Zen Mechanics ‎– Holy Cities

This album is a brilliant example of what the genre of full-on psy-trance should sound like. Like most other releases in the field, it has plenty of fat, pumping basslines. However, it's the other aspects that make it stand out. For example, the un-complex but uniquely programmed percussion work in 'Mecha'. Or perhaps 'Modified', which employs a one word vocal sample, sparsely at first, but then building it to a hypnotic crescendo in the closing stages of the track. Then there's the airy yet cheese-free pads that characterise 'Immerse', the magnificently evolving melody of CBR, or the relaxing strains of 'Vale de Lua'. Yes, this is truly a model album. To top it all off, it's technically superb, with absolute clarity between all the elements. Perhaps its only major weakness is a slight overuse of cheesy vocal samples, though even then, they're used far more sparingly than by most producers.