Enigma State - Of The Essence (Artist Album) [Transtate Records]

[HTY]

I all but abandoned this kind of uplfiting and melodic trance music in favor of the deeper stuff, but your'e the first producer in the modern period who makes me pay attention again and find something to like about it.

But I can't pretend I am completely satisfied. I see differences with what you do and the past music, including the sound design, which I know you are praised for here a lot, and I understand that, as you are miles above the rest, but my ears don't lie it is still not hitting the sound design heights of other classics of a similar style. I switched between your tracks and some older ones it is noticeable, mostly with the synths and how more pinched and 'high' everything sounds. The whole track dyamics sound one step below, there's no warmth. When you change between tracks from the different eras you hear it. To me this is one more sign that technology at some point in the pipeline of modern music creation and exporting is at fault. They did not have this problem in the past.

I also think you could choose better, less obvious synths and melody patterns. It all feels very 'done to death' kind of stuff, like out of the 1000 synth choices you have, were still getting the same obvious ones again. That's fine here and there, but given how talented you are, I hope to see more inventive patterns and synth choices. Mijmering is good example. I also think the kick strays too close into the "steroid" territory in some tracks.

All thismight be interpretted as negative nitpicking, but this small stuff makes a difference I believe.

 

[m_st]

i like what you have done. I feel I experience many different producers influence, or should I being saying 'essence', come through strongly

 

[DazTC]

7 pages pretty much full of praise, track of the week on the forum, the CD completely sold out, then one comment which has of course been liked by a lurking Daysleeper. Take from that what you will Nath'

 

[NameLessYet]

Forgot to post this. Congratulations for the sold out! Lucky to have bought mine.

By the way, I remember the album was at No.9 at the Beatport Trance Top 100 releases maybe yesterday, but I forgot to take a screenshot.

 

[Trance4Ever]

I all but abandoned this kind of uplfiting and melodic trance music in favor of the deeper stuff, but your'e the first producer in the modern period who makes me pay attention again and find something to like about it.

But I can't pretend I am completely satisfied. I see differences with what you do and the past music, including the sound design, which I know you are praised for here a lot, and I understand that, as you are miles above the rest, but my ears don't lie it is still not hitting the sound design heights of other classics of a similar style. I switched between your tracks and some older ones it is noticeable, mostly with the synths and how more pinched and 'high' everything sounds. The whole track dyamics sound one step below, there's no warmth. When you change between tracks from the different eras you hear it. To me this is one more sign that technology at some point in the pipeline of modern music creation and exporting is at fault. They did not have this problem in the past.

I also think you could choose better, less obvious synths and melody patterns. It all feels very 'done to death' kind of stuff, like out of the 1000 synth choices you have, were still getting the same obvious ones again. That's fine here and there, but given how talented you are, I hope to see more inventive patterns and synth choices. Mijmering is good example. I also think the kick strays too close into the "steroid" territory in some tracks.

All thismight be interpretted as negative nitpicking, but this small stuff makes a difference I believe.

Sounds much warmer than current stuff, you're comparing it with old classics from different era mate, of course it's going to sound like that during a-b.

I don't think people will be asking for his stuff to be remastered in 10 years from now like we do for some real 'old' classics.

 

[EnigmaState]

Forgot to post this. Congratulations for the sold out! Lucky to have bought mine.

By the way, I remember the album was at No.9 at the Beatport Trance Top 100 releases maybe yesterday, but I forgot to take a screenshot.

There you go

 

[Magdelayna]

I all but abandoned this kind of uplfiting and melodic trance music in favor of the deeper stuff, but your'e the first producer in the modern period who makes me pay attention again and find something to like about it.

But I can't pretend I am completely satisfied. I see differences with what you do and the past music, including the sound design, which I know you are praised for here a lot, and I understand that, as you are miles above the rest, but my ears don't lie it is still not hitting the sound design heights of other classics of a similar style. I switched between your tracks and some older ones it is noticeable, mostly with the synths and how more pinched and 'high' everything sounds. The whole track dyamics sound one step below, there's no warmth. When you change between tracks from the different eras you hear it. To me this is one more sign that technology at some point in the pipeline of modern music creation and exporting is at fault. They did not have this problem in the past.

I also think you could choose better, less obvious synths and melody patterns. It all feels very 'done to death' kind of stuff, like out of the 1000 synth choices you have, were still getting the same obvious ones again. That's fine here and there, but given how talented you are, I hope to see more inventive patterns and synth choices. Mijmering is good example. I also think the kick strays too close into the "steroid" territory in some tracks.

All thismight be interpretted as negative nitpicking, but this small stuff makes a difference I believe.

Producers are simply not going to use the 'soft' kicks of '99 classics anymore....i think you need a bit more 'oomph' nowadays so a producers track can mix with modern stuff,even though they are producing in a classic style. Its a sad fact really,but it just goes to show how 'loud' modern tracks have become. I often try to mix 99 stuff with modern tracks - you end up increasing the volume by +3 db,which is not ideal - and even then the old stuff still sounds really quiet.

 

[Progrez]

Producers are simply not going to use the 'soft' kicks of '99 classics anymore....i think you need a bit more 'oomph' nowadays so a producers track can mix with modern stuff,even though they are producing in a classic style. Its a sad fact really,but it just goes to show how 'loud' modern tracks have become. I often try to mix 99 stuff with modern tracks - you end up increasing the volume by +3 db,which is not ideal - and even then the old stuff still sounds really quiet.

But we would love to hear more dreamy and lush tracks like in the past. The whole reason why I got into the genre was because it sounded amazing at home. I never cared for the club scene because I don't drink alcohol and plus my body is saying no to late night as well. By the way, I have been to clubs and this is going to piss off some people but going to clubs/festivals is overrated and I hated it mainly because I am sensitive to loud noise and because I could not hear the tracks being played because they were super loud.

 

[TRANCEBLASTER]

I also think you could choose better, less obvious synths and melody patterns. It all feels very 'done to death' kind of stuff, like out of the 1000 synth choices you have, were still getting the same obvious ones again. That's fine here and there, but given how talented you are, I hope to see more inventive patterns and synth choices. Mijmering is good example. I also think the kick strays too close into the "steroid" territory in some tracks.

+1

'Discover Way' sounds the most old skool for me and 'Wanting' is my personal favourite from the album.. the rest sounds very 2003/2004ish, which were not my favourite years for Trance music. overall nice sound design, keep up the good work

 

[Exodom]

Wanting is one of the best tracks I have heard in so long. Discover Way also blew me away.

 

[Dmoore]

There was no doubt in my mind this was going to be a bloody banger of an album. One listen and I'm hooked on Wanting and Essence of Life. This is what trance is all about.

 

[Hensmon]

One more totw coming your way. This time Discover Way.

Discover Way

 

[Spacetime]

I am very happy with the album and how it turned out. Looks to be well received which makes me happy as well, as I want Trance music like this to thrive again. Imagine turning into the release section here and each week we had music like this to sift through and discover. We can only hope.

 

[Magdelayna]

Just purchased the album! My overall favourtite track would be LSD or XTC - for me,its the 'darkest' track on the album,and has a great Push sound to it - also,i think the vocal sample works really well.

Notable mentions are Emotions and Illuminate,i think they are two of the strongest melodies on the album.

Theres still nothing that captured my heart when i first heard 'In My Fantasy' in terms of pure brilliant melody - but i suppose that was a true one off!

 

[EnigmaState]

Just purchased the album! My overall favourtite track would be LSD or XTC - for me,its the 'darkest' track on the album,and has a great Push sound to it - also,i think the vocal sample works really well.

Notable mentions are Emotions and Illuminate,i think they are two of the strongest melodies on the album.

Theres still nothing that captured my heart when i first heard 'In My Fantasy' in terms of pure brilliant melody - but i suppose that was a true one off!

In My Fantasy was a fluke Easier to tell myself that than to try and do the same again, otherwise ill never make music

 

[Air_Water]

I also think you could choose better, less obvious synths and melody patterns. It all feels very 'done to death' kind of stuff, like out of the 1000 synth choices you have, were still getting the same obvious ones again. That's fine here and there, but given how talented you are, I hope to see more inventive patterns and synth choices. Mijmering is good example. I also think the kick strays too close into the "steroid" territory in some tracks.

I've always liked coming to this forum and seeing the more critical takes on the scene but this statement from you is miss in my eyes, so feel like pitching in with an alt perspective

Firstly I would say there is a good amount of synth variation, every track is different and has its own identity. Can you usually say that for a Trance albums? Listen to Thrillseekers or Digital Blonde recent albums and you will find less variation than you do here. This is true for so many artist albums actually. Secondly as Enigma State wrote, this is about capturing the "essence" of old trance, so using those known and nostalgic classic sounds, even if very typical, makes sense to me and I have no issue with that goal of recapturing and being inspired by what you love. Some of the melodies in this album are great and I find that more important than the choice of synth. I know the scene is not as it was, but I believe this is one of the most varied and interesting set of tracks we've had from one artist in as long as I can remember. I really think he's pushing things forward positively here.

 

[Contraband]

For uplifting trance in 2025 it doesn't get much better than this. After some listens this week I'd say LSD, Discovery and Essence are my top 3.

 

[NameLessYet]

CD copies have arrived at China, and many thanks for the sincere letter! It really means a lot to us. @EnigmaState

Although I have bought one myself (unfortunately it was stuck at Danish customs for 4 days), there is also one copy in the picture is mine. I was afraid of the high shipping and VAT at that time, so I also bought one together with my friends (but finally I bought another one direct to me).

"还没有" is me, means "not yet", as my Chinese media account name is called "还没有想好取什么名字", means "Not think out a name yet" haha.

By the way, Lawn @Lawn Jarre is in the forum too, just posted his new track, a remix with Balearic and Thrillseekers vibe of a 'hyper trance' track . Hope friends here like it. Also here: space_angel @angelspace, RespectOWL @respectowl, Shivace @Shivace and 灵秀之韵 @Sean Cong.

 

[Shivace]

Just got the "Of the Essence" CD from @Lawn Jarre , And it came way faster than I expected—even quicker than @NameLessYet in Denmark got his, which is wild. Maybe Lawn's bought so many CDs and vinyls too often that customs just sees his name and goes, "Oh, it's that CD kid—let it through!" jk.
I’ve been listening to this album non-stop lately. Even though this year’s shaping up to be a big Trance year with artists like Solarstone dropping albums, I still think this one’s gonna be a top contender for my album of the year (and I bet lots of folks here in the forum feel the same).
Shoutout to @EnigmaState for this banger and can’t wait for more. Meanwhile, thanks for the enthusiastic letter! I haven't received any letters after high school, so this really touches me a lot. (This plastic packaging was added by Lawn)

 

[HTY]

Firstly I would say there is a good amount of synth variation, every track is different and has its own identity. Can you usually say that for a Trance albums? Listen to Thrillseekers or Digital Blonde recent albums and you will find less variation than you do here. This is true for so many artist albums actually. Secondly as Enigma State wrote, this is about capturing the "essence" of old trance, so using those known and nostalgic classic sounds, even if very typical, makes sense to me and I have no issue with that goal of recapturing and being inspired by what you love. Some of the melodies in this album are great and I find that more important than the choice of synth. I know the scene is not as it was, but I believe this is one of the most varied and interesting set of tracks we've had from one artist in as long as I can remember. I really think he's pushing things forward positively here.

This is a fair comment, I agree it actually is more diverse in sounds than I implied. I think I came off too strong in my criticism. I like the album overall, just am not blown away by it, and mostly thats because of the sound design, which is a B+, but not an A+, like I hope for. Still, I encourage future releases from Enigma State bring more creativity to the melodic stuff, and not just homage the more simple nostalgic riffs.