B.P. Empire - Infected Mushroom: The Gathering - Juno Reactor: Beyond the Infinite - Juno Reactor: Bible of Dreams - Juno Reactor: Shango - Juno Reactor: Labyrinth - Ka-Sol: Fairytale - Menis: Temporal Insanity - MFG: Project Genesis - Miranda: Asijya - Miranda: Northern Lights - Miranda: Real Rush - Miranda: Phenomena - Passenger: For All Mankind - Penta: Horn Please - Penta: Funraiser - Penta: Pentafiles - Psychaos: Cause and Effect - Psychoz: 2012 No Return - Sandman: Witchcraft - Scatterbrain: Infernal Angel - Semsis: Letting Go - Talamasca: Beyond the Mask - Talpa: Art of Being Non - Tando: Multimoods - Toi Doi: Technologic - Xenomorph: Demagoguery of the Obscurants - Xenomorph: Qulippoth - Xenomorph: Cassandra Nightmare - X-Dream: Radio - UX: Ultimate Experience Does ANYONE know of any dark Goa/Psy albums or on par with the above that includes strong melody work?

So true. I couldn't agree with you more. Hi Otto Matta, is it at all possible for you to post the info to locate the samples so we can hear whatever you heard on their new album too?

Is it even official that he's doing a Hallucinogen 3?? That's been a rumor since a year or two after The Lone Deranger released. The reason why he wouldn't put together something lame or generic is because, unlike Pleiadians who's group split long ago (they already smeared it by continuing the name on weak songs) Simon IS Hallucinogen. After FOL, Pleiads began to sound like a totally different group to me. It was as if they simply used the name for name recognition, to make more cash. In doing so...they lost alot of fans and support and gained some general newbies. Regardless Simon is aware enough to know the ramifications if he messed up his name. I too doubt he'd think of taking a chance using the legendary name if a third album wasn't going to be groundbreaking/amazing. Maybe he wants to leave the name in glory, as he left it with The Lone Deranger. In doing that, almost everyones memories of him are prestine or near perfect. They've already chosen to do the boy band sell-out thing, proving it with several terrible songs on IM the Supervisor, the ones without the female vocals. Maybe they'll get Britney Spears to make a cameo on the next one just to top things off.

It would be nice if this third album does justice to the name. At least the cover design echoes reminescent imagery of previous great works. Never judge a book by its cover I've learned. My thoughts are this: Filteria created some superb songs in their style with Sky Imput and Heliopolis. Why can't they? I always wondered if they heard Sky Imput and if it would awaken that inner energy/creativity inside them which seemed shut off since Headspin and Meter impressed almost everyone years back. But then I figured that Head Spin was probably more crafted by the other two artists in the group who now left because they have a life. Oops, I mean because Pleiads songs since 2000 have have paled in comparison to their first two albums and Crop Circles songs. If two of the Pleiadian artists left the group years back...they still have half the people who made great tunes before. But these people have not impressed me once since F.O.L. My wish is that they'd all reunite for a final Pleiadians album that just blows everyone away. Yeah right that will happen. Will it be a differenct type of style other than their releases on comps over the last 5 or so years?, cause those comp songs don't sound anywhere near the intricate, elaborate style I loved from their first two albums, especially I.F.O. I sense disappointment. Virtually all tracks they've made on comps over the past 7 years have not been good.

Overall I like it. Maybe more key changes, melodies/layers developing as the song progresses would make the song more engaging and dynamic. Regardless, I'm being critical because I'm comparing your stuff to other goatrance out there. If you're just starting out, it sounds cool.

V/A - THERE IS NO TOMORROW INPSYDE MEDIA RECORDS 2004 (updated 2008) 1. Penta - In the night, in the dark 2. Azax Syndrom - Evils Force 3. Psyside - Pandoras Box 4. Dark Nebula - Cleopatra Cannonball 5. Catla - Minimal Disaster 6. Jelly Headz - Escaliburs night 7. Psyfactor - 666 8. Derango - Time Trap 9. Ibex - Devil is in detail V/A - There is no tomorrow is the first dark Psytrance compilation I've bought. It's also quite impressive. I'm not sure why Lemmi's list is different above. Psyshop and Saikosounds have two different track list (titles in different places) to date. My track list on the album is as follows. 1. Penta - In the night, in the dark is a real epic, creative, and engaging opening. I like how the sample from Phantoms (horror film) extends to the growing darkness. This one's dynamic, filled with much development throughout. Great track! B+ 2. Azax Syndrom - Evils Force is filled with slam/bang echoes amongst chaos, a la dungeon/haunted castle, good voice samples, and an aggressive, driving rhythm. The climactic/angry tone is convincing; mixing atmophere "reverse shift effects" compliment a dark track loaded with tortured souls on acid. B 3. Psyside - Pandoras Box starts off very twisted, crunchy, and catchy. It then breaks out, takes off, and goes driving. Surrounded by psy sounds, a distorted melody/sound sort, and more, the song is pretty good. Coupled with altered, female samples as if someone is in pain, crying in agony. It's pretty disturbing stuff actually. The aggressive rhythm flows perfectly with the rest of the album. The last third has an extremely catchy, echoed sound effect that plays to the beat like a tune. Great work. B+ 4. Dark Nebula - Cleopatra Cannonball is exactly that, a cannonball that begins in space. The artists more visual and atmospheric/dark work is alive and healthy here. However the voice samples get a little over done IMO. The melody work towards the final third stands out; I really like it. Overall a solid, but nothing really impressive per say track. B 5. Catla - Minimal Disaster starts out strong, with a hornets nest of buzzing insects before a powerful clash echoes across the senses. The first mechanic melody or sorts arrives around one-minute into the track. It's good. Car sounds quickly approach the front, a reversal effect with the sound wave that works extremely well to the ignited sound effects and movement. Voice samples reflect children in chaos, as if in Poltergeist (the little girl lost in the television screen, though these appear to be from some other horror film). This is another strong big daddy with long legs! It's dark and driving mad. Good track. B 6. Jelly Headz - Escaliburs night is another crunchy and driving dark psy number, though this has a funny child voice sample in the middle. I'm least impressive with the sound/melody and direction work throughout this number relative to previous songs. The atmospere is solid, but the melody/sound work is twisted and psychedelic without being nearly as gripping as previous numbers. Decent track. C+ 7. Psyfactor - 666 appears less ambient/atmosphere focused and dives towards the psy-work around the driving beat. Again, I'm not grabbed by the melody/sound work. Around 3:08 gets better, a melody appears and steers the song into a more refreshing direction. THe interlude around 3:35 is curious too. The music returns more psychedelic than before, coupled with twisted and skipped effects. Some key changes would have been great here, though the pads/bass line is manipulated. All of these alterations make a technically effective piece of work. I simply miss the dark and driving rhythmic work in previous tracks, before track 6. The last several minutes have a haunting melody that is pretty good. Decent track. B- 8. Derango - Time Trap is a strong, gripping and psychedelic rider filled with crunchy anger and atmosphere. After Tumult, I went back to hear this, a song that actually as some dark melody tunes in the 2:00 to 3:00 section. THey really compliment the crazy textures and atmosphere and give me something catchy to hang on and groove to. Great track! B+ 9. Ibex - Devil is in detail is so dark-EVI. Wicked sounds, melody and/or chime...whatever that echoed sound is that kicks in and repeats right after the opening sample. B In conclusion, this is a VERY well done dark psytrance compilation. I actually have yet to hear a better one. Favorite tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 B+ Samples http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=3719 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/ime/ime1cd006.html

I simply wish the album had more flavorful character, changes, imagination, and melodies, the way Derango pulls off track 6. Although I find the album for it being psychedelic, good, I find The Poisonous Square their best work to date. That ripping melody 2:29 minutes into the track really compliments all of those bubbly PSY-sounds going on, adding depth and making the song more juicy and flavorful (it's just more catchy) sounding. The same thing goes for the part at 3:30...which doesn't last long but so very cool sounding. And something else at around 5:08... and then after around 5:30... and something else at around 7:30...track 6 just doesn't know how not to kickass!! The Poisonous Square is constantly interesting, catchy, and engaging. I'd love to hear more songs at this level....and even better!! After track 6 however, the album returns to it's same twisted, more repetitive and mad/psy style as before. Things continue without a track I find up to par with track 6. There are no memorable melodies or memorable melodic parts either for the rest of the album. Eventually, listening to this album is like running crazilly through the dark forest at first...but eventually I feel like I'm in the middle of a dessert without any water to quench my thirst. The album begins to sound too similar and kind of dry in it's own overkill due to lacking something more...more kickass song character, changes, direction, atmosphere, and melodies to ride on. However long it took... whatever Derango did in track 6 worked and made quite an impression based on general reviews and feedback I've read throughout the internet including this thread right here. And I do admire and like other tracks on the album. The intros are interesting and the few voice samples generally sound good. Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 I most enjoy here. Also, I like the opening song which has these eerie sounds and atmosphere. It's cool and I like how the song does not depend on tons of squeeky, trippy sounds in order to be good. If Derango wanted to impress with being more psychedelic than 99% of all psytrance albums out there, they pulled it off with Tumult I think. However, without being more than making an album packed with psy-sounds in their rough style, they'll turn many people off also because few tracks stand out outside of track 6 and few others. Track 6 seems to be a super-song (by Derango) according to many people who buy and dig them. I don't care for tracks 3 and 7. They aren't engaging to me. I find the first two tracks very cool, (track 1 with those eerie sounds, mild ambience, atmosphere) ... and then with track 4, the album seems to improve after slumping a bit with track 3. It gets better from tracks 4 through 6 I feel. Simply put, people love, hate, or find themselves somewhere in the middle (as I do) with this album. I really like Derango and their style when they pull off more elaborate, ambitious works like track 6. And if they make a follow-up to Tumult, I think it would be great if more songs took place with the fusion of their psy-sounds simultaneously with more juicy *KICKASS* melodies. It would be great if all of their songs were "super-songs" but thats asking for too much probably. Regardless, with a follow-up, it would be great if all their songs stood out and were preferably great and masterpieces. That would be awesome!!

VA / PURPLE ENERGY 2 2006 Updated June 2007 I've been looking forward to this comp. I own the first Purple Energy and overall, I really like it. The first thing I noticed here was Radical Distortion and Mendark are both not on this follow-up. I'm familiar with Goasia though. I enjoyed their work on the Pure Planet comp, which I also bought. I'm not familar with Omegahertz however who I see here for the first time. Track 1: A Child From Another Planet has these happy-happy joy-joy melodies I'm not big on. The bing/bing melody sounds amateurish and cheesy. This isn't what I consider decent or even half decent Goatrance. It's clearly not a strong way to start off a Goa comp or album. I wouldn't say it's as awfull as the first reviewer but compared with what's to come from the other artist... This is a very disappointing song that should have never been released on a compilation with such talent as the other artist. Track 2: Yin & Yang sounds signicantly better. This is more the New-Skool Goa-Trance I've come to enjoy outside other post 21st century artists like Filteria and Khetzel. Goasia should release an album of their own. They're or he's good! Track 3: Primeval Civilization has these high pitched sounds that I find annoying. Overall, this is the second song I don't care for here. Track 4: Spectralys, second song by Goasia is another very good/great one that develops so nicely. It's very well done. Both Goasia songs are very good so far. I really like these. Track 5: Onar is the third here by Omegahertz. I like the lift-off. Some of the melodies sound nice...the song stops and the music returns. (although stays the same) it's fine until piercing, annoying higher pitched sounds appear. Overall the song isn't bad as I found the previous two from this artist and it isn't fairly good. Track 6: Spiritual Connection is the third song by Goasia. I think the voices are unexpected and very cool. I like the female echoes more than the guy ones. The melodies are great! This is a beautiful track. Track 7: Soul Rising is the fourth song by Omegahertz. It sounds unquestionably better than the first two songs by him (tracks 1 and 3) on this album. It's just too bad really, because my first impression of him was pretty bad until track 5. It's OKAY. Track 8: Totem is the last track by Goasia, a traveling song that's pretty good. The layers of melodies, sounds, and how they generally develop is well done, however non action-packed or eventful this song may seem. It's good. In conclusion, I am NOT buying this Purple Energy 2 comp because of 4 good songs, all by Goasia. These albums cost at least $17 dollars new when you include shipping. I prefer less (actually none) songs that are average and below. It's ashame because Goasia's sound is clearly on another level in comparison to Omegahertz. The two styles often clash because we go from a really good one to a really not good one. It kills the enjoyable flow of hearing the album stright through. It's nice to have other good artists making great songs too on the same comp. Initially I was a bit surprised at how negatively the first reviewer spoke of the Omegahertz tracks here. Soon enough I began to wonder why these artists reserved half of the compilation and space to this Omegahertz? Why not another artist? Is this to simply split profits 50/50? I don't know but I pray Goasia was well rewarded for creating such great exclusive tracks for this track to date. Some Goa-Trance listeners will be turned off from buying this due to the addition of Omegahertz. Some won't mind these tracks but some already have. I'm clearly no fluke. People generally have an idea what is good and what is not, hence the feedback and reviews. Goasia has made some great songs especially here. The record label should want more great songs and variety by other artists on a compilation. The point is for each artist to compliment the other if possible and bring something distinct, new, and great. Attention to detail and quality is what makes makes hearing an album enjoyable and closer to success. This won't succeed for multiple reasons. It will be overlooked, unfortunately for Goasia who's music [Goa] music I generally currently enjoy very much.

IMPRESSIONS There are a handful of good/great songs here. Track 2 is great. No. Track 2 is excellent. Neverending Story on this album is my favorite chill track by this artist since PERCE OREILLE. I like the breaks work with the eerie ambience in track 10 but other than those moments I find track 10 tedious to listen to. Wow, talk about music perfectly composed for the sound of a tragic symphony...that would be track 11 which ends the album...like some haunting/sad tune they could have used (or use) in a Tim Burton movie. I like it. I agree. Perce Oreille is a great song. It has so much feeling...and among everything taking place... that echoed tune is infectious. Perce Oreille is my favorite chill song by this artist and definitely one of his best. Also I like when he brings out strong melodies over the streaming sounds and beats as he does at the second half of Oscillate in the Crazy Goblins And Wicked Pixie comp. It doesn't come close to topping Perce Oreille though.

Enigma's' earlier work is wonderful and I was unaware of this one!! It's just too bad they've rehashed their ideas over the last 7 years with forgettable songs on bearly memorable albums. Enigma's work has become so mainstream and typical sounding, with the same beat they used in Mea Culpa back in more recent non-innovative works. They seem to have run out of ideas over the past 10 years, it's been a slow decline since 1996. I wonder why this third album seems to have gotten less attention. Enigma once made great music and this album is one of them, the most underrated and least known one I presume. Thankfully there are none of those Mea Culpa remixes on it. Thanks for the review!! UPDATE: This is a very good album, and one of their best. Those who generally like Enigma and New Age should definitely check this out. It's only around $2 on amazon or amazon.co.uk. Those who have issues with vocals, singing, and lyrics in New Age (known for not seldom having all three) may be put off by some of this. However I think the chants and women voices work together in beautiful ways and to effect. The guys actual singing however has it's times when I wish it wasn't there...and sometimes, on some tracks it isn't there. Nonetheless, his voice and singing (when he does sing) occasionally takes the "mood" away from the romantic, ethereal music sometimes. Also, the music is often beautiful and relaxing throughout, even the songs with his voice on it. For 1996 this is derserves nothing less than a B for a New Age album. It's very well done.

+1 It should also say - PS: "Even though most humans are idiots, we have some really good music!"

Sounds like a pretty good album...not great or innovative tho... The first thing I noticed were the beats and non-melodic sounds. The dee-dee, da-da-da-da.. the clicks and DRUMS -- are good. These are very noticable in the first song before the synth sounds wash some of them out. It's one of the better dark psytrance albums of 2006, but I find highly unlikely that this will be on that many 2006 psytrance TOP TENS list come time end this year. The melodies are nice. Although there could be more of them, melodies are something I felt Derango's Tumult heavily lacked. The samples are good, although that Pitch Black "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" sample I've heard multiple times on other psytrance albums before. TRACKS 2, 5 and 6 stand out the most to me. Track 2, Off Into Space is good. I really like the melody that comes in around the Pitch Black/Riddick sample. I with there were more layers of melodies, atmosphere, and mixed in ambience to set a stronger mood on more of this album in general. The melodies that arrive later into this song is what I like...stuff like that is very good. Track 5, Killing Zoo Remix has lots of attitude and I really like it. Some killer melodies would have been nice though. It's a very cool song. I wish there were more tracks up to par or better like the several best ones on this album. I do notice a difference by how catchy something is and so do many other ppl. Like many ppl I love when artists develop something pretty good into really good ... and than into great, surperb, masterpiece. Track 6, Access Approved rocks!! Unfortunately I just heard that samurai movie sample two weeks ago in a song called Liquid Swords I believe by GZA or RZA a.k.a. the Wu-Tang Clan. I have it in my itunes. The last track 9 is just too repetitious sounding. There's not enough sound diversity, attitude...the voice hymms are the only unique thing I like, but that's a small, positive detail. The final song should have been awesome and it's OKAY, nothing great.

Hey DP, I just didn't want those who read my post to be like...what the heck is he talking about?, he's talking about a completely different track from the one on the album. This isn't the first time Saikosounds or psyshop made errors. I just wanted someone to be aware of it.

I respect this. What better place to be than on goa/psytrance forums? Hearing peoples view points helps to strengthen ones talents and abilities, improving. Feedback often gives the individual(s) a clear picture outside of outselves because as creators (whatever we create) we are our best and worst critic.

MANTRIX: UNIVERSAL 2006 01. Levels 02. Free Your Soul 03. Armageddon 04. Psycorumba 05. Gaia 06. Universal Reflections 07. Alpha Beater 08. Rebirth 09. Spontaneous Existence Part 1 10. Spontaneous Existence Part 2 Universal is easily one of the most solid albums of 2006. It has a respectful amount of good songs, great tribal influence, and some songs, ideas, and [especially several] voice samples that I don't care for. I'll discuss more below next to each song in their respectful order. When I think of other artists who create tribal/ethnic psytrance, Juno Reactor first comes to mind. To me, Juno Reactor is awesome, one of the few old masters still producing superb music today. Mantrix is influenced by Juno to certain degrees on certain tracks, and that's where comparisons should probably end. 01. LEVELS - I like this song. The voice bits (are those echoed voice bits 2-4 minutes??) are catchy! I find something very attractive, even sexy about them, the echoes. Although the track does not develop into much more after third or forth minute, those cool echo's and sounds keep it alive and well. It's an energetic opening and I really like it. B+ 02. FREE YOUR SOUL starts off peaceful...flute, ambience, birds, but I don't care for parts of the opening voice samples. The female voice says... "The world you see with your eyes is an illusion... The real world is of spirit (sounds good to me until...) Emotions are your navigators.. Emotions tell you all you need to know... huh?! Emotions don't tell us everything!, and all we need to know of what?, for what? The truth gets distorted at times due to people getting emotional which makes it difficult to see the facts!! This whole sound bit is too abstract. Look it's obvious we can understand things through a persons emotions. That's scientifically proven, and such words are too general, especially coming from a voice that seems to start off far more aware and philosophical than that of the end result relative to what we're given here. It feels inconclusive and not satisfying. The sample would have sounded better if they ended it sooner with... "The real world is of spirit." Think about that. Anyway, it's in the past now and in retrospect they could have used some ambience to fill in the extra seconds to replace the last part where she says emotions are everything. Concerning the actual music, I like the ethnic voices/brief echoed vocals...chilled/relaxing vocals like that. Very nice. This song has more of a tribal sound that I like. It is the first song I feel is Juno-influenced maybe. The second half of the song drops the voices and changes direction, incorporating other sounds and style that I find less arresting than the first half. The songs pretty cool though and I like that they move the song around but it's not evolution sounding to me when the second half is less catchy than the first. Sounds of echoed water drops, bird chirps mixed into ambience adds character and the song ends nicely. B 03. ARMAGEDDON - This is the only real rock n' roll influenced one on the album. It's not bad. I really like how it starts out...the first 1:18 seconds before some guys voice (echo's) appear which I don't care for. The song continually develops and change direction to more catchy ground which I like, the melody, and then another. It's okay. And I think this track is great at exactly 5:06... (for only 5 seconds unfortunately -- the first guitar sound drops creating this massive, heavy industrial sound) I'm thinking WOW...this is so good and dark sounding!, and this happens right before a second guitar sound drops over the first, killing and washing out the far too short-lived great industrial rhythm and they had going and crafted so well. Fortunately this solid, darker direction stays for the end of the song, but it just isn't the same with that other guitar playing over it... Couldn't this solid part at 5:06 lasted a bit longer before dropping in the second guitar? I would have really enjoyed this song chill and breath some before addingthat second guitar sound, which could be Axel Rose or Aero Smith letting lose some chords for all I know. It's a decent song, but can't seem to decide what rock or heavy metal-rock-esque mood or TONE it wants to be. A darker track like this is cool. Hopefully if they create a darker one, it will be awesome in their follow-up. A better themed related song than rock n' roll and being dark (since they're good at tribal) is maybe indians or cannibals about to sarcrifice someone around a fire like Lord of the Flies. It's just an idea...a dark tribal song thats absolutely nuts with raging melodies sounds potentially attention grabbing if they can pull it off. C+ 04. PSYCORUMBA - This is more like it. I find there style most fun when they create psy/tribal music like this one. Here there are shouts, brief ethnic vocals echoed, and other echoed voices bouncing to the layered drum beats, and melodies. It's like a bunch of people dancing wildly while beating drums in a giant circle outdoors. This track rocks! 4 minutes into the song the vocals fade, the song changes to a countdown voice sample....it's like a song people at a real party are creating while partying. It's fun to listen to and very catchy. A- 05. GAIA is okay. After hearing the far more animated and dynamic previous song, this is far less memorable. I feel this is missing something. It's lacking in sounds, melodies, layers. This song needs more character, development, and structure. It doesn't ever open up and go anywhere interesting to me. Incorporating Earths elements as voice samples are cool however and the song builds nicely. Decent track that could have been stronger. C+ 06. UNIVERSAL REFLECTIONS - People will notice the repeating altered guy voices saying "Universal" repeadedly throughout the first 2:50 seconds of this song. I find the actual music repetitive and dull until around that 2:50 where the pace and beat really improves. The voice returns with a melody that sounds different, but this melody sounds far too basic and almost amateurish IMHO. It's just not THAT good. This continues until around 5:00 where the song again picks up/changes for the better. There is more layers, better rhythm, and they leave that damn, repeating voice off. Finally I can enjoy the music, almost...because one minute later the guys voice returns and says Universal three times before the song ends. Okay, word of advice for the artists of Mantrix here for future work: If our time now was the late 80's or early 90's ... this repeating the same word throughout might have been great like the disco-techno "Pure Energy" song back then, but it's 2006. It seldom works now days and there really isn't anything great about it here. I wish the song ditched the sample halfway through at least because IMHO it's distracting from the quality music and kind of irritating by the seventh or eighth time, especially when it returns after finally going away. Focus on the music, develop the music....voice samples should compliment, not be a total distraction against (while mixed in with) the music. B 07. ALPHA BEATER - The first half could be better, more arresting. I love the second half of this song. It's great, tripy, sexy, floating! 08. REBIRTH is arguably the most Juno song on the whole album. The voices couples with the atmosphere, beats, melodies, and other sounds come together very well. Drums (one of the layers) sound off early on. Regardless, this is very well composed, mixed, and the vocals compliment it. B+ 09. and 10. SPONTANEOUS EXISTENCE: PARTS 1 & 2 - This is basically the same track cut in two parts. Maybe slicing this track and calling it pt-1 / pt-2 respectfully in order to create an extra track on the tracklist was the intent, or not. I don't know. Either way, I'm not impressed with these last two songs on the album because they don't captivate the same way the previous two tracks did. PART 1 sets the second part up nicely. I really like the melodies and ambience from 2:00 to 2:44 in PART 1, which is catchyand interesting sounding as an intro, before the beat. And then begins PART 2. There's just not much here that stands out and makes me feel or say "Wow, that's catchy" or "Yes!" ... After hearing tracks 7 and 8, I was impressed. My standard rose from these artists in tracks 7 and 8 and it would have been great to have two last tracks in that spacey, beautiful trance style to end the album awesome, or even something more exciting. intense, developed, and catchy, with more layers and imagination. PART 2 is apparently the song PART built up to. It's longer and surprisingly repetitive to me. Yes I like when it seems to change around 2:46 in Part 2, but it never goes anywhere impressive, ever explodes or touches greatness. These final two songs don't end the album with a bam, nor a whimper. I just felt indifferent which is a disappointment if you don't feel any hate or love from the end. They could have ended the album with a beautiful chill track too, just a thought. Or a track at the heights of 7 or 8 (of that energy, strength, and depth) would have been a fantastic way to end the album, with a bang or something beautiful. This is neither. Some people may like the less spacey nor tribal final song, but even Juno ends the album with a bang. (or something amazingly beautiful) The last song should be great IMHO because the last song is the one we as listeners, buyers, fans last remember. I'm not saying to move these two last tracks to the middle of the album, but focus on greatness throughout, back-to-back, like Simon did with Twisted and look, he created a masterpiece! I feel this is a weaker track to end an otherwise good album with. Judging from all this negativity I write, you'd probably think I hate it, but I don't. I like the song to a degree. It's fine really, far from bad. However, it's not nearly as memorable, captivating, and involved with sounds and feeling (or just plain coolness) as the several previous highlights on the album. B- In conclusion, Mantrix seem to do two things very well. First, they create very good tribal ethnic-influenced psytrance. A handful of the songs have that feel or influence, even if one or two (most notably track 4) brings it out and shows it off the best. Their style/mixing with the songs with vocals are well done. The second thing they do great is creating what I'll call "lush spacey/dreamy sounding trance with psy-influence." This is most notably track 7. Track 1 is also good and seems to be in a third sub-genre style of psytrance. They should drop the Rock n' Roll thing however (ever so present in track 3) because this isn't early Dark Soho, nor does it correlate with the general sound and style of the album and what works best. Also, I think they can come up with better voice samples than "United, we dance together" at the end of track 5. The words are nice sounding but the phrase is kind of cheesy. Most people won't comment because they're forgettable but I like to look at all aspects of the song, how it can be better. Some voice samples on Universal sound surprisingly basic and general to the point I question why they're even here other than to sound general and basic. Think about it. Mantrix can do better and a follow-up deserves it. Nonetheless, this is easily one of the best albums of 2006 and definitely worth checking out. Favorite tracks: 1, 4, 7, 8, 9. B+

Ahh...this is more like it. Tracks 2, 4, and 6 sound best to me from short ass samples. I have the first Purple Energy comp and really like it.