Hunters

Full-power hyper-trance w/soft edges…

Red Cells Records is a new label from Paris, France. It’s run by DJ Ananda who was formerly a part of Turbo Trance and Mechanic Sound Records. According to the promotional text what we can expect from this debut compilation is ‘twisted leads, emotional and crunchy melodies, deep and dark atmospheres with strong rolling rhythm and phat beat’… Right, that’s promo-talk if I ever saw promo-talk… But the tracklist does look impressive, so why don’t we find out for ourselves…

Let me take you thru the tracks…

#01: Silicon Sound – Modulate [138 BPM]
As the BPM-indicator reveals we kick things off with a softer track – just to get you in the mood. Johannes Regnier from France has seldom let me down with his softy, uplifting morning trance… This is not re-inventing the wheel – not by a long shot. But it does what it’s supposed to do – it’s uplifting, joyous, fluffy morning trance with distinct progressive influences… Pretty nice, but surely not the best track on this compilation…

#02: Chromatone – Automagic [145 BPM]
Next up is a track by the American producer and mastering expert Lawrence Hoffman – despite his tracks being on loads of compilations recently, this is my first encounter with his own music… Anyway, the pace has quickened now, and this is full-blown party music to be played at night… Rolling synth lines, bubbling acid-bits and melodic pads – with a pumping bassline somewhere in the back… I really like the breaks here – they spice things up… This sounds really well-produced – Mr. Hoffman’s studio experience doesn’t go unnoticed - but somehow it also sounds a little hollow to me… I dunno it just seems like we’ve heard this a billion times before… It’s a familiar flavour – it even tastes good… But something’s missing…

#03: Artifakt – Razor [144 BPM]
Artifakt is Matthew De Nobrega from South Africa… A Time Code/Mushroom Mafia/Afrogalactic regular…The party-vibe is still pumping and this is much more to my liking – the edges are harder now and this reminds me of Xatrik and to some extend also Rinkadink… Yeah – this track is dope! Constantly evolving, changing direction and generally this track keeps surprising me in a good way… I mean, just listen to the build-up here – so fresh, so trance-inducing, so fucking great… Brilliant track!

#04: Phyx – Ghost Blade [144 BPM]
Ahh – good old Phyx! Ian Summs moved from South Africa to the UK (I guess!?) and pretty much everything I’ve heard from him has been great… This is a darkish, guitar-driven night time track… To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the guitars like this – if Skazi did one thing, it was ruining that for me… Luckily Phyx doesn’t overuse the guitar, and the rest of the track is pretty decent too… I like the eerie, razor-sharp stabbing sounds – and the kick-ass full-on part that starts @ 3’47… Effective stuff for sure! I just wish those damn digital guitars weren’t there…

#05: Triskell – Tensegrity [145 BPM]
“Everything we’ve done is forgiven…Everything!” I’ve only heard a couple of tracks from French-based producer Fred Sauvand – and they didn’t really do much for me… This is spacy night time music – with distinct electro parts and a disturbingly bland bassline… It’s like Sauvand is trying a little too hard sometimes – which causes a bit of a mishmash of confusion… This track is pretty decent, without being amazing…

#06: Phatmatix vs. Audiobrains – Sonic Machine (S.Scape Edit) [145 BPM]
Next up is a collaboration between Phatmatix (Stephane Rault) and Audiobrains (Simon Ly) from France… Both have released compilation tracks, but again I’ve been missing out… The intro is really cool here… Distant humming/classical music – whatever it is, it sure sets the darker mood which is present throughout this track… Yeah, this is spooky stuff… Full on like The Misted Muppet, acid-driven like Yum-Yab and evil as Kemic-Al… Check out what goes on in the background – you’ll be amazed what you find if you poke around a bit… Also the Sanskrit chanting is way cool – reminds me of ancient Shiva Sidpao… Yeah - this track has it all… I like this loads – it’s close to perfection!

#07: Digital Talk – Mathematrix (Cryptic Edit) [147 BPM]
Who else than Digital Talk to follow such a track… Julien Fougea & Luc Achintre from France released their spooky album New Age Surf on Acidance back in early 2004 – and since then I’ve only heard one track from them… Anyway, they’re back – and this is one mean-ass motherfucker of a track… The fastest here – and intense as hell! Yeah – their Halloween trance heritage does not go unnoticed… I’m digging the hardcore acid-lines and the many twirls and tweaks… Great stuff – should be played during the darkest hours of the night….

#08: Phatmatix – Back To Earth [145 BPM]
Stephane Rault from France is back with a solo-track…Nice! The intro is sleek with clever voice samples about intuitive disco… The rest of the track is just as good – tons and tons of layers and constant evolution…Hard-hitting and extremely psychedelic… Dark to the core – and very dancefloor friendly… Yeah – this is a nice track for sure!

#09: Blue Planet Corporation – Groove On The Moon [132 BPM]
We started soft – and we end even softer… What we get here is a downbeat morning tune by the living legend Gabriel Masurel from France… I really like this guys comeback – the stuff coming out of his studio recently is as originals as it is good… This is subtle, floating, melodic downbeat – of ambient proportions …So relaxed, yet so groovy… … Fucking aye – we’re grooving on the moon now… BPC style! What a beautiful track – and what a great way to end this compilation!

The first and the last track alone are enough reason *not* to label this as your average hyper-trance compilation… It’s not! There are a lot of good tracks here + a couple of tracks that doesn’t really do it for me… But the vast variation within a dancefloor friendly framework makes up for that… I guess what I’m trying to say is, that this is a solid compilation… I like how we get a mix of different styles here – from uplifting morning trance w/proggy roots and melodic, floating downbeat – to acid-ridden, full-power, nocturnal hyper-trance… That’s a great mix for the most part!

Also let me take a minute to comment on the very classy artwork here… Alaska from France sure knows his graphix and this is absolutely stunning… Well done! Yeah, Red Cells Records has pretty much hit the spot here… With only a couple of less good tracks, I like everything about this compilation… Already I’m looking forward to the next one compiled by DJ Saykoyan called Ultim Atom… Bring it on! This compilation is recommended for fans of full-power, nocturnal hyper-trance and intelligent dance music in general… Enjoy!

Favourites: 3(!!), 6(!!), 7(!!), 8, 9

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