Thank you for the last positive remark.
When it comes to the "overcompressed" kick I can mentioned that yes, it is of course compressed in the original mix, overcompressed? no.
Maybe the mastering took it slightly over the edge, but that's about it.
Also how much compression you use is a matter of taste, and not as black&white as some would like to have it. Some music genres overcompress a lot as an added effect.
I've seen some posts from you before about the "loudness" of music and how the compression today destroys the dynamics in music. I agree, in many ways it does.
I suppose if we decided to go for STEM mastering instead we could have had an even cleaner sound, but as you may know using STEM is also risky as it may change the overall picture too much, not to mention the costs...
"Same notes and rhythm that gets blurred"? Well, I see where you're coming from and again this is a matter of taste.
I don't know if you produce yourself or not, but to get a sense of 3D dynamics (or a sense of space) some delays are usually effective in this genre.
How much you decide to use is a matter of taste and a matter of composition technique. Sounds strange? Well, say that you compose a goa track and you want a feel of a C minor changing to a G# major (and maybe moving into the F minor and A# major before going back to C min). How to do this when you leave out the 3rd of every chord AND you want to keep the bass from changing (because YES, the bass often lose punch when it changes too much).
One way of dealing with this is introducing the 3rds in the riffs where you play with the feel of the chords without actually changing the chord.
By adding delays the picture becomes more complex and whole when the notes are overlapping. Of course the delays do NOT make the same effect as having 2-not stabs (in 5ths) going in the background like more commercial trance, but the notes are there. Much like a real violin for instance that has a natural overtone and hence composers tend to leave out certain notes in their violin arrangements because the feel of the left out note is already present. This is referred to as harmonics and is hard to distinguish as separate notes, but the feel is different if you were to remove these harmonics.
By listening to the riffs solo with delays I go over them again and again to see where the essential harmonics happen and how they affect the feel. Many times by putting the FX up to max just to know exactly what is going on I edit away notes or change them because they add a slight disharmony and then I take the FX down again to the normal level. It takes time and effort but is worth it in the end.
Shame you think it is too much, but it is definitely something I would not change :-P
Chris [RA]