Heck of a leap here, going from the earliest hard trance out of Germany, to the latest hard trance out of the Netherlands. Yet I can't help but regard the two a little similar. In their respective eras, both are quite niche, a sound primarily enjoyed by a select few in specialized scenes.
And you may think, how can that be true of In Trance We Trust? Isn't trance still the biggest gateway genre with guys like Armin van Buuren as popular as ever? His brand of barely-trance, sure, but that's not what we have here, Menno's style far too beefed up on steroid beats to be of any service for the masses. Why, all these breakdowns and builds actually lead to something, a propulsive explosion forward, none of that anti-drop business Dutch house is saturated with. This is 'second-room' music, the former domain of d'n'b at raves, now occupied by 140 BPM eurotrance because some folks just have energy to spare, and ain't no way the plodding bollocks played in main rooms will cut it.
Heck, Menno opens this edition of the label's mix CD series with psy trance! Well, as close to psy trance as we could ever expect. With its full-on bassline, spacey synth leads, and occasional wibbly fills, GMO's Forty-Two is honestly rather generic for prog-psy, but loads more interesting as an opener than nearly anything I've heard out of In Trance We Trust. That's followed by a Liquid Soul & Zyce rub on Paul Oakenfold's Full Moon Party that's rather goa-leaning itself. Yes, that Oakenfold, when he re-dabbled a bit in goa a decade ago. Goodness, are we in for a complete re-invention of the In Trance We Trust brand, bringing psy to the party in a bid to maintain underground cred? Heck, I see a Flowjob track among the label's recent singles!
Yeah, no, Menno's own Ananda bringing things back to the usual sounds we're familiar with. Actually, this tune reminds me more of older In Trance We Trust, with a solid, strident hook and all, but even that bit of nostalgia bait (plus another updated remix of Beautiful Things) quickly succumbs to the 'steroid trance'. As I've said before, I don't mind this stuff too much, so long as the breakdowns don't last long, and the mastering gives some room for the synths to breathe. There's a few tracks in here that are hilariously bricked though (dear Lord, does Amir Hussain's Mana ever sound buried under the over-driven beats), and I can't help but start checking
So In Trance We Trust 022, despite the slight hint/tease of evolution at the start, is mostly more of the same from Menno's relaunch of the label. I like it better than where its been, but still feel it's only three-fourths of all that it could be. Needs to rid itself of tired eurotrance tropes, methinks.
ACE TRACKS:
Paul Oakenfold - Full Moon Party (Liquid Soul & Zyce Remix)
Menno De Jong - Ananda
Alex Di Stefano - My Shadow
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