by Joshua Glazer
Along with global trance phenomenon Tiesto, Ferry Corsten hails from the Netherlands. Both men are leading the current trance pack with a sound that is tough and rugged while still remaining ethereal and spacy. On Corsten's second mix CD for American heavyweight Moonshine, there is no dark and soulful progressive house to be found. While many of the U.K.'s top &trance& DJs have moved on to the deeper sound, Corsten stands behind the histrionic power of the arpeggio melody and endless drum rolls. The beats incessantly push forward at a steady 140 bpm while dirty analog sounds cut through the heavenly atmospherics. This is peak hours trance intensity. As is standard in trance, records are played for almost their entire length, making programming far more important than technical mixing. However, Corsten produced or remixed four of the 12 tracks, proving that he is more than just a fortunate poster boy, moving the faders across the mixer. This mix is everything that people love about trance. It is also everything that others hate about it. No one's opinion will be turned in either direction after hearing this CD, but for those who do favor the trance sound, it is a strong mix that undoubtedly gets the blood pumping.