Jaza

One thing to keep in mind is how heavily influenced progessive psy has become by the shifts in the broader trance scene. For many, many years there was psytrance and club trance. Quite different. Back then the psytrance was all more psychedelic, and club trance a lot narrower on the whole. But time changes and genres evolve. The history of the changes in psytrance would be well known to most of you reading this. Club trance had a few tangents, i.e. one particularly notable one was a tech focus which lasted some years around 2008ish iirc. But over time the most prevalent shift in the club trance scene was the commercialisation of the music - big electro infuences, excessive vocals, a strong drop in tempo over almost a decade, and just generally a loss in overall music writing quality. Around this time progressive psy had begun to really take off. It had been brewing for some time as an off-shoot of psytrance, but the specific sound encompassed by Iboga Records and related artists ~10 years ago really took off. Club trance degraded heavily in the years that followed. During this time people who liked the classic, melodic trance sound but weren't otherwise attracted to psytrance would find stuff they liked under "progressive psy". Those who shunned the rubbish that club trance was becoming could find their melodic trance in "progressive psy". I was listening to both psy and club trance for years preceding 2008, and it was amazing how many of my friends who didn't like psy came to me with tracks from Liquid Soul and co in the ~5 years thereafter. These were people who would never (!) listen to the full power psychedelic stuff. "Progressive psy" basically filled a big gap that the commercialissation of club trance (and to a lesser extent the death of the German hard trance sound) left behind. Whilst this is good in a way, as it meant melodic trance never died, the long-term affect is much "progressive psy" has stagnated as artists appeal to this massive group of people. Much of the new prog psy is a world away from the early stuff, which had more psychedelic influences. I can understand not grouping some of this new stuff psytrance at all, but the original prog psy and still some of what remains is very much a branch of psytrance IMO. EDIT: And for my personal opinion, I consider psytrance the umbrella term with a range of genres. The forest stuff is psytrance, goa trance is a type of psytrance, dark psy is a type of psytrance, hi-tech is a (very extreme!) form of psytrance, etc. Psytrance covers so many different things now, which is why sub-genres are needed. The term "full-on" has evolved over time to cover a lot of sounds that were once just called "psytrance", which is a little unfair as "full on" has bad connotations to many (it originally meant the 1200 Micrograms type sound), but such is life.

I was at that festival above where Astropilot / Manifestor played. All three of his sets were awesome, but this was the best of the lot IMO https://www.mixcloud.com/astropilot/astropilot-live-rainbow-serpent-2014-market-stage-24012014/ Mindwave is great but like Motion Drive he can be bland in parts (although not to the same extent). This can be said for many Iono artists, it seems. When he is good, he's great, but he's not quite at the level of Atmos or Timewave, who is one I forgot to mention above but does great space trance. I just don't get in to Protonica. Seen them live at least 4 times in the past 3 years and it just never gets me that much. Which is odd given I love the premise of deep, spacey super progresive trance, but they seldom do it for me. Really odd.

Manifestor (aka Astropilot) is another good mention. Manifestor for the slightly darker stuff with some psy elements, Astropilot for more melodic progressive but with his unique style. His ambient under the Astropilot name is also superb. Protonica aim for this sound but are very hit and miss IMO. The problem with prog is that when it's not good (usually generic) it's typically boring, which I often find them. Many of the Tesseract artists (Zyce and co) are like this for me too. Lyctum and Sonic Entity are two of the better ones but they're two of the more pumping. Liquid Soul was also strong here a few years ago, but has gone a poor direction in recent years IMO.

In this sound, no one can touch Atmos IMO. The true king of prog. Melodic trance at its finest. Deep and truly progressive. He is the benchmark, a true classic. Some find it a little deep at times, but I think the way it gets in your head is all part of its greatness. The below is just a taste, Critical Choice, the new collab from Ticon and Emok, is really smooth: 00db (John 00 Fleming and the Digital Blonde) make all sorts of trance. It's mostly all excellent, both the deep and the melodic. Here's their best atmospheric prog track IMO Motion Drive, from the same label as Mindwave (Iono) can be bland at times, but when he is on form he is superb: Suntree, also from Iono Records, his more recent stuff is sadly a little generic. But this album some years ago now was amazing. A unique, deep yet very dancefloor-worthy progressive: <--- actually this one was maybe a bit more pumping than you were after? Still amazing atmosphere and melody. The track 'Freedom' is a bit deeper. Such a classic. His contemporary E-Clip has also gone slightly generic, a bit closer to the standard psy prog sound. But if you like very atmospheric stuff then I highly recommend his album from a few years ago 'Shuma'. Lots of brooding atmospheric stuff like: I also find Ovnimoon really goos for atmosphere, but he can be a bit more pumping.

Chromosome - DMT Cowboys (from which the above Chromosome track comes) is amazing. I consider it more morning psy than full-on, but it's amazing all the same.

I saw CI live in Croatia and they were epic. It does the business on proper systems.

Via Axis played sunrise, not sunset at Boom 2012 it was the morning of the last day. I agree this is a brilliant album from a hugely underrated producer. "The Beyond Within" is a staple in my collection when playing out.

Mushroom Magazine also Psymedia Mag https://www.facebook.com/psymedia Hard to get anything that covers the full breadth of psy though.

The Loud live set is pretty live. Not with instruments as such, but a lot of control over individual elements. There is a decent video of it here:

Genres are a communication tool, not a music tool. Good music is good music, but people who say "genres don't matter" miss the point a little. They're a language tool that helps us describe certain sounds in conversation. If I find a new artist and someone says to me "what do they sound like?" it's helpful to be able to give the genre so they have a point of reference. Genres matter little to producers, they just make what is good music. They're of use to people who talk about music though. The phrase "full on" is now one that covers a particularly broad range. Basically any full speed (~140bpm+) psy that isn't goa or isn't dark could now be called full on. It used to be a certain style with those huge dominant basslines (samples above are good) but typically now people call all sorts of stuff full on.

I love F1 because the focus is away from the bass. There is enough bass in psytrance for the rig not to need to exentuate it, and where I love a well-tuned F1 is how they let the mids and highs shine as equal stars of the show. Most of the psytrance I like is about melodies and spirals, not just stomping to basslines. (We have a real problem here in Australia of the bass being up too loud and the balance being all wrong. Sometimes to the point of distortion Partly poorly run at parties, but also likely a result of the Australian Bush Progressive sound unique to our country being very bass driven. It is getting better across our scene, but not quickly enough.) Many people tried to say the rig they used at SUN Festival would be better than F1, but it wasn't. Too loud in general (poorly run at the site) and the balance not quite right. The best rig I've ever heard was the F1 at Rainbow Serpent 2013. Immaculately tuned, every bit of it perfect. Loud enough to sink in to, not so loud you need ear plugs. Clean distribution across the dancefloor. Just perfect. The only pity was that it spent a lot of the weekend playing techno and prog house, but such is that festival. C'est la vie. Surely a matter of our bodies not being the same, but it was often a bit too loud for me. Especially with the stacks in the middle it was hard to find a spot where I was far enough away from a speaker not to be worried about my long-term hearing. (Although those stacks in the middle were a very fair way to ensure all 25k+ people could hear well.) When I could find a section where I could go without ear plugs, it was bliss. The 'Turbo Bass' aspect of the new speakers was apparent without losing the other ranges I love F1 for. (Until the last day where they mangled the balance during the early morning and didn't entirely fix it until Avalon, absolutely ruining Zen Mechanics' set and a few others.)

It's more morning psy than full-on, but I must recommend the work of the Australian legend Terrafractyl. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Terrafractyl/29678094222?fref=ts His work is genuinely unique. Maybe not as fast paced as what you are after, but genuinely psychedelic trance music. Full of melodies but with a solid, consistent 4/4 kick to stomp to. As much as he is a 'morning' artist some of the best sets I've seen him play have been at ~2am, it's versatile. His jazz and related influences from his classical musician background make his work unique. I am so happy to see Terrafractyl on the Lost Theory lineup. I spent the last three European summers seeing so many acts play during the day at big parties who were nowhere near his quality. I will be spending the next 6 months annoying my European friends to ensure they see him, I can't fathom why he shouldn't be our next big psy export. It's frankly overdue.

I am a huge fan of Wizzy Noise. Outside of my favorite goa acts they are quite likely the definitive trance act of my 10yrs listening to the genre. I am shattered I never saw them live before they broke up. They can be formulaic, but that formula just really hits me in the right spot, I explode with joy during their huge climaxes. Open Your Eyes, Wizzdom, Congee (!!), their remix of Elec3 - Plugged, and so many more were staples of my sets when I played this sound a lot. The Nano Records stuff is very hit and miss. I absolutely adore the AMD record 'Big Fish', it combines the Aphid Moon driving sound and Dick Trevor psychedelic morning sound in to the perfect hybrid. The sum of the two is greater than the parts, which says a lot. But then other acts such as Avalon, a lot of the Killerwatts catalogue, Laughing Buddha, just don't grab me at all. Nor does Ital as another popular Nano-clone example. The one day at Psy-Fi festival this year with 10hrs of non-stop Nano stuff was a bit of a downer. However I am really enjoying a few tracks off the new Tristan album. I never, ever rated his productions but his live sets in January and August this year blew me away on the dancefloor and the latest album is where the gems come from. Particularly 'Time and Space' and 'Enlightenment'. U-Recken for me is the most exciting in terms of new ideas in this area. His last album flew under the radar which is a pity as it's great. His live set in August was truly amazing too. Although his new stuff isn't entirely 'full on' either. But it's forward-thinking in a way we seldom see that often presently. What I am finding with full on is that there are still good tracks, but not often an artist entirely dominating. For example the Sonic Species album was great, but his recent work is mostly bland, with the notable exceptions of 'Just Another Freak' and the collab with Sinerider which are both nuts. Earthling is another whose star looked to shine bright a few years ago but is now quite up-and-down. At least his music (and related projects like Chromatone, Everblast, KIM) has some attempted psychedelic flavors, which is more than I can say for Avalon. I will have a lot more to add to this thread when I'm at home with my laptop to peruse artists more clearly.

Well, this was actually an interesting topic from the outset, so I will add my 2 cents... Putting aside how much actual 'live' work goes in to a live set on stage (a whole other discussion!) how the artist behaves is up to them. I see no problem with them behaving as over-the-top as they want if they really enjoy it. This goes for DJ sets or live sets. I am firmly of the belief that a certain % of the reason DJ Tristan is so hugely popular is because he is *SO* damn happy on stage. Opinions on his music will always differ, but where no one can disagree is that he has a genuinely awesome time on stage sharing it. Even if I am not really in the mood for that kind of full-on, I can't help by be energised by his unique dancing and huge smile. For me I get a real enjoyment of seeing this kind of genuine passion from an artist. At Boom this year we stood at the back for his set as we were tired after a big week, and had a pair of binoculars with us to see all the way to the stage. Many people used them around us on the dancefloor and everyone was left smiling after being able to see him shirt-less on stage raging away almost like he was in the crowd. With this in mind I typically have always found the time to see him in my festival schedule, even though he's not musically a favorite. While not comparable in terms of over-the-top physicality, the range of emotions John 00 Fleming displayes through his extended sets is equally engaging in a different way. As he goes from deep deep progressive through melodic trance and in to psy, he varies from being focused deeply on his work to occasionally letting loose with both arms high. The journey in the lines on on his face almost match the magnificent journeys he crafts over several hours. (And that is from a man who openly admits himself that he'd happily be DJing from a corner, out of focus, like was once the norm in the very very early days.) By the time he's playing his last hour typically all full power psytrane, it's all smiles, kind of like a 'job well done' face. With that said, I also got a lot from seeing the assuredly genuine wide smile of Anoebis on stage this year. Not the most or least animated on stage, but that sincere smile from within says a lot more than what others will show in a thousand more dance moves. Max from Etnica was similar at Connection Festival. It's more about the sincerity than the act itself. No problem if an artist just wants to stand up there and mix, or go mental, as long as it's not forced. Thankfully I don't think we have too many forced acts in psy.

What a terribly narrow-minded view. Music evolves. I'd love lots more melodic, goa and proper progressive trance at parties, but hating on other music serves no good. The dark stuff has its place if enough people like it, and time has shown that they do. Some of the dark stuff is superbly written, deeply intricate psychedelic music. The forest night at Lost Theory this year (conveniently after the Suntrip afternoon) was utterly mind-bending, full of superbly produced forward-thinking psy. The same goes for the generic doof-doof daytime stuff at the big European festivals. It's not always for me, but it became big for a reason - people love it. Hating on it doesn't help. To the OP Shpongled247, Australia is actually on the up at the moment. The over-dependence on prog has died down a fair bit. It's still there, but not quite what it was, Following in the European footsteps as usual, more pumping, full-on music is becoming the dominant sound again. This isn't entirely great, but it opens the door for variants on music >140bpm so goa has more of a foothold here in Sydney than years, and the melodic stuff is growing down in Melbourne too. There are doors opening. (Sadly I don't know much about Brisbane, but the Earth Freq lineup indicates that bass music is still huuuuge there as it was recently.) We have goa parties in Sydney once a quarter or thereabouts which have done well this year. Transwave basically sold out in May and Slinky Wizard did well. Green Nuns locked in for 2015 which is always great fun. They're too focussed on old school at the moment but next year you can expect to see more new goa sounds start to creep in bit-by-bit

I had a chat to him at the Suntrip party in Croatia, great guy. He said he has 5 new tracks finished (4 trance, 1 downtempo) which were due for release "later this year" but that's no doubt moved since then. He was experimenting with a heavier, darker style. Still mostly goa, but a lot deeper, a different kind of psychedelic. Maybe comparable to some E-Mantra but heavier bass.

Atmos is the king of day-time atmosphere in progressive IMO. Fluffier than listed here but the true sound of progressive.

He has benefited somewhat from releasing very little psy in the past 15 years. Whereas others continued, evolved, and altered their legacy (i.e. Etnica) he more or less stopped near his peak and this creates somewhat of a legend. That said, his peak is pretty damn high. The individuality, quirks, outright psychedelicness of his work is right near the top. I would also say that the fact he has a number of huuuuuge tracks that stand out from the rest (LSD, Gamma Goblins, Deranger, etc) help. Instant classics.