Tsunami [Audio CD] Various Artists; Infected Mushroom; X-Dream; Zorba; Chakra and I-Zen

Kinetic Records presents 10 tracks hand-picked by the Tsunami trance organization, which has been around since 1996. While not actually mixed, there does seem to be some thought put into the overall flow. Starting on the oceanic tip with Zorba's "The Deep" and Chakra's "Deliverance" (complete with the noise of a depth sounder on methamphetaminic overdrive), the tone gets momentarily darker, with the ghostly breakdowns of I-Zen's "Voices" and Saiko-Pod's "Magnetic Force." The BPMs go skyward and the mood goes manic with Total Eclipse's "Psychedelic Terrorist." X-Dream's aptly titled "Aspirin" buzzes in for a very momentary breather until it too marches forward with military precision into Oforia's flanged-out "Special Offer." Yahel's "Reality," opening with some dub-ish goings-on, becomes a nice hands-in-the-air stormer. It's almost too bad that the record doesn't end there, as Infected Mushroom's "Symphonatic" and Morphem's "Hypnotone" seem to have too much and too little to say respectively. --Bob Michaels