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Artist: Zopmanika Title: Mysteryland Label: Sita Records Date: April, 2016 1. Liquid Dreams 2. Ice Queen 3. Crystalinks 4. Annular Eclipse 5. Fantasy Land 6.Trip To Nowhere 7. As Far As The End of the Sky (Feat. Agneton) 8. Look Into Yourself 9. Lost Touch With Reality He can't believe he's gonna get another crack at those interns... I'm a pretty busy guy, so I don't get to review as many albums that I'd like. Remember when we'd get like...4 goa releases a year in the mid 2000's? Well those days are gone and it can be difficult to keep up with the amount of new talent that's bursting onto the scene. Sita is run by Elias Gits and if you're Facebook friends with him you know that he's really busy being handsome and playing parties all over the world. After a very quiet 2015 Sita Records released the debut album of Bojan Taneski and man it was like...crickets. Did you hear anything about it? I sure didn't. Now Sita is the label that attempts to combine Nitzhonot with goa trance into a sound we can all enjoy and for the most part they've been successful. Personally I'm not a fan of the nitzhonot genre...too crazy and goofy. But there have been albums where it when blended with goa trance it has been done well. This is a bit of a mixed bag. Ice Queen is a powerful track with racing melodies while the longest track here Crystalinks stumbles with its changes in tempo and those same hyper melodies. I believe Trip To Nowhere strikes the right balance and even that gets a little cheesy near the end. Oftentimes it gets a little too Fiddler on the Roof for me. There are pumping beats throughout, but there are also segments of tracks where it's empty thumping or saturated with fist pumping nitzho craziness. And all that craziness is getting me tired. Perhaps nitzhonot is a young man's music, so the kids in Israel and Greece will probably love this. Yes I realize the irony of saying the music appeals to the young while using a gif from an old movie. Smart guy. Bottom line this is heavily nitzho influenced so if that ain't your bag baby, best move on. Psyshop Beatspace

Artist: Perfect Blind Title: Wanderers Label: Neogoa Date: April, 2016 1. Passing the Veil 2. Floating Spheres 3. Outerland 4. Syncope 2015 5. Lunar Dawn - Blessings From Irij (Remix) 6. Edge of Solitude 7. Sabled Sun (with Subscale) 8. March of the Dragonflies 9. Nephilim' Dance (With Psilocybian) 10. Wanderers Bonus Tracks: 1. Sudden Clarity (Feat. CUBErt) 2. Outerland (Downtempo Mix) Igor Ceranic from Croatia may not be a household name, but he should be. If you're a fan of modern day goa trance you have certainly heard his work. All those physical CDs you've got stored in cardboard boxes until Ikea gets their sh*t together and makes a great CD rack are probably mastered by him. He's produced under the name Dual Barrel , Deimos , Perfect Blind...even as part of the metal band Subscale. This is his latest effort, a downtempo album that is filled with industrial sounds and atmosphere. That's kind of his thing and if you heard We Have Forgotten under his Deimos moniker you would already know that. This is not Solar Fields or Aes Dana so if you're looking to take a nap then this ain't the vehicle. Calling this chill is a stretch. His sounds are dark and the themes are as well. It's immersive and layered with Matrix-esque futuristic overtones. He told me once that he tries to go lighter sometimes, but it usually ends up in a dark place. The album is a solid experience with industrial ambient powerhouse Edge of Solitude and the engaging Sabled Sun. Usually when guitars make an appearance it has a tendency to become a sh*tshow, but it was well done here. His take on Lunar Dawn's Blessing's From Irij (released on Blessings From Irij Remixes) is still a slowed down goa treat. Unfortunately I felt that March of the Dragonflies and his contribution with psytrance genius Psilocybian didn't really go anywhere. Missed opportunity. That said, I liked this album, but I think he's just scratched the surface of his talent. Personally I would love an even darker industrial goa album. His sound is so lush and he layers so well. Because I think he has the potential to be the next UX or Syb Unity Nettwerk. When you buy his album from his Bandcamp page you also get two downloadable bonus tracks. Now you can download it for free from Ektoplazm, but if you buy it from his bandcamp you can also bundle it with the Deimos album and that is highly recommended. Plus you get to help the artist and that's never a bad thing. Perfect Blind Bandcamp Ektoplazm

Artist: Lunar Dawn TItle: Triglav Label: Neogoa Records Date: April, 2016 1. Jav 2. Nav 3. Prav 4. Golden Arms Of Kresnik (Journey Into Sound Remix) 5. Svarog's Celestial Fire (Proxeeus Remix) 6. Golden Arms of Kresnik (Lectro Spektral Daze Remix) 7. Svarog's Celestial Fire (Dragon Twins Remix) "Darkness! No parents! Super rich! Kinda makes it better!" I did not realize that Triglav was also the name of a heavy metal band from the Ukraine. But I ain't about that. Gotta love Neogoa. A label whose only goal was to release quality goa trance for free has certainly blossomed into something quite irreplaceable. While they still stay true to the mantra of goa trance liberation they've also dipped their toe into limited album sales. To which I say thank God because the music they release is certainly worth having in physical form. Lunar Dawn recently released their debut album Kolovrat which was steeped in Slavic folklore and mythology. Triglav is a continuation of that with 4 extra tracks (remixes of two tracks from that debut album) for those that order the digipak. This duo is no stranger to an album full of remixes or have you forgotten the Blessings From Irij digital release? On top of that the artwork in the form of wallpapers are also included. The cover is quite intricate and invites the eye to search out new apects every time I look at it. Jav certainly sets the medieval atmosphere with a very folksy and Games of Thrones gravitas. You can just feel the mud of the land and the privileged royalty. Nav is where we get down to the business of goa trance. And also where we get a real world instrument contribution on the bouzouki from Amir John Haddad whcih adds to that ethnic vibe. I'll be honest I felt very European listening to that. Prav for me was the weakest track that felt too full-oney without any of the feelings of the others. But then we get to the remixes and it's a tough job to remix great tracks. One thing that is a must for a remix is that it cannot be a carbon copy of the original with just a few different sounds. And the two chosen for remixes were some of the best tracks on Kolovrat. Golden Arms of Kresnik and Svarog's Celestial Fire are such epic tracks that carry the medieval folk melodies as a shield on one arm and a battle axe of goa trance in the other hand. The remix by J.I.S. gives it some hyper motion with other melodies and a break that was quite appealing. The LSD remix of the same track however felt unremarkable and inferior to the original in pretty much every way. Too herky jerky for my tastes. Proxeeus had me with that 303 wobble and I never looked back while the Dragon Twins applied a little BOTB acidic flare to their effort. Both with great results. I appreciate the effort that went into this and for Lunar Dawn and Neogoa to offer this as a physical release well I think it's got its place in my collection. Happy to have it there. That said it's not the shiniest gem in the Neogoa crown with a couple of tracks that fall short of greatness. Sometimes I felt that it was seemed more important to incorporate the ethnic mythological feel in the tracks that the actual goa trance took a back seat. I didn't feel that way with Kolovrat. It was so deep and involved and struck a harmonious balance. That said the majority of the music found within is really good. Sound quality is beyond reproach from my ears and the art is a joy to behold. Free at Ektoplazm, but don't be a cheap f*ck...buy the digipak and get the 4 extra tracks.