Alienapia – Goapocalipsis

The best Goa trance album. for me...

It's always been like this in the trance scene: you have an album that is absolutely stunning and defines a new sound... then you have a million copycats stepping in, using the same formula over and over again until you wonder just why the hell are you still in the scene in the first place. And then it happens: out of nowhere a new artist comes and totally blows off all boundaries and sets a new set of rules, making you feel exactly the same way you did when first discovering the scene. This only happens a few times in a decade but IMO when it happens, you feel like all the years you've spent waiting for it to come were totally worth it. Why am I saying this, because THIS album is one of those new rule-setters, the ground breaking release that makes you feel like a teen just discovering the scene. So just who are these guys? A quick check on discogs tells us they're 2 producers from Kiev (Ukraine), already active since 2004 although personally I've never heard about them until last year. Don't know if it's the Chernobyl radiations or something but their style is really out of this world ;)

The opener is a downtempo breakbeat track called Distinctive Perceptionwhich already makes you feel that this album won't be like other stuff out there, but it only lasts 1:24 WTF?? I don't understand why he didn't make a full track out of it, it would've definately been worth it.

Then their style unleashes with full force in Dharmakaya, giving us a fast in-your-face agressive rolling bassline and hoards and hoards of melodies on top, which appears to be the distinctive carachteristic of their sound. It all comes to quite an abrubt ending but there's more to come ;)

Estimate Of Standing Crop starts off with some wierd chanting and some very mysterious pads, then the oldschoolish melodies on top of the fast-paced rolling bassline take over, although personally I like this one a bit less.

High Visual Philosophy is probably the one everyone knows best since it was featured on a comp last year. This is the track that made me want to learn more about these guys although I must say that compared to the other tracks on this comps this is actually the weakest one (which is to say how great the other ones are!!)

Inner Poison was featured on the comp Goatronika, so again I suppose that you already know that one. If you don't, well you shoudl cause it's one of the best trance tracks released this year ;)

Magic Magnification up next with a very in-your-face acid lead, not unlike Tufaan - Probe (in case anyone remembers that one). This one will surely make a LOT of people go crazy on the dancefloors all around the World :) There's a breakdown around 4:00 and then the style becomes very morningish, almost cheezy. It might come as awkward at first but the more you listen to it the more it makes sense.

Fear and Anger up next, again with that excellent mix of powerful agressive rolling bassline and loads and loads of swirling melodies. And that twisted acid melody coming around 5:40 OMG!!! It really made me want to stand up from my chair and dance.

Reign of Madness starts with a very familiar melody, then you realize that this is a remix of Ra's R.O.M. (BTW thanks for FINALLY letting the masses know what R.O.M. stands for lol for all these years I though it stood for Read Only Memory, I guess I really look stupid now lol). Anyway, R.O.M. was like my absolute favorite last "proper" oldschool track for years and years until the new team of newschool producers started taking over so it means a lot to me to see this name again. But, believe it or not, this is one of the ultra-rare instances where the remix is actually BETTER than the original!

Misterika Island up next which is a collaboration with Agneton and... well, it shows... you get the generic newschool sound that you hear a LOT these days. But stay with it cause around 6:00 starts one of the best melodies I've ever heard. Time for some more dancing while pulling out your hair folks!

The closer is another downtempo track Remnant which only lasts a minute, as if these guys were afraid of showing their softer side, I sure hope these guys will give us a full-lenght downtempo track sometime in the future :)

THE GOOD: The force of dark trance basslines, combined with the agressiveness of forest trance, combined with the craziness of newschool. These guys surely know how to take the best out of every subgenre and make a truly unique and groundbreaking sound.

THE BAD: OK, if there was one negative thing I'd like to point out in this release is that it's too much on the agressive side of things. One or 2 more chilled tracks would've been a welcome change to my ears.

CONCLUSION: Trance of the future! This is definately my no. 1 trance release of 2010 and THE reference album against which I shall compare all new future releases. Really, if you don't listen to this one then you're missing out on something big!

Wow, this album is amazing.
The first time I heard it, various feelings have risen from inside. The same feelings when I was listening to old MFG, Pleiadians and AP from cassette tapes when I was a kid. This album is very energetic, delivering really good vibes and feelings in a somewhat darker themed goa trance. Even though it is very fast and very melodic, it deviates from the so common neo-nitzhonot style of these days, which is actually a positive thing because this is an order of magnitute better than the rest.
The sound production is interesting - every track has a signature sound, being somewhat raw and unpolished yet still managing to sound very good. The fact that there are basically only 5 tracks doesn't bother me too much since I only own one of the mentioned compilations. On that matter, I would love to hear a full version of the first track since it is so much mind blowing.
To sum it up, this is how goa trance should sound. A top competitor for the best album of 2010 in goa trance.

Zymosis (aka as Alienapia) bring to us their neo-goa trance album: the sounds and rhythms of the 90's encapsulated in a modern production. This CD does not pretend to reinvent goa, it aims to recreate it - and recreate it well. With a somewhat more modern, full-on boost, Goapocalipsis meets its goal exceedingly well.

Goapocalisis, with its suitably border-line cheesy name, is a pinnacle of modern goa music. The sounds are the same as what you might recall from Crop Circles or Psychaos, an accurate reproduction of the classical synths. The compositions are similar as well, featuring long-repeating melodies more typical of the era when trance-lovers still had long attention spans. They all come wrapped up in rich and well-measured effects, binding the sound into an incredibly compact and tight package, on top of which the winning melodies play. Zymosis always put melodic content up-front, no bullshit.

While this is an altogether different game than their usual chill-out stuff (which is superb, by the way), Zymosis' personal touch can still be felt vibrating underneath the goa ego. Their style bubbles from below, not overwhelming the classical goa feel, keeping it interesting and non-generic. Sophisticated melodies deliver the typical emotional dosage you might expect from Zymosis, carrying back waves of the glory goa days. Estimate & Reign stand out as prime examples of how well Zymosis pull this off, sweeping tracks that are ready to blow any party to heaven.

All the tracks in this album are equally good, with 2 tracks (Dharmakaya & Poisen) being previously released. Notably, Alienapia's outrageous Secret Symbols did not make this release (probably due to its insane and non-complimentary BPM), and is also worth tracking down. This release is a must-have for any goa fan. Nowadays, you won't find oldschool trance like this out there. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed listening to this album despite the old sound. This is excellent trance... in its purest form.