Trance2MoveU

Artist: Perfect Blind Title: Replika Label: Self-Released Date: April, 2018 01. The Doctor (Dr.Who Theme Cover) 02. Metropolis (Kraftwerk Cover) 03. Dark Train (Underworld Cover) 04. Immobilized (Front Line Assembly Cover) 05. Replicant (Covenant Cover) 06. Oxygene (Jean Michel Jarre Cover) 07. Dej Mi (Croatian folk song - V2) 08. Sheyn (Haustor Cover) 09. Our Darkness (Anne Clark Cover) 10. A Forest (The Cure Cover) 11. It's No Good (Depeche Mode Cover) 12. End Titles (Vangelis Cover) Perfect Blind (also Deimos) is Igor Čeranić from Croatia and if you do not know who he is stop feeling sorry for yourself and do your homework. This is a fantastic electronic musician that leans towards the darker more industrial side of psytrance. Didn't catch his latest Stratum album? It's so f*cking good. Moody, atmospheric, industrial paradise. That said the guy is a wizard when it comes to electronic music having stretched his programming muscles with downtempo and goa trance music as well as the industrial stuff. With this release he takes a bunch of songs that had some strong personal meaning to him and puts his own spin on them. You know those moments right? First kiss. Ugh, we arrested Michael Jackson for less. First date. I'm not going to lie to you. This might come back to be a problem later. And who could forget the first time you got arrested and the po po wouldn't take you to the bathroom. Good times. So he made a cover album with more modern sounds and an industrial sound. As he himself said it can hardly be classified as Perfect Blind material, but he had a good time doing it so who the f*ck cares. Most of the songs I had never heard so in that respect it made me hit YouTube to see what he did. I have always been a fan of his work and his industrial downtempo version of Dej Mi was very appealing. It's not something I can listen to very frequently, but I applaud him for doing something different that makes him happy. If I made a cover album with songs that were the soundtrack to my life you would think I was a pre-pubescent little girl. Take...on...me! Perfect Blind Bandcamp

Did Tsotsi just refer to himself in the third person? A few questions... Is that a vagina joke? Nice. I miss having an adult that is capable of complete sentences. Last I heard Merr0w (Brice Fruyt) was going to release his album on a label. Guess he figured to skip the middleman and just do it himself. Last I had heard of this guy was almost a decade ago with his superb album Born Underwater. But lest you think he is fresh out of ideas, his bandcamp shows some activity with 11 tracks that could constitute yet another album of goa trance if you were of the mind to purchase them all. I am certainly of that mind. Merr0w has a style that is certainly at times chaotic and frenetic (not a bad thing), but he also packs a healthy dose of acid. Clearly he knows his way around a 303 and a lot of his melodic phrases are relentless. As Tsotsi said his acid outbursts are deliciously high energy. The tracks range from pretty good (Floating City) to absolutely searing (Buddha's Awakening). Definitely a wild ride and one I am glad to have purchased.

Artist: Median Project Title: In The Depths of Space Label: Global Sect Music Date: January, 2018 1. Astral Fobia (w/ Centarva Project) 2. In The Depths of Space 3. Heaven and Earth 4. In the Dark 5. Morning In Space (w/ Atlantis Project) 6. Artifact303 - Life Support System (Median Project Remix) 7. Wishmaster 8. Third Element (Original Mix) 9. Over the Horizon 10. Kometa Helloooooo? Crap on a cracker this place is deader than an R. Kelly sleep-over camp. I'm afraid the reviews section has taken quite the hit over the last year it seems. I suppose we are all getting older and spending time with our families to the detriment of the music. I realize I have been absent for an extended stretch and I will tell you life happens and review writing doesn't seem to be such a priority any longer. Does anyone even care to read reviews these days? I thought I would throw my .02 cents in here and maybe it will snowball into some more. Gotta at least justify the fees Mars is paying for the real estate. Been listening to this for awhile now and I'm impressed. First of all Global Sect has become a titan when it comes to releasing goa trance. They go big and mostly have released multiple CD sets of cosmic goa trance. But they don't stop there. They also do t-shirts and huge (if you like) backdrops so this label based in Mother Russia seems to be firing on all cylinders. Now if they could only take their orange, bloated grandpa puppet back and get him and his asshole family out of my country. Seriously, have you ever seen a group of bigger douchebags? This is Sergei Petrenko and after releasing a few ep's he drops an album in our laps that continues with the trend of cosmic, doing barrel rolls in a rocket ship, deep space goa trance. Just look at the track titles. Think of is as an offshoot to the label's last effort, the mega opus to the cold abyss Terraformer. It's beautifully layered and powerful creating floating atmospheres that are easy in which to get swept up. The middle of the album is my favorite and where I believe he hits his stride. The remix of Life Support System is a stellar track with just a liquid, aggressive style that I really like. Most of the album is like that so that's a win. The label has been beating that drum for awhile now so I'm sure it can get tiresome for some. But the album itself sounds fantastic and it is everything I could ask for in this type of goa trance. Also, I just want to say that I really like their artwork. Good job. BTW, top marks for using a sample from the under appreciated 1983 classic Johnny Dangerously. Global Sect Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Done!

Artist: Astral Waves Title: Magnetique Label: Altar Records Date: March 2015 1. Emergence (Album Edit) 2. Le Rêve Eveillé 3. Les Liens Du Sang (Feat. Aureohm) 4. Déploie Tes Ailes 5. La Danse Des Elfes 6. Suntrap (Morning Mix) 7. Androcell - Efflorescence (Astral Waves Remix) 8. L'Oiseau De l'Aube (Feat. Alwoods) Bored me you have. This is the third album of DJ Zen's Astral Waves project and while I thoroughly enjoyed Magique, I cannot say the same for this one. The majority of the tracks are on the long side and tend to be overly so. This is treadmill running. Yeah I'm running so that's great and my heart is happy, but I'm not going anywhere so now my mind is pissed off. The first three tracks were positive, but then this effort just fell off the cliff. The last album was mostly downtempo with varied themes, but this album is uptempo without any depth or challenges. It is competent, but it is far from memorable and full of what we have heard ad nauseum. Altar Bandcamp Psyshop

Artist: Asura Title: Atmosphere Label: Altar Records Date: April, 2017 1. Frontiers (Final Mix) 2. Always (LS Vintage Edit) 3. The Bhaktas - Pitre Purus (Asura Remix) 4. Eternal Sunshine (Ambient Mix) 5. Le Souffle Du Vent (Second Mix) 6. Deva Delay 7. Reze (Unreleased Version) 8. The Savers 9. Interlude Sky (Remix) Doesn't add up. Another titanic project in psychedelic ambient and downtempo music has seen a bit of roster turnover and is now the solo project of Charles Farewell. Damn, that's a cool name. Even with the departures however this project attempts to continue where the previous album Radio Universe left off. Always leaning toward the dramatic and symphonic this album does so in places. Opening with a very majestic remix of Frontiers it calls to mind a soundtrack for a major motion picture in the making. Vast and lush. The uptempo Ambient Mix of Eternal Shunshine has resounding percussive booms that demand attention while Le Souffle Du Vent has a groovy swagger that I keep coming back to. Reze is another uptempo effort that combines exotic vocals with worldly instruments and a funky groove. Closing things out is a final uptempo track and it leaves me scratching my head and wondering when Asura became a progressive act. As I mentioned this is more of an uptempo or even progressive trance album than a downtempo one. This project has ventured down this road before, but I didn't think he would make an album like this. I prefer the ambient side way more as I found his uptempo stuff decent, but fairly unremarkable. The majority of this album doesn't contain the depth or gravitas I come to expect. So while pretty good, I found my mind wandering while listening to it. As a matter of fact I wouldn't hesitate to say it's the weakest Asura album to date. Altar Bandcamp Psyshop

Artist: Carbon Based Lifeforms Title: Derelicts Label: Leftfield Records Date: October, 2017 1. Accede 2. Derelicts 3. Clouds 4. Nattvasen 5. Equilibrium 6. Path of Least Resistance 7. 780 Days 8. ~42° 9. Rayleigh Scatterers 10. Dodecahedron 11. Loss Eversion 12. Everwave Swedish super duo Carbon Based Lifeforms is back with an album of new material and I've gotta tell you it's superb. Like further cementing their legacy superb. In an interview with Inside the Rift CBL say, "We probably spent way more time on each individual track for this one than any of the previous albums, partly due to the fact that it’s almost entirely done with hardware instruments as opposed to the older tracks which used a lot of software synthesizers." The music is smooth and mellow with acid touches interspersed amidst dreamy layers (Accede, Equilibrium, 780 Days, Dodecahedron). Sometimes warm with welcoming kicks and other times frigid with galaxy spanning pads this music positions itself for deep reflection. Clouds is a reve-inducing beatless journey through the sky while Natvassen (Swedish for "Night Creatures") tells the eerie story of a lost soul encountering and then living with friendly creatures in a forest. The tracks are fairly brief compared to psychedelic music standards and that keeps themes explored from getting stale. The album moves with stomping and grand downtempo marches sprinkled with beatless ambient atmospheres. The entire flow of this album works flawlessly right through Everwave, a drone-ish and lengthy beatless closer. Now admittedly I haven't heard a great amount of downtempo this year, but so far this is tops for me. CBL Bandcamp - Sold Out

Artist: ManMachine Title: Gravity Label: Iono Music Date: May, 2017 1. Final Theory 2. Atomic Battlefield 3. Let's Nuke 'Em 4. Orbital Spaceflight 5. Contact 6. Time Dilation 7. The Field 8. Cicada 9. Gravity What in the actual f*ck? It takes a lot these days with life's busy schedule to get me to review something good or bad. So please understand how strong the feeling must be for me to comment on this release. There is plenty of blame to go around. Number one, Iono, which used to be a first class label issuing quality progressive trance must have fast tracked this right down the chain. The negligence is off the charts. Did you even listen to it? Number two, this is the definition of generic push play psytrance. I would've rolled my eyes at this 15 years ago. Somewhere in a corner Alien Project is weeping, "But I'm still the bad guy?" "After four years of musical exploration..." I call bullsh*t. If you spent four actual years exploring music to make this nonsense then your time management skills are horrendous. Somehow I made it through this remarkably unremarkable album without kicking the dog or falling asleep at my keyboarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... Correction...almost. Look I was raised with the adage if you don't have anything nice to say, say nothing at all. Spoiler alert, that's for children. As a reviewer I cannot do that, and at this stage in my life I am too old and cantankerous to give a f*ck what someone thinks of me. Steer clear of this time sucking life vaccuum of a release. Only linking because misery loves company

This was one of the most highly anticipated albums I can remember (maybe Morphic Resonance was right up there) and it's a good one by this pair of brothers. One thing I've noticed is that most of the tracks lull you into what you think will be the same old same old modern goa trance, but they all seem to explode in their second half. It's like they save the best acidic tricks for last while the 303's just go crazy in a tsunami wave of sound! Certainly old school sounding and I believe it gets better each time I hear it. Recommended!

Artist: Ray Castle & Collaborators Title: Mystique of the Metaverse Label: Suntrip Records Date: February, 2018 1. Insectoid - Tribadelic Nomads (Feral mix) 2. Insectoid - Astrotrekker 3. Rhythmystec - Plutonica 4. Rhythmystec - Plasmatik 5. Rhythmystec - Cathexis 6. Rhythmystec - Stellium 7. Masaray - Time Traveler of Trance (Joyfull Natives Mix) 8. Insectoid - Omniscient 9. Sonic Sufi - Optimum Flux "Follow your bliss and don't be afraid." Ok. Like most of you I am a fan of Suntrip Records, but as a reviewer of their music I have to put aside my fangirling ways and immerse myself into the artist's work. And most of the time I come away with a positive experience. Allow me to introduce the first hiccup of 2018. There are a lot of things wrong with this release which seems more like a history lesson than a Suntrip album offering. I don't own the label or have any say in what they release and I surely don't want to offend the artist, but... was there a lot of demand for a Ray Castle album? This is a definite niche album that to me is attempting to capitalize on the everything old is gold momentum. Ray Castle worked under several project names and according to the headache inducing word salad album blurb found on the bandcamp page he was "one of the most distinguished trail-blazing legends of the nineties Goa movement.." Really? Ok I don't have a masters degree in goa trance history so I'll accept that on its face. The head of this fine label are in a way better position than I to determine that. So let's just talk about the music because I am one of those that appreciate music from the past finding its way to the present day. This label did a remarkable job with the Shakta, Prana, and Denshi Danshi releases. The Rhythmystec tracks were released in 95-96 and are decent if not dated. Different time, technology, yadda yadda yadda. I was excited about the Insectoid tracks because unlike the stuff from Rhythmystec I had never heard of this project. Two tracks from that project take up the first 17 minutes of this album and to say they were underwhelming would be an understatement. Omniscient would also fall into this category regrettably as did the Sonic Sufi track. They have the sound of early goa without many layers to give it depth. The best track for me was the Time Traveler of Trance remix as it sounded more like the goa trance I like. Personal preference of course. So for me I cannot recommend this album. If you're looking for blasting old school goa trance with crazy melodies you will come away from this disappointed. As I mentioned I see this as a niche album (which I will still be purchasing to support the label) appealing to fans of this project and the early goa sound. Suntrip Bandcamp Psyshop Beatspace

Congratulations on saving psytrance. Electric, bristling with energy and power is how I would describe this. The title track is the way to make a statement. Pure brilliance. As is Blackholes with just relentless stamina. Futuristic with constant changing patterns. Great job!

"I find that I cannot think of Earth in the same way since I've been in space." Ugh...listening to this again is like trying to choke down a pinecone. That's still attached to the tree. And the Alien Pump remix? A simple full-on neutering of a classic. I wasn't into psy 16 or 17 years ago when this came out so I cannot say how this went down with the masses, but I can tell you that it does not stand the test of time.

Artist: Aural Planet Title: Lightflow Label: Silver Shark Date: 1997 Plunging 1. Intro 2. Pipe Life 3. Head Dream Machine 4. The Motion Image of Pleasure 5. The Deep 6. Blue Water Cave Emerging 7. Have You Ever Been 8. Transphere 9. Synapse 10. M This polish group which is now no longer produced some high quality music during their tenure most notably the classic goa album Part Seconde (which actually came after this one). It's a project that was all over the map electronically, including this their debut. There are plenty of nature sounds that really put you right into pools of water with buzzing insects. With that in mind the music itself is relaxing and smooth exploring a lot of corners. Sometimes it's highly melodic and sometimes it's creative noodling mixing environmental sounds with a futuristic atmosphere. Having said that it's not the best downtempo music I've heard by far and as such I wouldn't label it a classic. Enjoyable.

Hey...we all get older and what we lose in appearance and physical capability we hopefully balance out with wisdom. This compilation for me hasn't aged that well. What I once thought of as Mean Girls Lindsay Lohan unfortunately has become...not that. It's decent enough, but tracks like The Solar System are so fast that they go off the rails, sometimes feeling like it's off-beat. Mahine Elve sounds like someone took Persistent Aura's ritalin cause it's all over the place. The best tracks are by Rama, one of Filipe's alter egos. His style is instantly recognizable as he's been making the same thing for a decade now. It's a lot more nitzhonoty than I recall.

Sh*t's weak. No doubt about it.

The middle of this compilation is an absolute presidential beatdown! Make psytrance great again!

Artist: Maan Title: Orbiter Ep Label: Ovnimoon Records Date: October, 2017 1. Earthstomp 2. Orbiter 3. Disconnect Me "This conversation can serve no purpose anymore." They should just become a goa label already. There's been more carnal knowledge explored with that genre than a meeting with Harvey Weinstein. Anyhow, this digital ep is the work of a nice chap from Norway and if I could offer him some advice...don't listen to president racist sh*thole. Why the hell would anyone want to leave Norway to come to a country where 20 children getting blasted is just the cost of doing business? Our government can't agree what color the sky is and doesn't seem to give a flying f*ck about education or health care. I would of course welcome you, but we need to get things sorted out so none of out sh*t gets stuck on you. Rant over, I enjoyed this ep. It's the Ovnimoon style through and through with thumping psytrance that is layered well relying heavily on that delicious goa sound. The sound quality is superb and deserves to be played loud. My favorite was Disconnect Me with it's rich atmosphere and seems to grow in intensity. He didn't reinvent the wheel and this style has been done before, but Hostess makes a lot of cupcakes too, and I'll eat the f*ck out of a box of those. *Double checks to make sure the webcam is off* Ovnimoon Records

Artist: Various Title: BGF Chronicles Label: Neogoa Records Date: July, 2017 Part One: 01 - Aerosis - Whole New Beginning 02 - Ephedra - Fanatic's Tribute 03 - Triquetra - Headphone Zombie 04 - Siam - Bizarre Sunrise 05 - E-Mantra - Valley Of The Kings (Fiery Dawn Remix) 06 - Kurandini - Celestial Death Of Yama 07 - Griffin - Dark Frequencies (BGF Version) 08 - Mania - Cosmic Flux 09 - Omnivox - Beyond Dreams Part Two: 10 - E-Mantra - Distant Signals (Early Version) 11 - Journey Into Sound - 42 12 - Zopmanika - Subconscious Whispers 13 - Sky Technology - It Is Alive 14 - Mindfield vs. Lunar Asylum - Exposed 15 - Omneon - Transform Last 16 - Veasna - Silent Spring 17 - Syb Unity Nettwerk Experience - MorphoGenesis (Live Studio) 18 - Third Eye Channel - Once Upon Heard the party was epic! Our favorite (well my favorite, I can't speak for all you guys) goa trance netlabel is at it again with a large digital compilation mastered by sonic impresario Deimos and cool as f*ck artwork by label head Ivan himself. Most people don't know this but BGF stands for Big Girls For Ivan because I've heard he likes a little meat on the bone. Fine that's not what it means. It stands for Balkan Goa Fanatics which is a bunch of far East Europeans who seem to really like this goa music. This release nicely coincides with the label's 7th birthday so hopefully Ivan got a nice plump stripper for the celebrations. So inside is a who's who of European goa artists beginning with blast from the past Aerosis, laying down a warm, progressive style that feels comfortable like the ass groove in the couch that takes years to construct. Flavor of the month Triquetra deliver a track that grew on me especially when the second half became a twirlers paradise. Like most of you I like my goa with a heaping helping of forest and Dark Frequencies has more in common with North Sweden than India. Disappointed in the Omnivox track though. Has to be one of his weakest ever. A few others... Subconscious Whispers...wow! Transform Last...double wow! Exposed...not so wow. Stevo you know that doesn't belong here. Morphogenesis was a classic from 20 years ago, but I don't know if this is updated or he recorded what he played live. Don't really care, but I'll say it is deliciously old school. Overall a great release from these crazy Balkans. Quality always comes before quantity so when you come across a label that delivers both it's really rare. Neogoa Bandcamp

Artist: Various Title: Psychedelic Goa Core Vol. 2 Label: Javelin Date: February, 1997 1. Inifinity Project - Overwind 2. S.U.N. Project - The Suburbs 3. ManMadeMan - Elevator 4. Prana - Alien Pets 5. Infernal Machine - The Loin King (F*ck you Disney) 6. Shakta & Ping Pong - Between The Nothing 7. Unconscious Collective - Fluorostani Transcendance 8. MFG - Magnetic Activity (Remix) 9. Taiyo - Taiyo (Chakra Remix) 10. Psyko Disko - Pho Rue Yang Sometimes you are just in the mood for some thumping, screaming old school goa trance. Can't believe I had to create a review for this (you know how f*cking lazy I am), but it gave me the opportunity to share how good this is. And it is so damn good. It's a mix CD and I don't know about you, but usually I only like mix Cd's in the car. This one hit me in the right spot though. There are a couple of outstanding goa tracks here and it is a banging good time.

Artist: Ex-Gen Title: Extreme Genetics 0.2 Ep Label: 3D Vision Date: July, 2014 1. Closer 2. Prometheus (feat. Absolum) 3. Retreat Man they don't make 'em like dis no more. Acid heavy, blasting psytrance. Ex-Gen Soundcloud

I know everyone here has been waiting on pins and needles for my opinion on this Neogoa release. We all know this label is the leader in releasing quality goa trance for it's liberation, allowing the world to enjoy the hypnotic sounds for free most of the time. Can't beat that. This is Lukáš Bartošek from somewhere probably cold with his full length debut and he goes a bit dark with pretty good results. People evaluate music in different ways and one of my favorite ways is in the car. There is something magical about moving at high speed enclosed in a steel rocket as the sounds pan from front driver's side to back right passenger. And if it's night time? A simple trip to pick up some bread might take over an hour. "But shouldn't you just focus on the road?" I'm sorry, what? His kicks are thunderous and the growling synths advance slowly in tracks like Vader leaving broken bodies in its wake. Sure the sample is a little corny, but I'll allow it with all the f*cking Star Wars hysteria going around. Damned has a chip on its shoulder that dares you to knock it off. No Time To Waste gets back to the thumping style he employed at the start and is the only track with a Middle Eastern flair. Hide and Clap has a little M-run boogie swatter and will elicit head bobbing from even the most resistant, closing out the album nicely. The middle of the album is where I think it loses its way. Labyrinth goes a little light and ditches the goa in favor of a more psytrance feel. And a minimal one at that. To be honest I found it boring as hell. The title track disappoints with its bland action and tooth grinding key changes. Cell Connections was better, but I'm not interested in better. I want best. All in all it's a good album that ticks a lot of the boxes even with a few stumbles. As such it has my endorsement for a game of real life tag with people taking too f*cking long in the crosswalk. Wait, don't do that.

"Somewhere, deep down..." I knew this was going to be a rough road when I dug it up, but I didn't fathom the severity of pain this f*cking coaster would cause. Like an altar boy discovering a long suppressed memory of a weekend church getaway this was going to be a sore spot. Supposedly it's darker full-on with a bunch of lasers. While that's technically true its predictability and annoyance is off the charts. Stops and starts are just the tip of the spear (sorry former altar boys) and if it wasn't for Hydraglyph this sh*tshow would've been properly jettisoned from the hard drive with the quickness. Nah, f*ck it, it stil will be.

Artist: Circle of Protection (Pssssst....It's Filipe) Title: Trinity Seven Ep Label: Goa '96 Records Date: June, 2017 1. Trinity Seven 2. Druid "Hmmmm...should I sh*t in Steadman's mouth tonight?" Ever heard anything by Filipe Santos? I mean, literally anything. Well, this is that. Sure the project name is different (isn't that the M.O. of one who wants to constantly reinvent?) much the same way food companies try to shoehorn artificial sweeteners into everything you eat. I mean how many f*cking words are there for sugar? If you're a fan of his music (I am) than you will won't have a problem bellying up to the table to suck this down. It's good, melodic, layered, power goa. Even though I'm sure I've heard it before. Filipe Santos Music

Artist: Median Project Title: The Wanderer Ep Label: Timewarp Records Date: July, 2017 1. The Wanderer 2. Made On Earth 3. Nuclear Reactor 4. The Lonely Mountain With the newly announced upcoming album from the Median Project on Goa Trance powerhouse Global Sect Records I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at some previously released material. Sergei Petrenko from mother Russia delivers a digital ep on Timewarp (have they gone full digital?) which I believe to be a gem for lovers of straight forward space goa. While he didn't reinvent the wheel, the result is a decent journey across the cosmos with great effects and nice layering. My favorite was Nuclear Reactor. Sometimes I felt he lost his way and left the ship on autopilot a little too long, but I was never serious about hitting the airlock to try to escape. So good on you my friend, I can't wait to see if your debut album reaches epic status! Timewarp Records Bandcamp

I usually employ this method when I'm having difficulty engaging with an album. This one is quite good and I think the 4/5 rating is fair.