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Artist: Scann-Tec Title: Unyt Label: Ultimae Records Date: June, 2016 1. Snova I Snova 2. Unyt 3. Quantum Evo 4. Ne Viden 5. Svet 6. Kinostat 7. Parsec 8. Delta-V 9. Nadezhd 10. Turgenev Russian artist Vladislav Isaev has released his third album and if you read his Discogs blurb the man loves sounds. All sounds. Any sounds. He'd probably record the conversation between you and your mother telling you to visit more. And what he's done with his sound collection is quintessential Ultimae. The booming bass contrasted with the twinkling highs on Snova I Snova is a magnificent contrast and what you can expect to hear throughout the album. The 24 bit sound is incredible filling the room with glorious imagery. Unyt lopes along in a dreamy haze while Quantum Evo drops the slow hammer while a melancholy vocal soars above. The juicy and sneaky bass amidst the high, puffy clouds of Svet is the stuff of dreams. Parsec may be the pinnacle of lush, vibrant downtempo with its driving yet calming sound. Delta-V is the most uptempo track here and has a long ambient buildup before the thumping kick arrives with authority. None of the tracks are in any hurry to get where they're going. Matter of fact it's life in slow motion. This truly is an example of the journey being more important than the destination. Each sound is crystal clear with many layers and works well whether you're looking for a deep, meaningful trip or just some background music. The whole thing is floaty and relaxing and isn't that what this type of music is supposed to do? Nailed it. Ultimae Bandcamp

Artist: Manifold Title: Digital Sun Label: Ektoplazm Date: June, 2016 1. Manifold - The Wolf (Part II) 2. Manifold - What Time Is Love (2016 Edition) 3. Manifold - F-five 4. Manifold - Hated 5. Manifold - Voinamirov (Ektoplazm Edition) 6. Manifold & Dissociactive - Mara (RNKH 2016 edit) 7.Manifold - Faces (Ektoplazm Edition) 8.Manifold - Links234 (Ektoplazm Edition) "Look around you...what do those faces tell you?" *Shudder* Look I expect grandpa Eastwood to hate this. Probably makes his hearing aid whistle and it was made by Russians. This is what they came up with after a 7 year absence? Eight tracks and only one of them (Hated I think) hasn't appeared on other compilations? But Mike, they were reworked and remastered!" Who the f*ck asked for that? Was there a crowdfunding page where the masses wanted to hear remastered mediocre tracks? This was the same guy who was responsible for the tech-trance monster Acid Box? Lots of questions and not many answers. This was an utter sh*tshow. House vocals, cheesy samples, and eye rolling phrases. It's full-on and not even well done full-on. You're kidding right? Am I getting punked? Ashton, come out man, this isn't funny anymore. Just a few quick notes: Voinamorov has that Nexus Media vibe to it, but that makes sense because it was released on the Midnight Storm II compilation. Even though I thought it was a good track that was 11 years ago, you don't get credit for that sh*t! Reworked and remastered? Sounds almost identical. Faces had almost every atrocious cliche that you can imagine. It's what makes people think psytrance is dead. That should've been buried when it appeared on the Edge compilation. And the "rocking" guitar of the final track was so 10 years ago. Look it's a free release and they are entitled to do whatever they want. But if you're gonna pimp some old tracks generally they should be improved. Miss me with this. Mystic Sound Bandcamp

Artist: Aquya Title: Liquid Touch EP Label: Tarapita Sounds Date: June, 2016 01 - Liquid Touch (139 BPM) 02 - Haunted Forest (140 BPM) 03 - Unreal (130 BPM) 04 - Feeling Sleepy (138 BPM) I haven't been reviewing stuff I've collected from Ektoplazm for awhile so I thought I'd change that. Aquya is from Estonia which I think is near the New Jersey turnpike. The blurb says he used to produce house and trance, but was lured to psy by attending parties "and states of mind." That last bit could not have been any clearer. The first track is a great exercise in 303 placement, with more squealing than that movie Uncle Ned was watching at Thanksgiving. Haunted Forest wasn't anything of the sort, but just some quality light goa. Unreal had a little too much real ordinary progressive and personally I don't believe you should call one of your tracks Feeling Sleepy if there isn't much going on. So all in all a decent little ep with gentle goa sounds at a more or less progressive tempo. Aside from the first track it's pretty much forgettable. Free at Ektoplazm

Artist: Javi & SkoOma Title: Anatidaephobia EP Label: Timewarp Records Date: June, 2016 1. Save the Universe 2. Butterpsy Effect 3. 1123581321 4. Dark Side of Our Foot Ummm...is that...a, uh...I mean...seriously? That's a thing? Apparently anatidaephobia is a thing and it means a fear of being watched by ducks. All I know is Daffy is making me feel a bit uncomfortable right about now. I think I have it. No seriously, I think I have it now. I'll never look at ducks the same way. The funniest team name in goa is back at it with another ep of goa trance. There was like zero publicity for this digital ep so I'm happy to help the masses become woke. I think if you're going to have a track that deals with saving the universe (pretty big deal) it should have more gravitas. This was kind of flat. Not terrible, but I think the universe deserves better. Or maybe it doesn't. Butterpsy is ok and gets better by the end, but it just didn't grab me. The next track though...It'll grab you by the p*ssy. I don't know what the significance of the track name is, but I will tell you that it is psychedelic as f*ck. Trippy sounds and melodies that twist and turn. The last track is also hella good, powerful goa. So at the very least the final two tracks will make a welcome addition to your goa collection. Good job gentlemen. Timewarp Records

Artist: Zyce Title: Fifth Dimension Label: TesseracT Studios Date: June, 2016 1. Zyce with Morten Granau - Shiva 2. Imagine 3. Star Dust 4. Zyce with Shake - Gravity 5. Zyce with Liquid Soul & Solar Kid - The Protocol 6. Face The Fear 7. Zyce with Sub6 - Witchcraft 8. Zyce with Talpa - Here Comes The Sun 9. Zyce with Gaudium - Son of Night 10. The Ritual 11. Sweet Ocean What'cha lookin' for? Bathroom? Girls or boys? Good news fruitcake you can use either! This is Target! Man there are a f*ckton of releases out there. No way anybody can digest them all. Especially in the progressive trance genre so it's easy to see how some can get lost in the morass. Zyce is Nikola Kozic from Serbia and he's been around a long time. Pretty much a staple for progressive trance. Recently his album was the highest selling on Psyshop so I decided to see what the buzz was about. The fact that it was released by TesseracT was an added bonus as I've usually had good luck with them. As per usual these days the music straddles the psy/progressive line and he gets a little help from his friends on a lot of the tracks. I'm not going to insult your intelligence and tell you it's music you haven't heard before. Cause it's not. But there is a warmth and a bouncy whimsy to it. Some tracks had an orchestral quality (Shiva) and the breaks highlighted the depth found therein. It's very soothing with nary a jarring or abrasive moment while maintaining a futuristic feel. He did turn up the heat with Witchcraft, the aggressive collaboration with Sub6 that was my favorite. That said it's not a very challenging album and has a lot of been there done that tropes. Done well, but done nonetheless. I enjoyed it, but I don't see myself frequently reaching for it. Good, but not great. Psyshop Beatspace