Yage Records is a fresh new psytrance label based in Sweden, focusing on the darker side of trance. They are now out with their first compilation, compiled by label manager dj Bröte.

This compilation starts with a new track by Mechanix (Eldad Ben-Ezry) from Israel, who has released an album (Illegal Dance) on Doof Records in 2003. Here we get a dark track, with a quite heavy rolling bass line and some jumpy sounds. Something for the night. Not among the most interesting dark tracks I have heard, but I really enjoyed a couple of the sounds and the little jumpy melody in there. Track 2 is by Toxic (Alon Atias & Avi Aboresi) who is doing quite good in the darkpsy scene these days, with releases on many different labels, such as Parvati, Nabi, Deja Vu, Paradiso Records etc. Here it goes darker and a bit more rolling. Pure darkpsy, with some intense sounds working like mad in there. We also get some horror movie themes and a pretty cool melody. Track 3 is by Electrypnose (Vins Le Barde) from Switzerland who has released several tracks on Peak Records and a mp3 album on ResonantEarth.com. This one continues the horror movie themes. Still dark, but here we actually get a really cool melody which makes things better in my ears. Quite a lot of variation too. Let’s hope more darkpsy artists follows this example. Except for the bass line, this reminds me actually a little bit of Cydonia. My favourite track on this compilation. Track 4 is by a quite fresh artist called Baphomet Engine from Brazil. He has released a couple of tracks on Alkaloid and Nabi Records. Basslines like this doesn’t impress me very much, but the scary soundpicture above is pretty cool. Very intense track all the way through. Not among my favourite tracks on this compilation though.

Then we get a track by an upcoming artist from Sweden called Wizack Twizack who we will probably hear more from in the near future. Here we get some tribal drums above the bass line, some Simpsons samplings and totally twisted, weird sounds swirling. Something for those who want their darkpsy to be crazy and psychedelic. Track 6 is by one of the most known darkpsy names out there, Psychotic Micro from Israel who has released an album (Voices Of Madness) on Paravati Records together with Azax Syndrome. Here we get a very pumpy, rolling track going in the typical darkpsy direction. More random sounds and the melodies in this one are really bad in my opinion. The melodies actually reminds me a bit of hard house. Track 7 is by Damage (James Copeland) based in Japan, who released his debut album (God Help Us) on Chemical Crew earlier this year. Personally I really hate this kind of Skazi trance that reminds me way too much of old hard house. Track 8 is a new track by Dark Nebula (Luna Orbit) from Australia who has been in the game for quite a long time, including four (!) albums on various labels. Here we get a crazy, dark track with some light sounds and voice samples in between. Pretty cool, pumping track. The last track we get on this compilation is a new track by Procs (Mikael Stegman) from Sweden who I actually have seen live two times in Norway. He has released tracks on several labels, such as Digital Psionics, Boom! and Shpastic Elastic. He definately finishes with some real madness. Twisted, swirling, weird sounds going like mad in there, above a quite simple bass line. Darkpsy for those who like it totally weird. Maybe something for psytrance people from Finland out there?

In this compilation you will find dark psytrance all the way through, but it is quite a lot of variation between the tracks here, and I really enjoyed a couple of them. So, check it out if you are curious about what kind of darkpsy that’s being played in Swedish forest parties these days.

Embryotoxicity…

An embryo (Greek: ­¼²ÁÅ¿½) is an animal or a plant in its earliest stage of development – and Electric Embryo is such a well-fitting name for this first compilation from Yage Records. This is a new label operating out of Gothenburg, Sweden… It’s run by a group of friends headed by DJ Bröte (Mikael Löfgren) who also spins this kinda music at parties… If you haven’t guessed it already by looking at the track listing, I can reveal that the style here is raging dark, hard night trance – and that tracklist sure looks interesting from where I’m sitting… And with mastering by none other than Tim Schuldt himself, I’m putting this on with an optimistic mind…

This is certainly a very interesting first release by Yage Records – and this is a label I’ll look very much forward to hearing more from in the future. There are at least a handful of very good tracks here – and I’m sure even the tracks I personally like less will find their audience… Perhaps the general flow of the compilation is a little off at times, but generally I like it and I’m sure Yage will find its way once more experience is gained… A very solid foundation has been laid with this compilation.

The cover art kicks major ass, though the spelling errors could have easily been corrected with an extra proof reading… I will not hesitate to recommend this to fans of the darker/weirder realms of psytrance… If you’ve enjoyed Parvati, Trishula, Ketuh, Gi’iwa, Digital Psionics or Schlabbaduerst releases I’m sure you’ll find something here you’ll like too… Enjoy!

Favourites: 1(!), 2, 5(!), 8(!!), 9(!)