Jon Cocco

NOLAX - PERSISTENCE 2007 - UNRELEASED REVIEW and FEEDBACK 01. Pareidolia 02. We Already Were On Mars 03. Androids Do Dream 04. Autofab 05. Confusion 06. Lepton Head 3 Remix 07. We Are the Spoon 08. Silence Of the Drums This is good work Christoph. I like your ability at creating inspired Goa-Trance in what seems to be your own style. You've added your own flavor while using attractive sounds and melodies throughout. This is a big plus in my book. I decided to score each track as I would any other album. And yes I'm comparing your stuff to everything else out there, in Goa/Psy-Trance. 01. Pareidolia - B ... If you don't enjoy this you probably won't enjoy the album and I think few into goatrance will not like this. I find this a strikingly attractive, well done song to pull us into the journey. I really like the short, skipping effect that takes place around 3:50 - 3:53. It also sounds like something I heard on a Lost Buddha track. This track actually reminds me of a younger brother to Lost Buddha. Actually, Lost Buddha skips the sound in his track titled Southern Oracle exactly the way as used here. It's a great, dynamic effect and works well here to. Whether it's taken from that track or build from scratch is beyond me. Nonetheless, I love playful effects to the music like that! 02. We Already Were On Mars - B- / B ... The opening voice sample goes to this very well. There is a sound used which begins 0.28 seconds into this song. It's used as a melody and I find it very, VERY catchy. I like when artists find alien or different catchy sounds I haven't heard before and incorporate them into the mix. The piano is a nice touch too along with the ven catchier melody at 2:28 and a good leading melody takes appears at 2:52. The ambient notes are very attractive and top everything off. The beat disappears to accentuate the cool voice sample. This is one of the best tracks on the album. The only strange thing is that the songs length is around 7:20 and for some reason it downloaded as 9:03. I have a two minute block of silence after the song becomes silent beginning at 7:20 or so for some reason. 03. Androids Do Dream - C ... While I find none of the songs on this album bad, I don't find this song or it's melodies, sounds, and ideas engaging or catchy. It's weak, less interesting than virtually all the other tracks here. 04. Autofab - B- / B ... This is refreshing compared to the last one and one of the better or best songs on the album! Cool melodies mixed with the guitar adds impact and umph, energy. I like it but it does begin to get more repetitive toward the last third with the guitar coming and going, repeat. It would have been great to eventually drop the repeating guitar and introduce some new sounds too! 05. Confusion - B- ... The song begins with good ambient sounds. This track has a very comfortable, gentle sound to it. It's relaxing, floating in a way until the beat speeds up a bit. It generally has more feeling than a handful of songs here due to the ambient notes I believe. I like the little, higher pitched melodies but little is exactly what they are. I prefer the melody at around 7:06. Having the ambient notes return is good. I suppose more supporting melodies and sounds in the second half would have been nice as it's almost like the track, some songs here repeat in a sense before. Overall the sound is nice and carries quite well throughout. I like the ambient notes and clicker sounds most noticeable in the final two seconds. 06. Lepton Head 3 Remix - B ... Based on this alone I like your style. I also like the distorted melody, sounds and how you minipulate the wave up and dwon. For example I really like how this sounds the first time and again at 6:28 to 6:54 before the overall song fades. 07. We Are the Spoon - C ... Interesting. The stronger kickdrum stands out but everything else doesn't in comparison I find. This is the weakest song on the album next to track 3. A couple melodies take place around a harder beat and that's it. When the track ends I don't remember it at all. This song needs some real attention on creating, bringing out, developing, and accentuating melodies and sounds around the repetitive kickdrum and bassline. 08. Silence Of the Drums - B- ... Nice. I like the catchy, danceable main melody around the other minipulated goa sounds. The voice sample is cooler when Anthony Hopkins voice goes... "You can fly back to school now little fly..." and how the music begins right after. I would have loved to see this thing explode at this point directly after the voice sample, or at least somewhere during the final third and become amazing, better than anything we heard previously, but it stays as a pretty good track. If I were to be more critical I'd definitely say this artists songs generally seem to max out with development, layers, and sounds by the half way point. It's a great idea to work on creating change-up...making the song really lift-off or travel else where into a something superb towards the final third. This concept is shown very well in some of Khetzal's work, tracks like Djaningar for starters. This is so when we when we hear a song, it doesn't get repetitive!! It doesn't reveal most-to-all its magic and tricks to us half-way to two-thirds in. Some of your tracks are like a one trick pony. They ride and ride on a catchy sound without all that much happening past the half-way point that we haven't heard before. So if or when I hear a transition I'm expecting something cool to happen or the music to sound different, more layered or whatever.. but no surprise really happens. It simply continues for better (more) or worst (less). Also, I like when I can't predict where the songs going the whole time. I feel like I can do that here. Each song generally follows one direction. The direction doesn't change. You add and remove sounds as opposed to involving more key/tempo changes within the same track and doing something to bring us elsewhere, making the adventure more adventurous because it's less predictable. Your sound is especially good I think for those into the always moving forward, forward, forward sound without twists, turns, real buildups, and climax. Some big and little surprises, twists and turns (climax or not) make the ride more fun along the way, in my opinion. I realize too much obvious change can go against that liquid flow, that art of goatrance and I'm sure you know this. That's why it's fun to experient and take changes, see what works. Go nuts, post a track and have feedback as you have here, an entire album! Your songs flow well from beginning to end and I find this less challanging the less adventurous and dynamic it is. More adventure done well would be very cool. And more atmosphere! The other thing I noticed was the voice sample in track 2 from Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas has also been used by Velvet Acid Christ in a track titled Fun With Drugs on his Fun with Knives album. Really though, it isn't a big deal. This is a far from rare thing to happen in electronica music actually. It was just an observation. This artist has much potential. He should definitely focus on further developing and improving the beauty (sounds, melodies, harmonies, soundscapes), power (energy), allure (intrigue, mystery), and depth (layers, feeling, emotion, heart) of your sound. Favorite tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8. B- Christoph, I hope you enjoyed reading my words and review. I'd like to thank you for letting us download your entire album for free. It's always so kind when an artist does this and I really appreciate it when it's well made. Yours is made well no doubt. It's in the good range which is sometimes impressive to hear with unreleased matierial because I wonder how there's artists out there making stuff inferior to this they have deal, their making money. You deserve some credit and attention to say the least. I will be listening to your album on the sterio system in my car.

Building and building climaxes isn't accurate per say. He continuously, gradually adds layers. He builds and develops the song without general climax or climaxes. Certain tracks are more climactic (energetic) than others, in that context. IMO some awesome bursts of energy and imaginative buildups to climax and explosion is fun and generally great for dancing and dancefloors. Part of this sound brings part of Goa-Trance back to the earlier days, non Full On, mainstream days. It's quite nice actually.

GREEN NUNS OF THE REVOLUTION - ROCK BITCH MAFIA 1997 FLYING RHINO RECORDS Track listing: 01. 07'46" Cor (Unreleased Edit) 02. 09'35" Thunder Thigs 03. 08'36" Conflict 04. 07'27" Octofunk 05. 07'55" Ring Of Fire 06. 09'06" Klunk 07. 07'29" Rock Bitch 08. 14'02" Atomic Armadillo (The Fluffening) This album is fantastic! I love their style! The melodies are delicious! The energy is awesome! They distort and minipulate the heck out of layers upon layers of super tasty sounds, goatrance melodies. And details... I notice so many clever, little details. I first heard this back in 2004. It's grown on me since. I love an album that has a strong beginning, middle, and end. Rock Bitch Mafia is one of those albums. The samples are great. There are a handful of unexpected, spontaneous parts and moments. The songs are fun! Octofunk is the only less strong track here relative to the other songs IMO. The last song is epic and solid, like 2-3 songs in one. The final third morphs into a Goa-influenced, downtempo version of the same song, a nice chill out closing. All in all, Rock Bitch Mafia is a classic from the golden era of Goa Trance. Favourite tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8. A-

CYBERNETIKA - NEURAL NETWORK EXPANSION 2007 PROMO REVIEW Tracklist: 01 - Trickster (8:15) 02 - Microchip (8:32) 03 - Medical/Science Complex (System Shock Remix) (9:06) 04 - 2653 (10:08) 05 - First Contact (7:48) 06 - Nebula Decay (8:50) 07 - No Communication (8:18) 08 - Valkyrie (8:59) 01 - Trickster - C+ I like the porn girl moaning samples. They're cool and unexpected. Now people who I live with will think I was watching porn and trying to cover it up with psytrance. Anyway, outside of the female sounds of ecstacy I find this song uneventful. The part where the kickdrum slows down in the middle was important because I was losing interest until the the slow down and transition took place. I like the music, tempo, and speed at around five to six minutes into this more than before. Sooner or later when my attention becomes less a small little melody appears throughout the beat. It's okay but I overall find this song uninteresting and kind of lacking in ambition and ideas outside the obvious opening voice sample. This isn't an intro just because it's the first song per say. It is a full, main song on the album. For that I prefer to be engaged from the get-go. 02 - Microchip ... B The energy, beat, and rhythm is stronger in this song compared to the opening which I like. There are few cool driving melodies. My favorite element is the chilling atmosphereric sounds. They really stand out and add depth. This is a good track. 03 - Medical/Science Complex (System Shock Remix) ... B- I find this the second harder, more dance friendly song on the album. The short looping melody at 1:44 is pretty catchy. Other melodies make it seem less looped, the track sounds a bit more complex than it is which I like. Around the nice melodies is a strong beat, bassline, and a handful of psy-sounds. The melody from earlier makes a nice return at 5:28. This is a fine song. It's just that there really isn't that much going on here. Less stuff going on? Yes, for instance this song is fairly weak on layers, twists and turns, buildup, climax, action. It's basically a strong beat (or this thing would be the typical generic thud, thud, thud dance song fast!) with a nice melody thrown in and out on occasion. 04 - 2653 ... B- The ambient notes stand out. They really add depth and feeling with the melod but they get a bit repetitive. The transition makes a nice break before a guitar at around 5:55. I like the voice samples here. They're cool. Part of me wishes the ambient notes didn't sound so repetitive as the song progresses toward through the second half. A fresh melody at around 7:50 is a nice touch. I think this is a fairly good song. 05 - First Contact ... B- Wow this starts off DARK. Great sounds! This is more on the high octane side. It's fast. Again, there's an emphasis on one fast, driving melody and I like it. The drum rolls, the beat seems to get louder, speeds up/down, and there's lots of cool sound fx. I like the rhythm created here, the melodies. The song moves forward more due to the faster speed and sounds. A sound alteration or minipulation in the end creates the feeling of elevation before falling. I like when an artist plays around with cool minipulations; an entire track moving throughout elevation or elevations and wicked key changes could be an interesting idea for an kickass track. Pretty good this is, nothing spectacular. 06 - Nebula Decay ... B This starts out strong. There are many hard, crunchy sounds. It's strong kickdrum is topped with industrial sounds and atmosphere, mixed with hi-hats, and many melodic bits and other sound fx. The melodies are pretty cool too. Much seems to be taking place on this thing which I like. It keeps me engaged. Even the basic sustained melody towards the middle makes the song feel more dramatic. The kickdrum combined with a low uh, uh, uh, sound gets repetitive. The kickdrum could use more sudden change-ups, combos. By playing around more with removing and bringing back the duh, duh, duh sound would probably make things more more dynamic, less montonous in that area. Good track. 07 - No Communication ... C+ There are some squiggly sounds around the beat until the melodies, more sustained which I enjoy here (along with the non-sustained ones) develop. Around that this doesn't hold my attention very well. I become more drawn in around 5:55 because of the sustained melody. Very little seems to stand out here. I think it would be great to get more into the meat and potatos of the track (musical, melodies like Talpa) earlier on and build, develop from there until you have an awsome dark and musical pyramid, psytrance song. The beat runs on for several sec's too long towards the end but that's a nitpick. Very little action and what I consider "development" takes place here. It's alright I suppose = decent, maybe fairly good at best. 08 - Valkyrie ... B- I'm currently unimpressed with the first 4:30 minutes here. The melodies really save this song in my opinion. This track seems to improve as it progresses. I really do like the second half once with the melodies. They're catchy! The first several minutes do sound faster than they should sound, no? Anyway, the effect used to the melody making it skip towards the end sounds very good. I like when artists play around. More chopped up melodies like are cool. All in all this is one of the more solid tracks on the album. In conclusion, this one of the better/best dark psytrance albums I've heard so far in 2007. I haven't heard any memorable ones so I don't know how big of a compliment that is. Regardless, I wouldn't have even payed attention to this artist had it not been for the good elements of having some catchy melodies and ambient notes. The atmosphere is very strong, solid at times and I like that. Most dark psytrance now days seem too focused on placing tons of strange sounds and sound effects around the kickdrum/bassline. I am beyond sick and tired of that. This has more depth and sound than much of todays dark psytrance releases. However I don't find this or any track here great as a whole. More character, attitude, and somereally wicked, unpredictable parts (a powerful buildup, climax?) wouldn't hurt once in a while. There are parts, moments when the beat goes free, leaving my ears with cool, echoed chimes, melodic notes. I like those spots and it would be awesome to include more melodies as Tandu, Sandman, and Menis did for instance, in furture work. I generally like the melodies on this album. There are also few parts that have "feeling." Strong melodic direction, emotion, or whatever you want to call it as on the last third of Valkyrie is good. I wish more songs had the feeling/impact like that at times. Overall this album is worth checking out if you're into dark psytrance. It's nice to see someone putting the melodies into dark psytrance when so many have failed to care. Tracks I favor: 2, 5, 6, 8. B- Download this album for free here: Mirror #2 - thanks goamedia.net download with bittorrent Download N.N.E from megaupload[/b] N.N.E. @ ektoplazm.com

Plasmoid 2007 Song Review Nice work! I like the melody around 4:09 although it's repetitive the sound and speed is catchy. The other sounds, atmosphere, ambient notes, and effects compliment it very well. The atmosphere actually makes me feel or imagine like I'm lost in space or on another planet! The simple, fast melody maintains a cool balance with the driving rhythm. Can we get more layers of melodies creating a sweet goatrance band so-to-speak? I really enjoy good melodies in dark psytrance and think it would be very cool to experience more rich textures of melodies that compliment the dark allure and tone, more soundscapes. I also like the tracks style change-up around 8:05. It really keeps the track from becoming stale, monotonous, and less engaging. And the radio sample is well placed, created character, it's catchy and adds to the experience. This song has virtually all the ingredients for a what I like in dark psytrance and yet I don't find these general elements utilized to what I consider greatness. It's good! This is one of the best songs from Cybernetika yet. B

Hi Cybernetika, Do you have any plans to release this album on psyshop, saikosounds, etc? Just curious. More importantly to me... how and where can I stream and potentially buy your first album? It isn't on psyshop and saikosounds. When I search... it's as if Cybernetika never existed. Nothing appeared for your name.

Agreed. Yes. Also, with this album, Infected Mushroom further attempted to appeal to the mainstream as expected. The reality is that most people both in and outside the mainstream don't listen to I.M. for tracks like 2, 6, 7, and 8. Those aren't trance or psytrance. I'm not really against the first two tracks for their more mainstream direction: A shallow fun singing opening followed by a pretty solid Rap/Rock track, but WHERE IS the cut off when things aren't good for what they are or just plain bad? Two tracks here (1, 10) are psytrance with lyrics and singing. Fine. Five tracks (3, 4, 6, 9, 11) are psytrance without lyrics. Now I'm glad at least five tracks is what many people prefer but who is Infected Mushroom fooling? What are they accomplishing by putting tracks 6, 7, 8 on here? Non psytrance/chill tracks have arguably never been so out of place as they are here. Their first FOUR main albums by Infected Mushroom flowed. Even the experimental album from "Converting Veg..." felt consistent to what it was. Here it's come down to a compilation of different styles and music. The new stuff is either ripped-off or not good. Those songs are clearly not the selling point so why have them? I'm just curious although I'm not against having one track like this here... Did they think the Rap/Rock song (2, Artillery) would be on the radio so everyone would buy their psytrance album? Many of those people aren't even into psytrance. They don't even know what psytrance is! What genre or how many genre's are they, IM going for? Pick a direction and capitalize on it for heaven sake. Nothing was broken before so only ego's try to fix something not broken. I ENCOURAGE innovation, new ideas, breaking ground, etc... but it has GOT TO BE ATTRACTIVE. It must be good, catchy, and work on the album! When a subject becomes subjective and attempts to be a psytrance pop star the POP people aren't into you and you seriously put cracks in your core psytrance fanbase infilstructure. Infected Mushrooms image is becoming less focused, more tarnished and confusing thanks to this mans attitude and inibility to not include songs like 6, 7, 8. I thought Infected Mushroom was going in the direction of catchy, kickass psytrance (with lyrics and singing) songs combined with NON-lyrics psytrance ones. They accomplished that very clearly for two thirds of this album but THE OTHER THIRD IS WHACKED. Maybe whacked isn't the best word. I'd go as far as to say that tracks 6, 7, and 8 are bitch slapped. Yes bitch slapped. The whole album gets bitch slapped because of these tracks and I didn't slap the bitch. I mean, we didn't ask for this. They forced it upon us by putting these tracks around the good dance and listening psy/psytrance songs which IS WHY WE BUY INFECTED MUSHROOM ALBUMS. (!!!!) The wanting to eat their cake and have it too seldom seemed so plainly obvious to me as it does here. Look, tracks 3, 4, 9, most of 10, and 11 (all of the final track) KICK ASS. They're fun to listen to. This is the direction, Infected Mushroom! Guys! Track 4 is wonderful. It's great. It shows these guys have amazing talent and creativity. They're artists beyond most artists! Make us an awesome, powerful psy/psytrance dance (and listening) masterpiece again! IM can have a track or two like the first tracks here, long as they're GOOD even if it isn't what I favor. Does that make sense? They can even have 3-4 tracks with lyrics or singing if it's GREAT lyrics, voice, and singing. A different voice like a female that actually sounds beautiful, can hit notes, and compliments the track like in Muse Breaks (Rmx), etc. I love the several super-charged buildups and climaxes on this album. I don't care that it isn't original. It works. It's fun! And they don't do that on Heavyweight or Before so they balance it out well. For the love of God these artists NEED to stop trying to appeal to everyone because they're becoming very confusing to identify with, like being stock between an awesome ride and an unfunny clown. Tracks like Heavyweight are great. It may not be as danceable but musically it's the classic IM I love making a new song. It is those songs that should exist on a main album around the less innovative although big dancefloor psytrance stompers, not what we have here. They're depressing me with their sad, falling down lyrics and voice/singing. And is Forgive Me some attempt to win back fans or some personal communincation to with a higher source? I'm glad few people like it but most people I spoke to don't. It stands out of place as a weak sore thumb here. If I could compile their album to their advantage without making them looking so pompous, presumptious, and out of sync, I'd give them their loud opening, fine. It's a success for what it is I believe. Whether IM gets beautiful female vocals or not, they NEED chill off the lyrics outside of having fun in styles like the opening track and focus on what makes them great because they've already innovated. Now it's up to them how they continue to build their structure. This album could have been awesome if the track list was more like this. And Suliman is a cool psytrance track even though it's far from great so no need to over analyze. 01. 07'20" Becoming Insane 02. ..........Enter awesome psytrance song here OR actually leave this one alone. It isn't bad for what it is. 03. 07'25" Vicious Delicious 04. 08'41" Heavyweight 05. 06'11" Suliman 06. ..........Enter awesome psytrance song as opposed to "Forgive Me" here. 07. ..........Enter awesome psytrance song as opposed to "Special Place" here. 08. ..........Enter awesome psytrance song as oppsed to "In Front of Me" here. 09. 06'31" Eat It Raw 10. 07'44" Change The Formality ... I wish they created omething great without lyrics to replace the middle singing part. 11. 06'57" Before Does I.M. read this thread? They should. PSYNEWS is psytrance, trance, dance, etc...listeners from all over the world. There are some very aware people on here too or I wouldn't waste my time posting here after all these years!

Thanks guys!! Btw Sideffect, you mean hats off. Don't cut my head off. Then I won't be able to write reviews!

What albums do you most want that you can't find? Too many great albums are not available. A good amount of people spend YEARS on and off searching for an available copy of something. I'm tired of seeing so many albums NOT available on world-known sources like Psyshop, Saikosounds, Amazon, Amazon.co.uk, and rarely popping up and for a reasonable price Ebay. Don't saiko and psyshop know there are people across the world who want so many unavailable albums?! It's annoyinig. It's tedious. There should be an easier way. A great goatrance album for instance is often an original, sometimes groundbreaking work of art. The fact that it wasn't mainstream makes it more desirable and wanted, especially if it's catchy, and they often are! Finding a copy shouldn't feel like a brainbuster to locate. If the label goes bankrupt the artists should change their approach, contact a distributer, online retailer as mentioned above, or sell copies via their site. MY MOST WANTED ALBUMS BIOT - SATURATION BLUE PLANET CORPORATION - BLUE PLANET - I really want this one. DIMENSION 5's DEBUT ... (I've put so much energy (hopes, prayer) out there for this to happen since 2001. Thank you Suntrip...2007 re-release) ETNICA - JUGGLING ALCHEMIST ... (I never heard even a sample from this one ) GREEN NUNS OF THE REVOLUTION - ROCK BITCH MAFIA ... (GREAT album!!!) SEMSIS - LETTING GO ... (I never heard this other than the samples on Saikosounds. It sounded cool enough for me to want it) TRANSWAVE - HYPNORHYTM EP ... (Cult-classic. I actually have a copy but lack the original artwork) UX - ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE ... (This album rocks!!!)

Wow...great job! And I think 2007 will be a much more interesting year with so many big name follow-ups and anticipated releases like Transwave, Talpa, RA, K.O.B., Filteria 3, and many more on the way. Yea I was wondering where Electrypnose - Subliminal Melancholies initially was in that list. It was easily on the top 5 best psy, goa, and downtempo albums from 2006 IMO. I agree that Filteria and jikkenteki make the ten spot. I bought Jikkenteki - The Long Walk Home and it is really effing good. There are some excellent songs on it. Ten bucks on Saikosounds for a kickass double foreign album in new condition is an awesome deal. I wonder why Psyshop doesn't carry it. Filteria has done an impressive job reviving the return of climactic, super layered, melody-loaded Pleiadian-style goatrance that many of us have been asking for... for nearly a decade. The second album was great, it wasn't overloaded with climax while still having some awesome buildups, climaxes, and a general adrenaline pumping sound. Heliopolis is one of the coolest albums of 2006 and one of my top favorites of the year. I simply don't understand why it didn't score more reviews in the thread relative to the far higher number of reviews in the debut, Sky Input review thread.

Well I suppose we COULD go back and simply count the more popular album votes get a good idea who won, the winners. It isn't difficult. Abasio I think you were a woman in a past lifetime.

Yes, I made a thread for M.W.N.N.'s - Interstate Highway album in early 2007. Hard to imagine there still isn't one for Penta - Pentafiles after all these years!!!!!

You mean IM doing Goa is dead forever... (?) Coz I'd sooner agree to that. Goatrance is not dead thanks to our love for Goa. The magic will never die even if it's become so rare and rarely produced anymore. Goatrance has become more special and powerful than ever because to me because it isn't mainstream. In other words, the mainstream attitude makes something over popular and saturating it until there's hardly any if any innovation left, and then they exploit it until people get tired of it, milking it for every penny. Then we get things like Minimal Psy and Full On which can last forever but they're tired and lack innovation even if they do well with general audiances. I'm thankful for Suntrip Records. Goa in my heart will never die. It's the deepest, most intelligent trance ever written to date. We keep it alive even when the entire world is asleep. Thank you distant friend.

But I did what I felt and felt what I did.

BATTLE OF THE FUTURE BUDDHAS - TWIN SHARKFINS BOOM! RECORDS 1998 *Updated January, 2008 Track listi: 01. 02'10" Outro (Lost And Never To Be Found Mix) 02. 08'05" Life In The Trenches Of Hyperspace 03. 08'29" Tigerhill 04. 09'00" Neuroglider 05. 08'00" Leave The World Behind 06. 09'16" Transpartamental 07. 08'09" The Other Way Around 08. 10'27" Lord Of The Dance 09. 07'16" Marsmellow (Miditation Mix) 2004/05 With exception to Tigerhill, Neuroglider, Lord Of The Dance and Marsmellow, I initially did not like or understand this album for several years. My impression until the date of this review followed up in 2008, was that all the songs basically sounded too repetitive, filled with distorted, shaky, wobbly sounds I rarely considered melodies throughout. The album grew tired as the songs progressed with their heavy, industrial, and psychedelic repetition. Few tracks stood out to me and I barely considered more than 4 good. This was my first impression back around 2004/05 when finally found a copy available on saikosounds I believe. 2007 and beyond to date I have come to really appreciate and enjoy this album over time. It may a bit much on the senses listening straight through or not. Their style is so unique, innovative, and different. Twin Sharkfins and the BofFB style in general is unlike anything I've ever heard. This is also one of the darkest goatrance albums ever. If you think albums need horror movie samples to sound evil or dark you're unaware how powerful the human mind is. BotFB are one of the very few artists that seem to capitalize on distortions, distorted melodies. Some tracks may seem like not much more than one distorted melody on top of another and another distorted sound and melody, mixed to a charged beat and bassline. However you could sum up in one sentence that Lord of the Rings is about a long walk to a mountain where a character must destroy a ring by freeing it to the lava. My point is that there's much more to this album, it's deeper, more intelligent than one may assume. Nonetheless there are several songs I have difficulty finding good or darn catchy, to me, but to each their own. I wanted so much to like every song on he album but I can't delude myself. Maybe one day my perspective will change. Regardless, we all have different senses and feelings. We all seem to have songs we favor and find more appealing to our ears and mind over others. I think it's interesting to see why certain people favor certain tracks. For me their style, distorted melodies and rhythms are more catchy on certain songs than others. I'm glad I kept faith in this album because some of the tracks are really something. This includes the awesome, final Ambient Trance song especially. 1. Outro (Lost And Never To Be Found Mix) is mainly an atmospheric track. It involves some twisted, industrial, distorted sounds set to ambient keys. The first twenty-five seconds I find very interesting. Not much takes place however. This piece sets the omnious, strange, dark mood for things to come, coated in a very short running time and even more mystery. It does it job for what's to come. No more. No less. N/A 2. Life In The Trenches Of Hyperspace, the second song is pretty good. There's many various psychedelics throughout this song. I like the change up in rhythm around 5:32 as well as the machine gun drums. This is an interesting number filled with many ideas, however it lacks a powerful, driving tide and/or a thick Goa band/leading melody. It's artistic what success this group seems to have with random noises that go clank in the nigiht. B / B+ 3. Tigerhill is the first song where I really start to feel myself getting into the music. The melody at around 1:18 really halps. It's catchy, goatrance driven. That melody really stands out after the first less melodic songs. More melodies arrive and from the get-go everything had arrived all distorted and fucked up. I like the sound. It maintains a good beat and rhythm throughout to great effect due to distorting the sounds until they become this trippy, hypnotic wave. A transition takes place around the middle. Some eerie ambient effects enter towards the last third and the tempo changes. Those melodies are what makes this thing work best for me. This is my third favorite track on the album. A- 4. Neuroglider is one of my favorite songs on the album. It really puts me in a trance. Here is a song I can listen to over and over. I generally do not want it to end. From the opening driving sound to the final second, this is a track that proves: Less equals more. A- 5. Leave The World Behind is one of the tracks I favor least. I just don't find the melodies, sounds, and overall rhythm as gripping and infectious as the previous two tracks to date. Something really interesting takes place 3:26 that pushes this song up into the next, dynamic level. From that point forward this number pushes foward into a very bizarre and trippy ride. Another interesting part is around 5:16 to 5:39. To be honest I never thought this track was anything great and often found it difficult "get into" for some reason. I do however like the final minute or two for some reason. For some reason the chilling melody reminds me or a roller coaster filled with screaming souls in Hell, going crazy like a runaway train off the tracks. It's interesting how certain melodies can have such an effect on our brain but BofFB really know how to affect the psyche. B / B+ 6. Transpartamental is one of the best tracks here. Originally I felt the main melody was too repetitive. It isn't. This is one of the most psychedelic songs I've ever heard. I love the thick, distorted, psychedelic melodies, rhythms, and various other sound textures. At strong, leading Goa melody takes place at 4:50. The band of sounds become very altered, distorted, and thick throughout this heavy number. Extra details involve the kickdrum rolled, sped up, and tweaked towards the final third. By this part the song is so juicy and heavy the general listener may not even notice. Try to catch the short, cool Indian Ha-la-lal-a sample towards the end. This is a powerful, driving world. A- 7. The Other Way Around has an interesting introduction. The voice sample is cool. heavier than the previous invitation. The leading melody in the first two minutes is pretty good. There are several melodies throughout, and a very cool one around 3:53 and another at 4:35. The track builds up and ascends in sound as more melodies pile up until around 5:13 where the track releases some streams and gains composure. Look for what appears to be an echoed dog bark in the final third. The industrial wind/ambient adds emphasis to an already rock hard, psychedelic beast. I find this less captivating than the previous song but it's very well done regardless. From 6:00 to around 7:15 I feel like a steam roller is rolling over me. Is that a good thing? I don't know but this part of the song sounds intense and uncomfortable in a disturbingly creative, memorable, and artistic way. B+ 8. Lord Of The Dance is one of my favorite songs on the album. The melody around 0:43 is nice. I like how the melodies gradually feed into the distorted rhythm. While this track is not as psychedelic as previous songs, the emphasis on melodies here are rather refreshing. A very strong distorted band takes place from around 2:40 forward. Moreover, an unexpected melody takes place at around 3:58. This melody really enhances the now infectious band. The sounds quickly lose to the beat and silence gradually attracts sounds until 5:44 where a super, stand out, low pitched melody lead ignites. It's such a unique and well blended sound. It plays along perfectly with everything else. It's catchy! The song becomes even catchier when everything stops but a voice sample. At around 7:00, the tempo or rhythm is slightly altered. The entire track changes direction. The overall leading band seems altered and loaded with different engines, wings, and other accesseries of sound. This awesome change up takes place for another two minutes. The track than succeeds to revive or collect more energy and melodies after that. I love how dynamic and filled with juicy melodies and rhythm this song is throughout. It is one of the best songs this group has ever produced! This song is huge and ambitious, filled with animation, infectiosu elements, and various other details. A- 9. Marsmellow (Miditation Mix) is awesome. This is what I consider an Ambient Goatrance classic. It's a cult classic. It's innovative, emotional, arresting, and rich on the darkside, with sin being shed from its body like snake skin as it enters into an abyss of inextricable darkness. I most love the mood that all of this music creates, the melodies! They're so dark and powerful. Visual. Listening to this song always puts me in such a deep, contemplative mood. The sounds are highly effective in conveying sadness, tragedy, dark exploration, and death. The little, echoed, drum clicks work wonders and greatly enhance the powerful score. This is one of the best Ambient Goa songs ever made. I'm impressed! A In Conclusion, the learning curve for me on this album was so steep that I didn't see myself making it. Such positive words throughout the internet and by some reviewers I consider very aware when it comes to scoring Goa albums gave me the courage to stick with this one over the years until I "got it." BotFB have one hell of a distinct style. As with all fresh styles, certain songs seem to be more catchy than others. The tracks often involve a deep and hypnotic rhythm and effect, constantly tweaked and altered as the song progresses. This album may pull the listener into its heavily wooded, deep, dark, and aggressive world without him or her ever realizing. The last song on this album may be the most powerful, dark ambient Goatrance song I have ever heard in my life. Regardless of the final song's true story epilogue, I visualize a ship of sorts, immune to lava, and traveling on a sea of fire in one direction, into the depth of Hell. It would have been amazing if this group produced a dark Ambient Goatrance main album in my opinion. Twin Sharkfins is a groundbreaking album and one of the darkest, most heavy and psychedelic Goa/Psy trance albums I have ever heard in my life, period. Favorite Tracks: 3, 4, 6, 8, 9. A-

HALLUCINOGEN - THE LONE DERANGER TWISTED RECORDS 1997 Track list: 01. 07'17" Demention - A 02. 06'22" Shakey Shaker - A 03. 08'36" Trancespotter - A 04. 07'32" Horrorgram - A- 05. 06'47" Snarling (Rmx) - A- 06. 08'47" Gamma Goblins Part 2 - A- 07. 07'33" Deranger - A 08. 06'40" Jiggle Of The Sphinx - B+ / A- 1. Demention is an excellent opening. It's intriguing, powerful, driving, and gripping throughout. What more could you ask for? A 2. Shakey Shake is one of the most unique songs in electronic music. The synth work is groundbreaking and strikingly catchy. A 3. Trancespotter I find even more impressive than the previous song. Again, the synth work is awesome. More seem to take place here. The song's loaded with cool soundscapes, melody structures, and an infectious synth lead. Superb song! A 4. Horrorgram is full of ideas, speeds, tunes, and more. I'm not in love with it, though it's interesting and catchy! I find the overall sounds and melodies less arresting than the previous songs. Having a less intense one after the previous two is smart though. The track title also doesn't reflect the tone of the song very much in my opinion. That said, this is a great number! A- 5. Snarling (Rmx) is great for those who liked the original. It's grown on me, though its catchiest synth/sound we've heard before on the debut. Over the years I've found this song the least groundbreaking or necessary track on the album. I would have loved another wild demon such as Shakey Shake, Trancespotter, or Deranger, but it's great (with lots of cool modification work) nonetheless. Consider this Snarling Upgraded! A- 6. Gamma Goblins Part 2 is more involved, probably because the original was more developed. With this sequel track, the artist goes as far as to artistically rearrange and alter sounds of running water droplets, dripping into actual sound variations. This is just one of many interesting, creative details on the album. Anyway, the overall song is excellent. A- 7. Deranger is another technical achievement. Again, the synth work is superb and surrounded by wonderful supporting sounds, direction, etc. Another groundbreaking song. Well done. A 8. Jiggle Of The Sphinx is the last track. I never found it excellent. I like the celtic Goa melody in that it's unexpected and cleverly mixed into the psytrance. The song, though was quite catchy sound/beat-wise, had no memorable melody before it arrived. I think this last song is a cool track, but more like a bonus, fun tale added on after an amazing journey. You either like celtic melodies you don't. The song correlates less with the other-worldly mood and feel established with previous songs on the album. So it's a little odd. He did it for a reason. Overall, the song is good, if not great in my opinion. But different from what many people may have expected to end a Hallucinogen album. B+ / A- Weaknesses 1.) The remixes are great, but I prefer new song additions. The remixes are simply less fresh and inventive regardless of their innovations and modifications (to me). That said, they're strong. 2.) The debut has more emotion. I've never taken L.S.D. to L.S.D. but that track alone on the debut is more feeling than anything on this sequel. There isn't a track here that touches me as deeply and as effectively as the general tracks on Twisted, feeling wise (though I get pretty excited hearing this album). In conclusion, The Lone Deranger is what I consider a masterpiece along with Twisted and Pleiadian's I.F.O. It reflects a visionary artist. Simon Postford is the most well known artist in Psychedelic Goatrance. The Lone Deranger is like an ultra-powerful and mysterious, constantly changing alien spirit filled with darkness and light. This is Goa-Trance in one of its most rare and potent forms, whether you like it or not. It's dark, twisted, and arresting. Every track is non-linear, imaginative, elaborate, involving, evolving, and more or less infectious. This is one of the most creative, free-spirited albums out there. The work is done by an expert technician who's talent is innovation, catchy, experimental sounds and melody structures, complex mixing, form and flow. He makes melodic sentences out of varying, altered and echoed water droplets for heck sake! Raising the bar on creativity is another reason why it would be wonderful to hear a third Hallucinogen album. The album however incorporates less emotive influence compared to Twisted, and that may be its Achilles heal. That said, The Lone Deranger is a smashing follow-up to an impressive debut. This may be the greatest sequel to any Psychedelic Goa-Trance album out there. Favorite Tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 A Samples http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/twi/twi1cd001.html

CHI - A.D. - EARTH CROSSING 2002 UNRELEASED *Updated* March, 2009 1. BLACK LIGHT 2. BOOK OF EDEN 3. HAMMERHEAD 4. X-ISLE 5. TRANSPARENT SEA 6. ZERO BARRIER 7. BLUE EFFECT 8. LIQUID NEON SKY Earth Crossing is not the type of album to listen to while on the cpu or distracted. While writing this, I paused to shut my eyes during the last track to let my consciousness take in all that I had blocked from focusing elsewhere. 1. BLACK LIGHT is an amazing, melodic streaming rocket of an opening. This track is so dymanic and loaded with movement, speed, power, energy, rhythm(s), changes in direction within direction(!) The melodies, leading melody(s), mixing and production work is ambitious, imaginative, and adventurous. This is one of the greatest, most excellent songs Chi-A.D. has ever made in my honest opinion. It's crisp, clean, fresh, powerful, and engaging throughout. I love it. A 2. BOOK OF EDEN is filled with lush, fluid waves of melodies, strong rhythm, and emotion throughout. It's one of the most emotive tracks on the album. A- 3. HAMMERHEAD is not as epic as the first two. Less traveling. The direction here is more mainstream meaning mroe linear, consistent, and predictable in direction. I personally prefer more animated, dynamic tracks free-spirited tracks like the first one for starters. This is very danceable regardless. Gentle, driving melodies. The key changes(?) from 5:50 - 6:00 are very catchy. I like when the sound is minipulated like that! Few more of those would have been great. The track lacks "fire" and powerful moments but maintains a very friendly goatrance sound and vibe throughout. B+ / A- 4. X-ISLE begins with a shifting melody begins are we introduced to a loud thud, the echoe'd signaling of the drum. Melodies are introduced like a teaser and quickly fade until soon after where they're incorporated into strengthening the flow. What begins as a tease to me at 1:48 is suddenly a strong lead. The song builds as it progresses as those familiar with Chi-A.D. know. The overall direction doesn't change much until around 4:31. Here a lush wave of ambient and melodies drift by until the water is flat and calm like a peaceful pond. Soon the bassline returns. The beat returns mixed with claps. Accentuating the beat with claps to substantiate slight depth of sound and drum rolls heighten aggression in the song. This is good and makes the song even more dance friendly. The track seems to have a great combination of rhythm and melodies. A very catchy wave of ambient flushes into the melodies at around 8:10. Overall I don't find the song as emotional as Book of Eden, as engaging with its leading as Hammerhead, or as powerful as the opening, Black Light. However I wouldn't call this weak by any means. It's actually one of the strongest (along with the previous three) songs around in the year Earth Crossing was "Unreleased." B+ 5. TRANSPARENT SEA continues the more emotional wave, vibes last peeked in track 2. I really enjoy the leading melody on top of all the other melodies and co-op leading melody with supporting strong melodies! Key changes? This is a very enjoyable jouney across the ocean, built on a strong transporter. A- 6. ZERO BARRIER is my most favorite song since the first two. It's generally darker than previous pieces of art too. It begins sad, with hymns. However it pulls in its emotion at around 1:17 and gains new consciouosness. This is a very interesting song because it leaves us in the dark for the first several minutes. There are few melodies. The direction is somewhat unpredicatable. Clearly something is buidling and developing through sounds that range anywhere from atmosphere to twisting metal, the sound of a clock tower striking chords. Around 3:57 is the first key change? If you think that's good, the part from 4:10 and now until around 6:01 is excellent. I love how the music pulls in to collect power, to collect itself. Then BOOM, some serious buildup and begins which the previous three songs didn't have, at least not to this level. The song ignites past the 7:00 and carries the missile with more strength, development, and intelligence than ever before. I love the sheer pumping rhythm, melodies, buildup releasing drive here. This song is excellent! A- / A 7. BLUE EFFECT is less energized than previous songs. It gradually builds creating pools of melodies and feeling as it progresses. I love the harmonic, emotive leading melody which arrives around 5:40. This takes place for two minutes before lowering and rising yet again. I feel so positive when listening to this song. If I listen to this song individually I enjoy i more because there's less engaging moments than the general, previous songs I feel. Maybe this should have started off the album but it isn't a big deal. Such a choice would interfere with the album launching like a rocket. Blue Effect is a great emotive Goa-Trance song. It isn't as dynamic or pumped up as some of the others but it isn't going for that. B+ 8. LIQUID NEON SKY is beautiful. If you don't notice this in the beginning you're right. It starts off more basic than I imagined before the melodies begin entering around 2:17. The track is excellent from the six minute forward mark, with all those great goa layers of melodies forming and rising together. This artist makes tracks that become good and then great as they progress. He develops them into excellence as if never ending as if pulling the song to heaven. There is so much feeling and emotion here. I love the sound created, like something out of a fantasy realm, another world from another galaxy. The imagination behind such art, the melodies and overall musical work here is excellent, superb. Liquid Neon Sky is a gem. A In Conclusion, Earch Crossing is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, imaginitive, deep, and beautiful Goa-Trance albums I've ever listened to. This artist must have been so passionate to create this. It's just bursting with emotion, love, and positive energy at times. Since the late 1990's I've loved the catchy, powerful rhythms and melody structures this artist creates. Chi-A.D. is an extremely passionate and talented artist and this is is an excellent album. This album deserves to be released! When listening to this album I feel so much more positive. I feel more free, confident, driven, and focused. I feel like the fact that anything and everything is possible is reinforced. The more you free yourself into something more aware, the more aware you become. I honestly believe that. Although I absolutely love several tracks on each of his first two albums (Virtual Spirit and Anno Domini), this is the best Chi-A.D. album to date. It's a wonderful, gorgeous piece of work and art. There are several songs on the first two albums I didn't find great or even that good. Several were excellent and great but often I felt his previous albums were a mixed bag. His best tracks generally seemed to be singles, thankfully released as a compilation on Infinitism, basically his third album. Earth Crossing changes that. It is the first album by this artist in which I fully enjoy listening to from beginning to end. Earch Crossing is my most favorite post 21st Century Goa-Trance album to date. I love it. Favorite Tracks: All of them. Black Light, Book of Eden, Zero Barrier, and Liquid Neon Sky however are stunning! A- I wonder what became of the 8th track.

Pentafiles IS one of the best dark psytrance albums of all time. It was warped, like traveling or being sucked through a dark hole in the Universe. In all honesty, I think the reason why many people love, admire his debut is because it wasn't as accepted by the general mainstream because it didn't sound mainstream even if you could dance to it. It had its own innovative style, spirit, and sound. Penta's first album is considered a cult-classic in dark psytrance because enough people believe it is. Regardless of the artists intentions or desires, this debut was "felt" by enough listeners. It has strong lasting appeal for what it is. B+ Funraiser, the second album I was not as impressed with. Past Holidays, Inverter, and Eater of the Worlds were good followed by the opening song "It is done" and the closing one Flash Forward, but why not make an album with all songs as good as the good ones and several excellent/superb ones too? The second album is above average, sure. Bigger on dancefloors, definitely. It was also better than most dark psy releasing that year and in general. There were some cool touches here and there, although the "YES!" sample in the opening track had been used before in other dark psytrance albums like the opening track on Talamasca - Beyond the Mask album for instance. Funraiser felt less powerful, far-out, gripping, and memorable to me compared to his debut even with it's several good songs and melodies which are essential to say the least! The weaker tracks initially gave me the impression that Funraiser was a shadow of its former self although some would disagree. It was a pretty good album, just nothing great in my opinion. B Horn Please has many psy and strange alterered, tweeked sounds around a kickdrum. There is some cool combos of catchy noise, melodies, and atmosphere. However strong melodies seem further away than before. Also, female voice echoes go a long way for effect when done right and Penta seems to do that well on the final track. More evocative sound would be cool. It does have some nice melodies, good ambient notes and atmosphere. I like the stomping, powerful beats and rhythms accentuated with booms at times. Some songs don't stand out so much. He continues to mix in cool, chilling, ambient, atmosphere sounds, and voice samples (the latter kept minimum) which compliment. I simply wish more was done in creating thicker, more layered rhythms. It would be cool if Penta added more layers, development and depth as the track moves forward. Theme songs like Foggy are good but few and far between. If this guy wants to improve dark Psy-Trance he needs to get more "visual" with his sounds and create some serious soundscapes. Sounds like the brooding ambience from 2:57-3:30 into Foggy are effective; they're eerie and dark but that's one good sound creating a wall of disturbia, distress. Overall I feel like more could have been added to engage us into the world created. The album is good overall. I opened a review thread for Penta's Pentafiles album in the 2003 section... any comments or reviews are welcome.

You know, that famous trippy face with the 6 eyes. There has to be a deeper meaning, no? Is it Buddha?, Jesus?, your mind under influence and that's it? Or simply the chosen mascot for Shpongle without being anything more? Does this thing have a name? A story behind it? ... It is just such a strange, stand-out character of sorts. I never wondered about this until today. I'm curious. Any suggestions?

ASURA - CODE ETERNITY INFINIUM RECORDS 2000 Track listing: 01. 10'18" Like A Summer Day - B+ 02. 10'07" Trinity - A- 03. 10'24" Simply Blue - B+ 04. 08'07" Phoenix - B+ / A- 05. 09'26" Code Eternity - A- / A 06. 04'27" Territories Part One - B+ 07. 09'12" XP Continuum - A- This is one of the best Ambient Trance albums. Code Eternity is the underrated debut by Asura. It's also one of the few albums I've returned to multiple times a year, each year since I bought it. The tracks combine Ambient/Chill, Trance, Down/Mid-Tempo, Psy, and even Goa-esque melodies and elements (at times, track 5 especially) in an excellent, mood setting way. The tracks generally feature strong, engaging melodies and other sounds, strong beats, rhythms, emotion, warmth, and lasting appeal. Nothing here is for shock. It isn't emotional in a fluffy (cheesy) way as people have described certain emotive music. Code Eternity doesn't involve much climax really, if any. But there's occasionally buildup and emphasis on the rhythm and beats, their drive at times which can be highly engrossing and satisfying. These enhancements in development provide more juice and power to those engines which develop solid foundations. It's as if certain visually beautiful and powerful dreams and fantasies crossed over, literally, into the real world and burned a print of its soul into this album. There is so much feeling thoughout Code Eternity. After all these years I still love it. Few people mentioned this album in the short list of top downtempo and ambient trance related projects like Shpongle. I wouldn't want to compare the first Shpongle to this because they're very different musical styles but I personally enjoy this more. Every track here is good, great, excellent, or superb. The few purely ambient track(s) compliment the stronger, more aggressive songs, regardless of the slower beats. This isn't Psytrance but it is Psy and it is in a sense Trance. The songs have these driving, charged rhythms filled with layers of lush melodies, ambience, and emotion. Some of these songs would not be as engaging if it wasn't for the bassline, kickdrum, and beats. They work wonders. Only one or two tracks is mainly ambient, without a beat and it's good...letting the journey drift before pulling us deeper into the cosmos. I'm never bored listening to this album. Many times it's a mood thing, more for home listening to driving to at nigttime. This is a very individual album for an individual to experience without distractions from around him or her. Code Eternity flows so well. I wish this was a big hit with the mainstream as successful, aware films like Contact and The Matrix were. The beat can stop and let the journey breath in the way the artist envisioned it. It doesn't need to try to appeal to be innovative and a success. And yet many people who hear this album, those who listen to mainstream music generally like this I find. I wish more people were aware of it. I'm never bored while listening to this. I can write a story, a scene in a movie, shut my eyes and day/night dream. This album has helped me connect and produce so many awesome, amazing ideas, visions, thoughts, goals. I'm not kidding. This is an awesome album. It's so real. It was as if the artists had full creative control here. Because it's a debut I feel as though the artists didn't do things artists generally do with follow-ups. It isn't made to appear more mainstream. Nothing here seems intionally controlled which often causes the energy of the album to not be as free. This album has more the feel of a free spirit than anything that would currently follow by Asura. I wish they'd make a follow-up to this album. It's so sincere and superb. I wish a channel on television and the radio was created just to make people more aware great music like this. Every time I hear this album it's like a new experience because my mind isn't focusing on the music in a sense. The music is there to put me in another state. It's very difficult for me to zone out with most albums. The album conveys so much feeling and touches the heart, the body, mind, and soul in some ways groups like early Enigma, Amethystium, and Phobos did. Those are top New Age artists I'm comparing this too. This is Ambient Trance. Sure it isn't nearly as romantic sounding, but the work involved seems just as passionate or close to. Asura pulls off a powerful album without singing or stepping into the New Age genre. The sound produced here is a superb fusion of Ambient and Trance which hand-in-hand like a match made in Heaven. The effect is beautiful, something great to meditate upon, visualize, and float away with. The experience can be deeply felt and highly rewarding. Gripes / Flaws[/b] - One gripe is the radio samples in track 3, the communication through a police radio. Having voices for radio effect to a small degree is cool. This would have had far greater, positive effect and impact had Asura found a different sample, shortened this one, or resorted to more appropriate dialogue to the sound and theme of the album. Because when you actually listen to what's being said... For instance, hearing a female dispatch.. "She's having problems with the drunk lady next door to him," sounds out-of-place here, and we here it three times. The radio sound correlate well to the rhythm and beat but the words don't. The actual words associate our minds to problems on Earth which alter the potential of the beautiful journey a bit, taking us away from space and other worlds. I never considered this a big deal and initially thought of taking points off for this but it's something to be aware of in the future and I understand why it bothered and distracted some people. Otherwise and musically the track is very well done. In conclusion, I could go on and on. It isn't a perfect album. But the rhythms at times are so rich and absorbing. The songs generally evolve, develop, and change. Often giving the best moments time to shine and breath and not right away, but as the story progresses. I love what Asura has created here. I love how it keeps pulling me deeper and deeper into one giant adventure, yet each song sounds different and unique relative to the others. I don't think there's any song less than good here either. And I personally prefer this album over the first classic Shpongle album. I love the style here, the Goatrance inspired melody emphasis along with other melodies, ambient, and other sounds as if slower motion, mid/down-tempo, its continuous ride and the overall effect. Code Eternity is everything and more I said it was back in 2001 on the first page of this thread. It's deep, dreamy, and involves very attractive melody structures, soundscapes, atmosphere, and more. This is a very special album. You can get lost in it if you let your mind linger. The tracks always move forward like a capsule in outerspace traveling further, deeper to explore uncharted realms in the Universe. The story is epic, beautiful and sad, maybe tragic to some degree, filled with love and light and spirit. Each track seems so deeply connected to the one before and after. One can find themselves swimming in the layers upon layers of melodies in the self-titled Code Eternity, floating to the individualized Ambient in Territories Part 1, or driving to the thumping beat and strong soundscapes in Trinity and XP Continuum. Rarely is an Ambient or an Ambient-Trance album as captivating as Asura's Code Eternity. Lastly, I read this album is re-issued, re-released with a new cover. This thing needs more advertising. They should make it available at amazon, saikosounds, psyshop, etc. It would be awesome if they made a follow-up to this one, more powerful than ever before. That would be awesome. Favorite Tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 A- (Not an average) Samples = http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=2342 http://www.psyshop.com/shop/CDs/inr/inr1cd001.html

PROMETHEUS - CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS TWISTED RECORDS 2007 Track list 1. Arcadia Magik 2. One Cell Short Of A Brain 3. Drug Sock 4. The Logic Of The Polyphonic 5. 9th-(The Man Who Swam Through A Speaker) 6. Soma 7. Oz 8. Cherry Pie At first I wasn't enjoying this album. It's generally not that psychedelic. This is psytrance with more tracks on the side of a stylish tech-trance-type emphesis. Machine Trance with Psytrance influence? His style certainly is unique whether you like it or not. Past the innovative sound and style, few tracks really engage me relative to what takes place within the style. Some of the tracks simply feel empty, lacking, as if more could have been done with them. An example is track 2. It's not the unique style but what you do with it. There's this strong, stomping throughout most tracks. Production did a good job cranking up the kickdrum and bass. Actually, the strength of bass and drum is sure to rumble clubs and your car/home system. The basslines and kickdrum are often strong throughout. This album lacks an opening or closing downtempo track. 1. Arcadia Magik is a good, maybe great track. There's just something very catchy about that melody, the notes and arrangement. This song was released early to hype and promote the album. It's a strong opening track but can the rest of the album compete with it? B+ 2. One Cell Short Of A Brain is disappointing IMO. It has this little groovy melody somewhere in the beginning that vanishes for the rest of the entire song! This should have been brought back several times. Without a strong selling point, (the HOOK) the song becomes redundant and drawn out. I don't feel this artist utilized his style enough here. So much more could have taken place. All the drum and bass in the world can't save this thing from being lackluster. It's too repetitive and not catchy enough with the sounds existent around the strong *thud, thud, thud* (Repeat). There's a swishy sound that goes up and down over the groovy foundation and a pretty catchy melody crosses its path which is cool. This isn't a bad song per say. I simply find it one of the less engaging ones on the album. B- 3. Drug Sock is the second well done song here. It really sets the BOOM sound in the album. While repeticious in its own way, the sweet stomping beat plays to its more aggressive, dark (?) advangage, developing just enough to feel that any additional sounds here only compliment the power of the rhythm. Other sounds however seem alterated just to stretch their tiny purpose but it's not big deal. It feels like a pumped up song. While very one-Dimensional in general concept and execution, I can see why many people would like this. Play it loud but watch the health of your ear drums B 4. The Logic Of The Polyphonic is arguably the most aggressive song on the album. It has a faster beat speed compiled with higher pitched sounds. It gets increasingly catchier as it progresses. The song retains this higher octane energy and melodies throughout. This is what I like... And I LOVE the short "moving up" sound, melody bit, whatever that instrument is called. The notes change very fast. It's amazing how something so short and little can enhance a song so much. This is one of my most favorite songs on the album next to Arcadia Magik and Somo. It currently is my most favorite if I had to pick one. It becomes more climactic, has catchy, strong rhythm and melodies, and good/great development and direction from beginning to end. This is a very strong track. More tracks that are great and above (this one is great I think) would be excellent for a Prometheus album. B+ 5. 9th-(The Man Who Swam Through A Speaker) has more musical sounds and melodies as it progresses. It's an interesting, fairly aggressive song. The melodies are good. I really like the more orchestrated, dramatic melody lead. It gets my attention! I think this should have come first, as track 4, because I find it less catchy than The Logic but whatever. That's a nitpick. Once track 3 begins the album is good and it continues here. Moments when the beat stops, as present here, is interesting because such a mysterious bit creates a wonderful opportunity for something to take place like a horse just waiting to race out of the gate. B+ 6. Somo is one of the best songs on the album. I really like the main melody. It's simple and strong yet catchy and memorable! More well crafted melodic tracks like Arcadia Magic and this one would have been great on this album. B 7. Oz is pretty good. Actually it's one of the better songs on the album. I like the rhythm created. The melody is echoed which is catchy. A melody or two almost seems Goa influenced the way it's altered and played with. I think the artist did a pretty good job here creating sound variation around the repetitive kick. The melodies, transition are both well placed. The music returns stronger than before, in act two or three of three. It's good! I like songs that develop and become better as they progress but Oz lacks greatness. The best part is a good rhythm and once that ends the song soon ends. B- / B 8. Cherry Pie makes me want to smash my face in the cherry pie. I'm just kidding. This is unimpressive, far from great song from start to finish. Some stretching or altered sounds are mixed to a melody around a generic kickdrum. As more sounds are added I find this track falling into the same hole as track 8. It attempts to be different and succeeds. It lacks strong, catchy melodies and direction. Give the song depth and feeling! End the album with a bang not a whimper! The beat repeating to less layers of sound along with the up-and-down tune present isn't catchy here. Ambient sound cannot also save this thing from lacking a core, a strong, stablized structure from well built sound developing into other good sound additions. This final track coulda, shoulda been magical. It takes several minutes to jump into higher gear, a more energetic rhythm. By then I've all but completely lost interest because nothing took place to really intrigue me before that. In the final third a melody is added with few sustained notes in the background. But again, the sounds used, the actual song and how its composed and delivered lacks being catchy and good as a majority. This is a weak way to end the album, in my opinion. C In conclusion, I'm not impressed with this album overall. Nonetheless several songs here have. Some song involve a strong charged up rhythm and punch filled energy. It's good for dancing. Several of the songs (1, 3, 4, 6, 7) range in the pretty good, good, and great zone. Several are very disappointing, weak (2, 8) or at least they fail to engage myself and various others I know. The opening song starts off the album strong and I wish the entire package, especially the closing did the same. I find Cherry Pie anything but filling unless by that you mean "filler." I do prefer debut Robot-o-Chan over follow up. There were more fresh, catchy melodies and successfully infectious experimentation on the first album, in my opinion. This album lacks a heart. Some tracks feel empty, too unemotional. On the positive I enjoyed this album more over time. It isn't a weak follow up but I expected more. There are some pretty catchy melodies and sounds sprinkled throughout which compliment the BOOM kickdrum and bassline. I think some people refer to this album as being boring due to the general repetition that takes place during certain moments and tracks which lack in strong sound variation and style relative to others. Surely the next album could be more adventure, intense, exciting, infectious, and include more moments of climax, unexpected twist and turns, stronger leading melodies and rhythms. Many people seem to feel this album is pretty good but nothing great or excellent. You can add me to that list but there is some great work present. Some tracks lack a selling point while others cash in by capitalizing upon them. This album creates the latter but fails to embace me with more than 4-5 good ranging songs. If you enjoyed the first Prometheus album you'll most likely enjoy this. It's generally a continuation from something good rather than a sound or style brought to an unquestionably higher level. I like this album because of several tracks where the style works the best. I'm not in love with this album nor do I consider it great as a whole. It could have much better as a whole. Favorites: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. B Samples = http://www.saikosounds.com/english/display...ase.asp?id=6380

Interesting track list titles. I'm really looking forward to this album. It's been 3 years. I like the second track sample much more here. The first track sample is alright, playful, the flute is cute. But where is the attitude?, the zest, and emphasis on wild, buildup, intricate, psychedelic? It sounds too gentle to me but other tracks will likely compliment it in variety. Naturally it's just a part of a track and a variaty of solid songs is what I'm looking for... although I generally found his work great on the debut. I imagined that debut style being taken to the next level.. The second track sample is infinitely better. There's more punch, movement, attitude, melody. It has more energy, strength, and *oomph* ... I like it. Again however, the tracks seem to have so many parts and elements as opposed as coming together in strong, awesome formation, direction. Let the sounds, melodies breath at time the way they did in First Ray of Light and Back to Dreaming on the debut for instance, but stronger than that. Actually, I hope there's an awesome downtempo/downbeat song here kinda like "First Ray..." but not good as that was IMO, SUPERB. I loved the how that song built up in it's final third. It changed and improved as it developed. I like that, the voices, speed/beat. That opening song got really interesting and great from 5:15 - 7:20. I loved the melodies in People Are Animals. That was like magical sounding and I'd love to hear strong, impressive melody/sound formation, mixing like that. You ride the waves of sound and are pulled into the world of sound created. I love when his mixing gets intricate, occasionally chaotic, and I hope there is some really awesome work here that is more liquid, elegant, flow and melodies so to speak. POWER. Think POWER. Make it a POWERFUL album! Boom. I hope Talpa doesn't lose his occasionally dark edge while making it even more exciting, animated, dymanic, engaging, powerful, imaginative, catchy. The samples sound nothinig like his other, more spontaneous, occasionally chaotic style. I hope there's some super/killer and badass dance-friendly psytrance songs here. I honestly found tracks like My Kingdom and The Moon great on his debut, tracks that got people going, great on the dancefloor too. But his work has evolved so beyond these songs now I'd imagine. But does different and better to Talpa mean better for us? Excellent. Her voice really complimented the album. The voice in First Ray of Light, Trust No Goblin, and The Moon. Hopefully this will be a powerful song. Those voices can do amazing things to the music at times. I wouldn't hesitate to ask if her voice could be at times existent in 1-2 other songs but maybe the song wasn't written to compensate it. I've updated my Talpa - The Art of Being Non review on page 3 here. http://www.psynews.org/forums/index.php?sh...37&hl=talpa

Oh. Okay. Because the soundtrack often releases at the same time the movie comes out or right before. Being it hasn't come out yet... or it will this summer according to the first post on this thread. So this is all very uncertain to me. Is this poster referring to a new JR album (like Labyrinth) or a JR-composed soundtrack when mentioning "new album this summer" (?)

I am very skeptical about Hallucinogen 3. It can be done, but will it live up to the fantasy, the dream-come-true concept many of us have had since around 1998.. (?) A third Hallucinogen album would have to be so utterly amazing, detailed, innovative, clever, groundbreaking. It can't just be weird, crazy, bizarre, trippy stuff. It would have to be so powerful, arresting. Super awesome, super catchy. When you think about it, people who talk about Hallucinogen giving it this perfect, God-like complex are often talking about his first or first two albums and what they did for those times. People are generally not talking post 21st Century Hallucinogen songs when they speak so highly. I have heard songs by Hallucinogen past the 21st Century that disappointed me, songs that aren't that good at all. Let's not get into that topic here. I'm just saying that if he wants to reclaim top title of psy/goa trance once again he's gotta again release his art to music as Alex Grey is to his amazing artwork. Hey anythings possible right? I really like the "When will I be Free" song on his MS page. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...iendID=49430046 I'm very curious to know the name of the song playing in the background when you access this blog, page here. Does anyone know? (?) http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...42-77bedb13981a

So it's basically a movie soundtrack album, not a main JR album. I'm not jumping with joy. And according to this the film did or was supposed to come out in 2006 so who knows for certain when it will arrive. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809724148/info