VA - Mysteries Of Psytrance Vol 4

[Bill]

VA - Mysteries Of Psytrance Vol 4

Compiled By Ovnimoon and Rigel

Ovnimoon Records

Tracklist:

1. Gamayun - Droid

2. Stream Of Consciousness - H-Sunrise

3. Super Light In The Darkness (Twelve Sessions Remix) - Ovnimoon & Via Axis

4. Spaceworm - Braincell

5. The Black Sheep - Tron & Glitch

6. Visionary Plants - Dishka

7. Vortex - Mental Control

8. We Are One - Snag The Sunshepherd

9. The Call - Tripy

10. All Systems Go - Braincell

11. Technology - Holon

12. Fusion 303 - Skizologic & Moonweed

13. Dark Horizon - SHX

14. Skydancers - Vimana & Elegy

15. Rivershack - Declaration Of Unity

16. Deep Existence - Psydeva

17. Unidentified Flying Object - Ovnimoon & Rigel

18. Pseudo Anagram - Psychophysical Transcripts

 

At a New Year's gig I attended this year a great full-on DJ went on right before midnight. The build-ups, the drops, the energy, it sent many a fist pumping through the air, many a hand raised to the air in ecstatic celebration, it was the most alive the crowd would be for the remainder of the evening, merely going through the motions and making the best of the Zenon, progressive and generic full-on that made up the rest of the party.

 

It was self-affirming as I have always been a staunch believer that nothing rocks a party harder than good, old-fashioned, earth-rumbling full-on. It was great to be surrounded by a crowd that was in-tune with that attitude even if we were only able to express that appreciation for about an hour.

 

It seems that in 2015 we may be in a bit of a full-on renaissance where more and more artists are beginning to notice the change in attitude, where the pendulum seems to be swinging away from slower-paced progressive and more toward faster and harder psychedelic sounds. True, the Israeli full-on sound has never gone away but I was never a big fan of that particular style and it is a different approach from the full-on flooding the listening markets these days.

 

Instead, the pendulum is swinging back toward the Braincell school of full-on where the producers are bringing not only energy but also vision back to the style. This year, it's good to be a full-on fan with some awesome full-length albums already put out by Ovnimoon, Koxbox and Drumatik, along with some great full-on EPs from usually progressive producers like Middle Mode and Spirit Architect. To top it off, some jaw-dropping full-on EPs are also out there from the likes of Atoned Splendor, Imaginarium and Hujaboy.

 

If any of that sounds kind of appealing or interesting, Mysteries Of Psytrance Vol 4 is the double-disc compilation you should add to your collection as soon as possible.

 

Following up on the three excellent versions that came before it Ovnimoon & Rigel accumulate quite a few new faces while peppering in the usual suspect of Ovnimoon Records veterans to make sure folks will slap down a few dollars to check it out. It's an Ovnimoon Records compilation so the quality of music is excellent with two great ones by Braincell, a mind-erasing speedball from Dishka and a few masterworks by the likes of Declaration Of Unity, Vimana & Elegy, Skizologic & Moonweed and Psychophysical Transcripts.

Surprisingly, Ovnimoon himself, a usual high-paced assembly line of mass psytrance producing, offers up only a "Twelve Sessions Remix" of "Super Light In The Darkness" (produced with the great Via Axis) by way of new material. The other Ovnimoon offering is his co-production with Rigel on "Unidentified Flying Object," previously released on the wildly acclaimed Omnipresent Technology album. Still, both sound great here.

 

Disc One of Volume 4 is pretty decent though limited if listening in on a set of headphones. The highlights of this collection and the peak of creativity and vision belong to Disc Two and sound phenomenal no matter what manner of listening you choose to use. However, Disc One sounds much better on a proper stereo system so the big, bold sounds can encapsulate the senses a bit better.

 

Of the top dogs in this 18-track compilation, Braincell thrills on "All Systems Go," Skizologic & Moonweed dress up a goa tune in full-on clothing with "Fusion 303" (and the goa chirps work very well on this full-on celebration, giving a few minutes of great diversity to the proceedings) and Vimana & Elegy make a tight and awesome stunner on "Skydancers."

 

Top honor goes to Declaration Of Unity, however. Earlier this year, DoU member Ion Vader released his good Expansion goa EP through Ovnimoon sub-label Timewarp and the DoU gang released their Optical Delusion EP through Ovnimoon itself, showcasing their intriguing mix of forest, goa and full-on mashups. On "Rivershack," the producers encapsulate some warm and gorgeous morning sounds, complete with beautiful and catchy melodies that hum through the speakers while the full-on bass keeps everything moving along at a brisk pace.

 

It's a surprising departure from the EPs these guys have done collectively or individually and it is fair to wonder if they just put together one gem of this sort to fit in with the focus of Volume 4. Well, they haven't! Declaration of Unity's full-length Luminescent Revolution (their full-length debut no less) is a brilliant continuation of this track and my personal pick for best full-on album thus far in 2015.

 

But back to this one. If you're after the full-on sounds that you heard last Saturday night in the club while your coke was peaking you're probably in search of the latest albums from Hux Flux or Tristan. Mysteries of Psytrance Volume 4 is the real stuff, the good stuff, the stuff you'll hear out at the smaller local festivals where the educated DJs will be driving the throngs of dread-locked hippies completely mental.

 

In that hour or two, don't be surprised if a few tracks from this great compilation are in that particular set.

 

 

Psyshop

[BraneFreeze]

Never heard of Psychophysical Transcripts before, but I liked the track.

 

Did a little follow-up research and discovered they released an earlier EP in 2012, Temporalising Space:

 

http://ovnimoonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/temporalising-space

 

Not as good as the latest track, but still interesting.

[Bill]

Never heard of Psychophysical Transcripts before, but I liked the track.

 

 

Real good track, an awesome finale as it were. Hadn't heard of them before now either. Will definitely pay attention the next time I see the name.

[recursion loop]

So, this is how full-on sounds today?

 

Not bad, powerful and menacing with some very tricky sound design but I wish there were more melodic content. The first track and Braincell/Spaceworm do have some pretty decent melodies, but other tracks are mostly focused on atmospheres and effects.

 

Btw, the first track is NOT Droid/Gamayun. It is actually called Ancient Spirits and was released in 2013 by Time 2 Live - you may check out their free EP "Inner Self" at Ectoplazm.

[DarkAngel]

not for me the first track just wrecked it. sorry.

[franki]

Pretty solid compilation IMHO.

[pdinklag]

I don't get this kind of music.

I just listened to 7 of those previews and they all had the exact same rhythm, bassline and that's it. No layers on top whatsoever, unless you wanna count all those noisy effects, which we've already heard 10 or more years ago. The only real difference I could tell between the tracks is the base key.

 

Anyway, there's nothing new here.

Who still buys this kind of stuff?

[Bill]

I don't get this kind of music.

I just listened to 7 of those previews and they all had the exact same rhythm, bassline and that's it. No layers on top whatsoever, unless you wanna count all those noisy effects, which we've already heard 10 or more years ago. The only real difference I could tell between the tracks is the base key.

 

Anyway, there's nothing new here.

Who still buys this kind of stuff?

 

Disc 1 is not very original. Disc 2, however, has some gems and a bit more diversity.

[franki]

Who still buys this kind of stuff?

Me.