Originally released under the Li Kwan tag almost ten years ago, “Point Zero” was in its time a groundbreaking track for the burgeoning Trance movement. Acting as a blueprint for countless later producers with its wealth of electronic images that rise with uplifting fury until crashing through flurries of breakbeats into vast beatless spaces, “Point Zero” effectively still works as a club track today.
Darey’s continued developing his musical ideas with the eeriness of the twanging synth riff on “Possessed,” a track he released as Lost Tribe, that he then emphasizes with distorted vocal samples in a style that is memorable for its unsettling beauty and makes a fitting companion to the to the dreamlike Sandler Mix of Darey’s “Nocturnal Delight.”
“Beautiful” is one of the two singles embellished by the vocals of Marcella Woods, with her powerful voice carrying the hypnotically simplistic lyric through the sea of crashing synth lines. The other track featuring Woods, “Liberation 2004,” gives her the space to unleash her talents with greater power. Here Woods draws the listener in with her majestically luring tone, as if she was a light shining in a dark and frenzied storm, a strength that makes for the highlight of this EP. And as a bonus, the videos for “Beautiful” and an earlier track “U Shine On” are included as well.
Oddly, the track order listed on the sleeve of the promo copy is completely incorrect, but whether or not the finished copies have been corrected, this is still a worthy release for all Trance fans. Three and a half stars
