operon

Holy sh*t!...The Godfather is back.

Instant 10/10 from me. This album is a modern day classic.

Hey, this album is a real joke. Oriental pop or cheerleader goa, name it what you want. Some of the melodies from this album seem to be lifted from Bollywood and put over a kick/bassline combo that doesnt change for the whole album. What a disappointment!

Mr Mustafa nailed it for me - the scene lacks succession of the spirit and real musicianship. I really can't find the funkiness of Cosmosis, the hard pounding beats of X-Dream, the acid spirals of Green Nuns, the craziness of Koxbox. They are replaced by a few delayed sounds over a generic 16th note bassline (full-on) and utterly forgettable cheerleader goa remotely echoing MFG, Astral Projection (so called neo-goa). The musicians sitting behind tons of hardware are replaced by laptop cowboys that happen to know a few things about playing notes. They have not really invested in this craft, so that's why the end product is so generic and bland. I don't consider myself old so to not be able to accept new ideas, but I am old enough to recognize rich and mature musical expressions. I know this genre by heart, own or have listened to any significant release in any subgenre (including dark and hi-tech), so I know what I'm saying. We need innovating artists with original ideas and real musicianship that can elevate the genre to new heights! Filteria is the only one I can think of at the moment.

I will be very harsh for this album. The mix is very dull and accentuates the treble and high frequencies too much that it becomes hurting for the ears very soon. Most of the layers used sound painfully inharmonic and there is an evident lack of power. The drums are neglected to the point that they serve only as a filler. These Absynth intros sound like factory presets. There are some good ideas scattered here and there, but the overall sound is a complete mess. IMO one of the weakest Suntrip releases and I was expecting very much, when I read all those great reviews. I follow the scene since mid-nighties and I've heard thousands of albums, but I've never heard anything so overhyped like this release. 3/10 for me

Well... In no particular order: 1. Pleiadians - IFO 2. Transwave - Helium 3. Cosmosis - Synergy 4. Hallucinogen - Twisted 5. Etnica - Alien Protein 6. X-Dream - Radio 7. Green Nuns Of The Revolution - Rock Bitch Mafia 8. Dimension 5 - Transdimensional 9. Cosmosis - Cosmology 10. Shakta - Silicon Trip

Curious enough, Mars gave this album 6.5/10 back then in 1997...What has changed?

Nice one, Chris! I was waiting for such a release for a very long time. Definitely on the buy list...

Thank you, guys, for the constructive discussion. I really extracted some optimism from your comments that will keep me going for a while. Some said I don't know the Goa scene, others said I registered only to throw dirt...Nope. I've been following this forum since it was named goatrance.free.fr (around '98) and now it is the most important beacon that keeps the scene alive. I have a real, physical CD collection comparable to Mars' in numbers, containing all important releases since the inception of the genre until the neogoa nowadays, so that means I've supported the scene from the very beginning. Hats off to what Suntrip are doing, they literally revived the dead horse. I don't enjoy every release, but Filteria & E-Mantra really touch the old masters in style. So, keep going, although the sound of the old 303 will remain unmatched. And see you outdoors, a great summer is ahead!

I have a feeling that our scene is feasting on a corpse long time dead. Aren't we all trying hopelessly to recapture our lost youth and not willing to confess to ourselves that Goa trance's golden years are not going to come back anytime soon? 1) The most talked over new releases are unreleased material from 94-98 - remaster here, uncover lost tracks there, remixes all over - when is this going to end? What hasn't been released back then was not released for a reason. I am really not interested in dusted off proto-versions of the tracks even if they come from S.P., so why anybody should? 2) Neo goa-trance is circling in an endless loop - this whole resurgence is making me sick. Countless new artists are trying to emulate the sounds of Astral Projection, MFG, Dimension 5 in the most forgettable way - layers upon layers of recycled shit, utterly bland and uninspired plasticky FL melodies pretending to stir emotions. Anybody here got some sense of progression in the music? If so, think again, you're trying to mislead yourselves. And what's next - rediscover psytrance, then progressive trance and back again to goa trance...Nothing more than a vicious cycle. 3) Old artists don't have it anymore and make us feel pitiful - just say it, our beloved artists from the golden era can't find new means of expression and can't update their sound in a meaningful way. The regression in their sound is so vivid and just painful. Electric Universe? I can't find you behind those "big" basslines. Space Tribe? Man, this is childish music. Shiva Chandra? Shitty euro trance. Hux Flux? A shadow of the past. Laughing Buddha? Makes me really laugh. So, what do you think? Did we reach the dead end or is it just behind the corner? How far can we go in pointlessly chasing our youth?

I can tell you one reason - almost half of your cd's are Suntrip releases, which I guess most of the people in this forum already own. Beside that, they are all readily available to buy from the Suntrip official website for 11 Euro or even less if you buy them in a big bundle. Most of the other cd's are full-on and so less attractive. Put some classic old Goa and the chances you'll sell something will be higher. Personally I'd take both Carbon Based albums, but I recently spent a big sum on cd's and will skip for now...

I'd take old school too

Electric Universe + Shiva Chandra + X-Dream Human Blue + Atmos + Matenda Space Tribe + Transwave + Koxbox

This album is a personal favourite of mine since my teenage years. I had it on a cassette, but wish I had it on a CD. Maybe someone have a spare copy to sell for a reasonable price?

10 out of 10, these guys are light years beyond in terms of musicianship and creativity than what today is considered psytrance. One of the few artists that started from the psychedelic scene and then matured to the heights they are now on. Full on sucked the juice out of many respected psy/goa artists from the golden era...