Damion Brown’s infamous Psyreviews has returned after more than a year of inactivity. Rumours of a comeback have been circulating for months now—and here we are. Looks like the site might be a little flaky while Damion irons out some bugs and messes with some templates so keep at it if you encounter any mishaps. And if you’ve never experienced what Psyreviews is known for—skewering pop star wannabes and unimaginative productions, praising the few deserving releases out there, and generally taking the piss out of psytrance culture—here are a few choice cuts from previous years:

Skazi – Total Anarchy (Review)
Dali – Hectic (Review)
Younger Brother – The Last Days of Gravity (Review)
Excitement Mounts As Posford Puts Four Kick Drums In Sequence
Dreadlock Girl Revises “Don’t Need Drugs” Policy
Analysts: GMS Involved In “97%” of 2002 Albums

Incidentally, Damion’s declaration of “RIP psytrance” is what prompted me to start the Essential Selections project. I try to remain fairly positive about the creative vitality of the psytrance world by avoiding a lot of the dross that Damion subjects himself to—for our benefit, I might add. Think of it as a public service: someone has to tell it like it is! And, judging by the strong show of interest in the return of Psyreviews, the scene really needs this kind of medicine.

Of course, I say all of this knowing full well that no one is safe; Ektoplazm might very well become the target of one of Damion’s eviscerating reviews. (Insert nervous laughter.) At any rate, welcome back!

I have plenty of new freebies to share this month. These releases didn’t make the cut for one reason or another—usually because lossless files are not available—but they could be of interest to some visitors.

Antiscarp Recordings have reached release #50 with Iterated Fun’tion Systems, a fat and funky Suomi-style EP by Darth Phader. This is proper squeeze and wobble for loopy dance floor scenarios. Available in FLAC too!

Keeping with this theme, Crazy Ducks have released a three track promo with a bunch of “quacktastic” tracks in MP3 and WAV including cover versions of Megadeth and Metallica. Very silly stuff. The Sendspace link might expire so get it while it’s hot.

A quick scan of the Triplag forum reveals a few MP3-only darkpsy releases that fell through the cracks: Let The Terror Begin, Don’t Forget About It To Remember (strange name, yes), and Apurùami Ritual. Availability may be limited by broken Rapidshare links.

From the miscellaneous folder, Psilogos is out with a four track EP described as “dark Suomi” in style. In addition, Ectogasmics has shared a single track due to faulty mastering on the original release it was carried on. Not a bad slice of hard and heavy darkpsy, really.

Sentna is an interesting psychedelic techno act with a pair of albums up for free download via Jamendo. Tech Nald is the best of the two. Sentna’s style fuses mechanical techtrance with organic tribal atmospheres for an interesting technoshamanistic flavour. Both are available in lossless so be sure to check it out; here is an artist with great potential.

Jamendo is not a bad place to look for free psytrance releases that slipped under the radar. With some sleuthing I came across an album by the Brazilian producer Synthetic Sinergy entitled Waves Of Energy that might appeal to full-on fans. If you like that, Speedsound (formerly Psydom) has plenty more where that came from—something like 43 additional releases. Crazy.

Finally, there’s Culture Of Life and Mind Antivirus Vol. 1, two MP3 compilations I haven’t had a chance to check out just yet. Might be worth a listen—who knows?