The 20th edition of the Trance Nation CD series is here, this time including a mix by German trance specialist Alex M.O.R.P.H. Presenting a few previously unreleased gems, the tracklisting looks rather promising… Read on for a full review.

The first edition of the Trance Nation CD compilations was released years ago and included a mix by its founders, Heller & Enkie. They kept on mixing one of the CD’s in all of the editions that followed, and asked a guest DJ to do an exclusive mix for the other CD each time. The last two guest mixes were done by André Visior and Woody van Eyden, both bringing a nice blend of some of the most upfront trance tracks during that particular moment.
Another key feature of the TN series is that there is always a 3rd CD included, which contains about 10 full-length tracks in full CD quality.

As said, Alex M.O.R.P.H. has been chosen to provide us with an exclusive DJ mix this time. Having developed his own distinctive style of energetic trance during the past few years, Alex provided us with tunes like ‘Maximum Overdrive’, ‘Consequence’, ‘Creatures’ and his more recent ‘Flaming Clouds’ and ‘Unification’. All of them were picked up very well by the world’s leading DJ’s, setting dancefloors on fire on a global scale. CD01 starts off with a sparkling new track by him, so let’s find out what it’s like…

CD01 – Mixed by Alex M.O.R.P.H.
A chilled intro with soft female choir chants and some cool ambient effects are being warped into the sound spectrum right at the beginning of this first CD. Exclusive stuff al the way here, because the first track that is being brought in is a special TN20 Edit of Alex’s upcoming single ‘New Harvest’. If you’ve heard earlier productions by him, you know what to expect: full on mainroom energetic trance, this time with a somewhat different synth than before. Building and building itself up during the break, it unleashes all of its vengeance during the main climatic part. To be released on Fenology soon! As the first tune starts building itself off step by step, subtle elements of the next track start fading in. The mixing is done in a very nice way; I barely heard the other track coming in. Evolve’s ‘Safe To Dream’ in the Thrillseekers remix is what we’re listening to now, a softer trancer with a big-room guitar riff in the break. After the energetic blast that ‘New Harvest’ was, this brings a somewhat more relaxed vibe during the beginning of the CD. Tkac & Haverlik’s ‘Synthia’ is up next. Seems like Alex tried to slow things down a bit here, because this is a more progressive oriented track with a quite inventive use of basses and a nice array of FX. Somewhere around the middle of the track, you will hear some new elements being taken in step by step, guaranteeing the next track to be mixed in flawlessly.

‘Paroxetine’ is a production by the same guys who are behind the Inner & Outer project, with which they have released ‘Reaching’ on one of Armada’s sublabels. Things start to shapen up in a more trancy way here, mainly because of the use of an emotive, but still driving melodic rhythm during the build. Repeating portions of synth guide us along in the breakdown, only to be followed by the nice percussion and a more powerful version of the build-melody. Quite the track! More trance emerges, ‘cause Ridgewalkers feat. El – ‘Find’ starts to settle its hi-hats just in between the ones from the previous track. I’m glad Alex chose the Kyau vs. Albert remix here, because the other mixes would have taken out the more trancy flow that is here right now I think. Anyway, I think most of you know this track already: the Andy Moor remix has been hammered to death by all the major jocks, with Kyau vs. Albert bringing us a more energetic interpretation of the track. The catchy vocals and tight percussion make this one a useful tool in building up a full on trancy mix, and that’s exactly what Alex is doing here! Seems like he likes Kyau and his mate Albert by the way, because the next track is their ‘Falling Anywhere’. This is the B-side to the widely received ‘Made Of Sun’, but is definitely not a bad track! A just slightly Asian sounding melody drives the track onwards, sounding a bit too much like the ‘everyday’ trance we get treated with a lot these days. This also seems to be the first track on the CD that eventually gets to its second climax as well!

Next up is the follow-up to Pulser’s massive ‘My Religion’, which was released back in 2003. ‘Square One’ uses them very distinctive synths we know Pulser for, but it doesn’t create the amazingly emotional feeling that ‘My Religion’ brought upon me to be honest. An OK track which surely has a cool things in there, but can’t seem to stand out from the rest. One thing that definitely catches my attention when listening to the CD is the utterly flawless mixing: of course this is a prerequisite for a mix-CD, but the way in which it’s done here certainly keeps the atmosphere at its best level. The sinister sounding ‘Vampire’ by Shane 54 got revamped (see the word-joke?) by the guys from NU NRG, who made this a truly great piece of vocal, yet still highly melodic trance. The main melody from the original mix has been washed away in a very cool manner, resulting in a damn fine remix by these Italian producers once again. The Scandinavia based producer Mike Shiver deserved a place on here as well with his Madeira – ‘Solaris’. With the bleeps from the previous track still playing on at the background, this track kickstarts itself with a rather driving feel to it. This is totally different than Mike’s usual productions: no standard way-too-long breaks, but just plain banging by using a really cool melody backed by these nice sounding guitars. Very nice! Highs, mids and basses are being adjusted on the mixer to bring in Duende’s ‘Amor De Dios’, a track which was released recently on Plastic Angel’s Afterglow label. This is the first mix I’m not too fond of; everything is aligned perfectly, but the build from ‘Amor De Dios’ kicks in very suddenly after a short silence in ‘Solaris’. This decreases the amount of drive in the mix just a bit, but luckily this is being compensated by the nice amount of agility that is there in track 10. With a bassy, chord-changing melody playing during the break, suddenly a massive hands-in-the-air synth enters, playing a shiny melody throughout the rest of the track.

Alex brought along his labelmate and friend Woody van Eyden as well, because 'SI-N+R-JE' is the next track on our dinner plates. Hold on to your forks and spoons tightly, because this is still one massive track! For the ones who’ve read my review for this one as well, you know what to expect; a beautiful classical melody, followed by this fabulous accompanying melody during the break, getting ready to blast everything to pieces. Seems like everything is totally on a roll now, because the track being mixed in is the Alex M.O.R.P.H. remix for another Fenology release, namely Mindcrusher – ‘Vision05’! The key factor in this one is the simple, yet very effective melody in the break that is being energized, decompressed and built in one of the most tension-building ways I heard this year. With me still being excited about the 2 tracks we just heard, Octagen’s interpretation of Sayla’s ‘Second Thoughts’ comes in. This is a release on the Dutch Dedicated label, which has been bringing us a constant flow of quality trancers the last couple of months. This one’s no exception: it’s not overly melodic, but still works out nicely by using a warping, rather cool melody throughout most of its body. John Askew delivers one of his more recent remixes in the next track ‘Restricted Motion’; guided onwards by the typical Askew style, a not too original melody comes in eventually during the break. It does have a nice load of energy emerging from it, but is too standard too grab my full attention. Mysterious samples, strange melodies and a very cool vibe are the main elements in the last track on this CD, 'Dame Blanche'. John “00” Fleming worked together with M.I.K.E. on this one, and with John’s mix closing off this mix, we have ourselves an amazing ending here. A somewhat spooky, but still a bit ambient breakdown brings you to a dark melody which is changing chords all the time for maximum listener pleasure. This first CD went by like a storm, and you know what they say: time flies when you’re having fun…

CD02 – Mixed by Heller & Enkie
Time for the Trance Nation residents to bring us their mix! Things are starting off by a track called ‘These Are The Days’ by Quivver. A progressive tune with a superbly relaxing atmosphere, being completed by a nice use of acoustic instruments and well worked out male vocals. Though I don’t like male vox most of the time, these do work for me: there’s a nice bit of emotion in there and they flow along nicely with the rest of the track. Continuing in a true vocal style, the next track is Gabriel & Dresden’s remix of Rachael Starr’s ‘Till There Was You’. G&D have brought us some really big (vocal) remixes during the past time, and this one’s no exception! A more electro kind of vibe is being projected in this one, with a very cool repeating high synth during the build and a cool breakbeaty use of the percussion. The vocals are not too sophisticated or deep, but certainly work out. You’re waiting for the climax to emerge during kind of the whole track, and when it finally comes in you’ll definitely be satisfied ;-).

Jezper Söderlund (Airbase) brings us another vocal track under his alias Inner State, called ‘Changes’ in the next track. During the mixes, you can hear that the order of the tracks has been thought out very well; they fit into each other perfectly, enabling the X-factor to emerge in no-time. While the first two tunes could be called more progressive, this third one hops on the trance wagon by bringing a tighter and somewhat faster build. During the break, a few subtle melodies come in, and at the first ‘climax’ the vocals emerge in their full shape. I don’t like them that much, as they are kind of standard and just don’t have that right feeling to them. The main melody in the second part of the track is nice though, and enables us to proceed to Probspot’s remix of Endre – ‘I Kill For You’. The mixing is just as it should be; not too short, but with nice slices of the upcoming track being put in element after element to complete the package. Probspot’s productions are always very recognizable because of the whoompy bass line and fast hi-hats, always creating a nice drive. A cute piano melody is being introduced during the rest of the track, enabling this one to be a nice filler in between the more vocal tunes and the energetic stuff that is to come…

The somewhat older ‘Voller Sterne’ by Mirco de Govia has been remixed by Super 8, and he succeeded in bringing a nice bit of pure uplifting madness. With the break consisting of some nice strings and tiny vocal snippets, the main melody typifies the style this track has been built around. It’s nice, but leans a bit too much to the standard trance if you know what I mean. After a tight mix the track ‘Ignition, Sequence, Start!’ by Ferry’s System F. alias comes in. While this was available on the System F. album quite a while ago, a full vinyl release has been issued a couple of months ago, including the Solid Globe remix which is being presented here. This is a totally different kind of trance than the previous track: it sounds more oldschool, still retaining parts of the main melody from the original. While it’s not too driving, it surely can keep up with the rest of the tracks on the CD by the certain kind of ‘specialty’ it brings with it. The highly overplayed ‘Made Of Sun’ by Kyau vs. Albert follows as the next track. This has been played for months now by all the major jocks, but I still haven’t been able to really like it. There’s a lot of people who will disagree with me on this one though. In my opinion, the vocals are too ‘whiny’ and the overall vibe doesn’t really do, well, anything to me. I also noticed that the pitch is still at a rather low level; let’s see if they fix this in the remaining half…

The next offering is Heller & Enkie’s own ‘So Many Times’, which is a definite vocal driven track. A quite original approach has been used here; the vocals are not your everyday stuff, but have this certain catchy thing swirling over them, quite nice! On the other hand, at a certain point in the track things start to bore me a bit. Luckily, the next track is being brought in, being Marcos’ ‘Cosmic String’. This is a peak-time trancer with a quite cool melody, and that’s exactly why it’s been played by the likes of Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk for ages. Steve Hellstrip (aka The Thrillseekers) and Tim Stark are the responsible artists for ‘Absolut’ which is being brought to our ears in the Astura remix. While the original is kind of ‘minimal’, this remix engages a tad more uplifting approach. The main melody has been reworked with a piano leading it onwards, but the mega-injection of energy that we got in the original’s breakdown has been left out, unfortunately. Just when the melody starts to annoy me a bit, the mix to Malgosia’s ‘The Theme’ commences. A track in true Solid Globe style with a rather original use of synths and that trademark percussion we’re used to from them. One very cool thing about this one is the more techy approach it takes during the break; while previous Solid Globe productions were more melodic, this one does its thing with simple synth stabs changing chords every now and then.

While most of the mix hasn’t been to energetic until now, things change when ‘Energy Reflect’ by Vincent de Moor’s Flashbang project enters. This is a wonderful track: Vincent always knows how to play with melodies in an amazing way, and this one definitely does that exact same thing again! It’s a shame though that the tracks are mixed in such a way that you can’t really hear ‘Energy Reflect’s build-up, but oh well, you can’t have everything, can you? Allright, and now for the oddest transition on this CD: the pre-last track is Probspot’s (yeah, again) remix of ‘Jump The Next Train’ by the Young Parisians. While VDM’s track is full-on energetic trance, this one goes back to where the CD started. The overall track is not bad, but I think that Heller & Enkie could have throw in a couple more pure trance tracks at the end of this mix. Interstate’s ‘I Found You’ closes off the whole thing, being a track with a very nice set of vocals in a remix by Harry Lemon. Some say this one’s the ATRC killer, though I think it’s ‘just a cool track’.

CD03 – Trance Nation Anthems
This bonus CD contains 10 full length tracks, all being other mixes from tracks we already heard on one of the two mix CD’s. Quite a nice addition really, especially for the people who like to mix with CD players!

Here's the full tracklisting to complete the review:

CD1 – DJ MIX BY ALEX M.O.R.P.H.
01. Alex M.O.R.P.H.: New Harvest (Exclusive TN 20 Intro Mix)
02. Evolve: Safe To Dream (Thrillseekers Remix)
03. Tkac & Haverlik: Synthia
04. Zehavi & Rand: Paroxetine (Original Mix)
05. Ridgewalkers feat. El: Find (Kyau vs. Albert Remix)
06. Kyau vs. Albert: Falling Anywhere (Rework)
07. Pulser: Square One (Original Mix)
08. Shane 54: Vampire (Nu NRG Remix)
09. Mike Shiver pres. Madeira: Solaris (Original Mix)
10. Duende: Amor de Dios (Original Mix)
11. Woody van Eyden: SI-N+R-JE (Original Funaki Mix)
12. Mindcrusher: Vision05 (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
13. Sayla: Second Thoughts (Octagen Remix)
14. John O`Callaghan & Bryan Kearney: Restricted Motion (John Askew`s Discover Clubbing Remix)
15. John “00” Fleming vs. M.I.K.E.: Dame Blanche (John “00” Fleming Mix)

CD2 – DJ MIX BY HELLER & ENKIE
01. Quivver: These Are The Days (Vocal Mix)
02. Rachael Starr: Till There Was You (Gabriel & Dresden Remix)
03. Inner State: Changes (Original Mix)
04. Endre: I Kill For You (Probspot Remix)
05. Mirco de Govia: Voller Sterne (Super 8 Remix)
06. System F.: Ignition, Sequence, Start! (Solid Globe Remix)
07. Kyau vs. Albert: Made Of Sun (KvA Hard Dub)
08. Heller & Enkie vs. Gadjo: So Many Times (H&E’s Widespread Mix)
09. Marcos: Cosmic String (Original Mix)
10. Rapid Eye: Absolute (Astura Remix)
11. Solid Globe: Malgosia - The Theme
12. Vincent de Moor pres. Flashbang: Energy Reflect
13. Young Parisians: Jump The Next Train (Probspot Remix)
14. Interstate: I Found You (Harry Lemon Remix)

CD3 – TRANCE NATION ANTHEMS
01. Ridgewalkers feat. El: Find (Andy Moor Remix)
02. Inner State: Changes (John O’Callaghan Remix)
03. Young Parisians: Jump The Next Train (Kyau vs. Albert Remix)
04. Mirco de Govia: Voller Sterne (Mirco de Govia Remix)
05. System F.: Ignition, Sequence, Start! (Original Mix)
06. Marcos: Cosmic Strings (Marc van Linden Remix)
07. Endre: I Kill For You (Original Mix)
08. Heller & Enkie vs. Gadjo: So Many Times (H&E’s Widespread Dub)
09. Woody van Eyden: SI-N+R-JE (Genix Remix)
10. Rachael Starr: Till There Was You (John Creamer & Stephane K. Clubmix)

Conclusion:
If I had to choose between the two mixes, I’d go for the one by Alex M.O.R.P.H. It’s loads more energetic than the other one and has a bunch of amazing tracks on it. The mixing has been done in a very nice way, ensuring the overall flow of the mix to be magnificent.
Heller & Enkie’s mix will suit the people who like a lot of vocals in their tracks. The track selection is OK, though the order could have been better (especially near the end). On the other hand, the mixing is as it should be. All in all another worthy edition of the Trance Nation series, let’s see what they will come up with next!