Overview

Overview breaks out of the mold and offers a compilation featuring many different styles of psychedelic trance. DJ Pena adeptly selected several good songs, although some choices fall short of greatness. The cover art is not much to look at, so how about we focus on the music…

Bitmonx open the album with Feedbaeka. The song is a pulsating array of smooth sounds done in the German progressive psytrance style, and is fairly upbeat. Hypnotic is the approach and plenty of polish is evident. Though this track fails to impress me, I recognize my reaction as a matter of taste. Feedbaeka might be appreciated by existing Bitmonx fans.

Yumade’s Binary follows up with a heavier tune from the originators of the French psychedelic techno sound. Not much had been heard from the group in 2003, and this is possibly one of their very last released. This song features a hard pulsing beat, stark industrial percussion, and an apprehensive atmosphere laced with weird chimes and odd noises. By the two minute mark the bass line receives a serious upgrade, and the track begins to groove along with mechanical grace. No surprises will shock you as the song plays out, but it retains the quality heard in the opening sequences without faltering. Psychedelic techno fans are likely to enjoy this.

Echotek drops in for yet another compilation appearance with In Deck Out. There are some techtrance elements to be found here, as it takes an hypnotic approach with a sparse arrangement of sounds over a fat groovy bass section. There is little to distinguish it from the rest however, and for that reason it is just another mediocre tune.

Bubble Dragon’s Hentai is the result of Steve Good (Double Dragon) collaborating with Japanese artist Amiad Kav. Swampy sounds and industrial textures introduce this blindingly good psychedelic odyssey. The kick and bass combination is heavy and fat, with incredible production value. The metallic lead is truly from another universe—it slices right through the blackened atmosphere like a samurai sword. The sound of thunder heralds a transition in the storyline as croaking frogs emerge from the boggy pits to welcome the listener to the gloom. Now we descend underwater, sinking into the depths as bubbles rise to the surface. The creaking metallic lead returns in gated force near the heart of the track as the haunting atmosphere returns to provide a subtle emotional overlay to the journey. A corny sample about marijuana provides the excuse to get even more intricate with filtered percussion, and soon enough sounds are bouncing all over the stereo field in an uninhibited display of creative prowess. Another seductive break is reached and the lead is back for one last cycling run through the infernal machine, leading out as the pattern reverses for an insanely good come down. Simply put, Steve Good is one of the most brilliant producers in the psytrance scene, and Hentai is proof. This is amazing!

ManMadeMan instantly change things up with Is This Now? It is something of a groovy upbeat hip-shaker with a significant funk quotient. It just breezes right by—fun for a stomp, but not too deep.

Safi Connection’s Do You Feel is an energetic piece of psychedelic full-on with a strangely alluring set of chopped, filtered, and extremely manipulated female vocals echoing “do you feel the way I do.” Usually I despise this kind of thing, yet it works somehow, at least some of the time. The song features a big rolling digital bass line, plenty of psychedelic atmospheres, layers of chaotic noise particles, and numerous crowd-pleasing drops. The ending may be abrupt, but it is a strong effort from this Israeli artist.

Sensient’s Ase is a dark and brooding techtrance monster in his signature style. The beats pound in a minimal fashion for several minutes before the sound of a ghost train hauntingly sweeps overhead, initiating a new percussive hook and the development of several atmospheric sounds. Sensient usually divides his songs into three movements: sparse beats, the middle build, and then the final run during which nothing is held back. This one follows the pattern, as it grows increasingly psychedelic as time passes. Production quality on his more recent work is clearly superior, but this remains a really solid piece of truly psychedelic techno.

DJ Sangeet’s Psy-Fi-Stereo is something of a mediocre effort. The production is a little muddy, perhaps on purpose, with a groove that dabbles around without much focus. The way the bass works it almost sounds as if this was a psytrance producer’s approach at making true progressive trance, and this is especially notable in one of the breakdowns. In any case, the track doesn’t work so well, with the off-putting use of hi-hats and questionable inclusion of a drum roll sample that has found its way into many psytrance tunes in the last few years.

Electric Melon bring the beats to a close with Ectoplasmic, a song composed in the hypnotic UK style of progressive comparable to what was heard on Dragonfly’s A Better Life Through Chemistry compilation. Much like the material on that release, I barely notice this song as it plays through. Forgettable.

Red Seal provide the finishing touch with the dub and reggae-influenced Supernatural. Previously releasing on Flying Rhino, it has always been something of an anomaly as to why this artist releases in the psytrance scene, but in this case there is no cause for complaint. It is completely unlike anything else here, but it sounds good. The song features full vocals, nice effects, and a sashaying beat that chills and soothes.

DJ Pena did a decent job rounding up a wide variety of psytrance for this compilation, though several of these songs are not very distinct. I would recommend this mainly for collectors and bargain hunters, and any Double Dragon fans out there. Otherwise, the release has limited appeal, and is not destined to be remembered long into the future.

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