acid-brain

The YouTube algorithm has a tendency to promote certain trending videos and make them appear on everyone's sidebar who is interested in even remotely similar stuff. Likely that's what happened to the Astrix song. But yes, psytrance is way more popular than goa, people just don't seem to talk about it so much on independent forums. I disagree that goa trance is "bound to die", that's what people said in the early 2000s and still new people are interested in listening to it. Cosmosis track with 1.2m views:

https://singularityhub.com/2021/01/10/the-worlds-oldest-story-astronomers-say-global-myths-about-seven-sisters-stars-may-reach-back-100000-years/ The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters: > It is among the star clusters nearest to Earth... and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. Only six stars in the cluster are visible to the naked eye yet mythology from several ancient cultures share the idea that one of the seven “sisters" is hidden. These two stars now appear as one to the naked eye which the author proposes is the source of the hidden sister. This dates the story to 100,000 years ago.

Agreed I have enjoyed those tracks and those releases very much. I want to write a review of Carpe Noctem soon as it's a real treat for fans of the darker side of goa / forest psy / Schlabbaduerst sound. Xenomorph has grown a lot on me over time, perhaps it's because he's never watered down or compromised his sound. Or perhaps because I really got into horror movies and literature. It gives you a thrill you don't get from other genres! Or I just learned to appreciate good production better these days. Even his earliest release Obscure Spectre / Telepathic Combat while obviously sounding dated still has a really well balanced and developed soundscape, the tracks are always twisting forwards and drawing you into Xenomorph's demented world. From ZNA Gathering I really like "Sinister Contours", which appears to have more of a tech-trance progression, which I appreciate a lot for its hypnotic / meditative qualities (although I know not everyone does). At 13:33 it feels like a huge break is coming with a bassline flourish, but all it adds is a snare - you can see from the video how much Xenomorph enjoys unleashing the understated break which caught me by surprise as it's not typical for his music. Looks like Agneton lighting a cigarette in the foreground but probably not him lol. Then at 14:30 I'm not really sure how to describe what happens but it's wonderful, there's a transition that shuffles the sounds around and then a high-pitched goa-esque melody kicks in to finally fill up the high-end.

Xenomorph played a fantastic set at ZNA Gathering 2019 featured a lot of new tracks that are supposed to be part of a 2020 album. Also there were some really nice unreleased tracks that should have been released (check out "Lilith" at 18:55)

Please create a 2021 subforum for reviews.

It's a long mix but a good thing I'm working from home these days and have all day to listen to it. I'm looking forward to giving it a spin and will let you know how I feel afterwards!

What are your favourite tracks from this album? The awesome thing about this album is how the tracks are diverse and different. But my favourite two are definitely the last two, especially "Chosen By The Gods", which has those dirty Asia 2001 vibes.

@Ormion have you revised your opinion? I have the opposite viewpoints, this is easily one of my favourite melodic goa releases from Suntrip and the whole last decade in general.

As a relative youngling and goa newcomer who only discovered the genre slightly over 10 years ago, everything that was said above rings true. Sandman - Witchcraft is an excellent choice for an album that sounds more fresh and engaging than other goa releases. Most of the other albums that caught my ear in a similar way are probably better classified as psy: Pigs In Space, Koxbox Dragon Tales, COP, late 90's X-Dream. A track like "Fairy in The Dragonforest" sounds like a more evolved version of classic goa trance, with much better rhythm section! Ultimately it leads to a debate into exactly where "old school goa" ends and psy begins, and nobody wants another one of those. A lot of stuff that gets rave reviews here, took me years to understand because of the dated production. Early Juno Reactor, Etnica, Koxbox - Forever After (especially compared to Dragon Tales). Over time I've come to appreciate it all, it just took perseverance. And then there's the stuff that just sounds "of it's time". While I enjoy MWNN or Power Source's tracks for instance, most of them really do sound like mid-90's trance hits. Which seems like a dumb thing to say, because that's exactly what they are, but compare to a track like Tandu's Alien Pump or Sandman's G-Force and there's no contest. Somehow, there's a small number of goa tracks that just stand out as electrifying today, and when I play them to my electronic music loving friends, they can't believe the date they were created.

Thanks for the tip, this artist is great.

Absolutely agreed. Reading back through the reviews of this album, I'm surprised to see different tracks highlighted by people. Most tracks on this album are great, but Zero Barrier is the absolute standout. Like you said it's not repetitive at all, but dances around a couple of key melodic ideas which are developed until there's a huge payoff at the end. It's hard to think of another goa track which is structured as well as this. Moonart is also fantastic.

Zero Barrier is my favourite track by CHI-A.D., the track structure is just so complex and incredible. It only unleashes the melodies after 7:00 minutes of build-up, and when they come crashing in with huge psychedelic energy. What a track!

It's definitely a total masterpiece of the Ambient genre. The tracks send you into a deep meditative state and it's difficult to explain how they are so effective at doing so. I remember reading a few years ago that the artist had disappeared off the face of the earth, has there been any trace of him since?

Glad Psynews is back online, it was down so long I wondered whether it was coming back

For some reason I never checked out this early project from Krys Kylven (UX) and RX Heaven, perhaps because the EPs are lower rated on Discogs. But some of the tracks but this artist absolutely rock! They pay a ton of attention to rhythm and visual textures and are clearly inspired by industrial and EBM but combines with goa melodies. It's just a shame the mastering isn't always so good - whatever, it was the mid 90's. Best is Tripperspaced, with its a classic swirling goa bassline, spooky main hook and perverted rhythmic melodies. Lots of breakdowns and the melodies build in intensity each time they come back. The different elements are layered so well, you can feel the incredible psychedelica unfolding around you. It reminds of Sandman/Witchcraft's early work. My next favourite is Limited Access To The Files. Love the hihats here. This track is dark, intense and totally unhinged, heading directly into cyberpunk apocalypse. It keeps getting crazier until 8:00 when a beautiful 303 breaks out, the pressure lets up and then suddenly the foot comes down onto the pedal and evil melodies engulf the track for a very memorable ending. The last one I want to call attention to is Lost World. This track is particularly damaged by poor mastering with an overloud kick drum, however despite this you can hear the raw talent in the track. The melody clocking in at 2:45 is tribal madness, sounding similar perhaps to a Miranda/Athena melody, but there's this massive reverb behind it, with submelodies emerging and swirling around it. It's very danceable yet poignant like the best trance music. Oh also there's Morphogenesis, which texturally sounds like MFG's Project Genesis, with thick bubbly acidic sounds, it has some great moments but unfortunately doesn't develop and tell much of a story. In summary, I've always thought UX - Ultimate Experience was fantastic, but it's possible these tracks are better even than anything on that album! Syb Unity Nettwerk tracks go 100mph into a different universe and are trippier than 99% of stuff that came out in the same time period. This artist deserves more credit for producing such ahead of its time music -and he gave away his remastered Ultimate Xperience album for free. Legend.

Yeah, an extremely talented band for sure. I did want to highlight Maya Moon though as having such an insane intro that the rest of the track doesn't live up to it. Etnica - Spheric Koncept is another

Maya Moon by MFG

^^ what astralprojection said

It's been ages since I listened to Magick Universe. One of this albums where it sometimes sounds really dated, but other times it has moments of brilliance so good it convinces you it's among the best trance ever made. Dreamstar has elements of a crossover into Oakenfold uplifting trance but then drops back to the acid depths of Dimension 5, before suddenly pulling off the uplifting melody again - a beautiful gem. I'm surprised the album wasn't more popular, the style sounds perfect for the dancefloors of the time.

Fairy in the Dragonforest is the best track here, starts with a very ear-catching melody and has a fantastic rhythm which stands out among goa tracks!

Tracks with intros so interesting that the rest of the track can't live up to them. The best example I can think of is Darshan - Psychokinesis - very psychedelic and the kick is powerful when it comes thumping in

Having lived in China for a while myself, I'm not sure I'd want to for a longer period. The strong response to the virus comes at the cost of a very authoritarian government and the near-total obedience of the population towards it.

I didn't realise how good the title track Helium was until listening to this album again today. The melodies shimmer and are insanely psychedelic. At exactly half way through the track a very memorable melody comes in that goes up and down like a big sine wave, pulling you in and out. Fantastic.

Yeah, I feel the same way. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be a hospital nurse right now, or a restaurant worker in the US already living paycheque to paycheque. Rough times, and I'm hoping it will lead to positive political change. Meanwhile some sectors of the economy are weirdly unaffected or even doing better than normal right now.