Adrenalin – Take One – Phonokol

Once in a while an album comes through with absolutely no accompanying press information which makes someone like me sweat because there’s no concrete basis to start out a review with. Just as well the music speaks for itself.

Astrix & Atomic Pulse kick things off with Noise Freak, a chummy trancer with nice melodies and a divine breakdown that lets the melodies crash in with a nice sunshine vibe. Slightly cheesy yes, but it didn’t stop me grooving around nicely with a grin on my face as, spookily, the rain stopped and the sun came out (really.)

Zorba feat. Chicago’s Into (And Thru) The Vortex is more psychedelic, but still with a killer melody – a nice high-end over some tight percussion gets the blood pumping and the energy flowing nicely, and as before the breakdown signals the start of a cute and infectious melodic run with added growl and twist.

Yahel’s Tribal Maker is and always was a little over the top for my liking, with a soaring melody borrowed from Paul van Dyk with snarls borrowed from GMS, and while it works it’s more of a nodding tribute to the two sounds than anything else. Heads and arms are down pointed firmly at the organic roots with Xerox & Passenger’s Free Zone, a circular groove with delightful acid tweaks and a huge 303 breakdown giving way to one of the nicest acid-led peaks this side of 1997.

Panick’s Soul Calibur is a reverb-heavy filtered tweakathon, with a rising low-set melody driving things home in true Israeli fashion, and Lish’s Electric growls along nicely in his usual chuggy style. Twin and Ultima step in with largely unremarkable offerings, and it’s down to Yahel again with his remix of Infected Mushroom’s S Is Here, where he pulls out all the stops, again venturing cheesewards as he inevitably will, but creating nonetheless a likeable and satisfying bit of trance.

A likeable and worthy compilation, heavy on the melody and the more traditional elements of the Israeli sound.