Activa - Collabs & Bits EP [Borderline]

[aSeb]

Once again a very solid EP from Rob/Borderline. Delta and Lakota are wonderful tunes and that Mac & Monday remix might be the track of the year for me.

Amazing.

 

[Exodom]

Wow these are all seriously good. Borderline on fire again this year. We need an Activa album or new Movements comp asap

 

[Juna]

Delta: 8.5/10
Pandemonium: 7.5/10
Lakota: 9/10
Outlander: 8/10

 

[Aquarium]

Man, these are fantastic. Lakota had me closin the eyes.

 

[Mikey]

Added these to my Spotify playlist last week, some great stuff here. Lakota has been a proper grower too!

Originally when I saw the title of the EP I was hoping Twilight and his Remix of Spectre’s Evolution would be on here as they’re still not out yet, but we still got some nice gems here anyway

 

[Sean Cong]

A very solid release.

The first one that really caught my ear was the Outlander remix. It catches the soul of the original, and provides with a very deep and "bouncy"(?) feeling to the track, making me remind of Mac & Monday - People Can Fly. It makes people want to dance. I have tried mixing it in 130bpm, it also works well in housey sets. I don't like the first 8 bars of the drop, but it's totally amazing. 8.5/10 for me.

The second one is Pandemonium. It seems like Activa has produced Anamara for a 3rd time. (1st: Anamara, 2nd: From Within, 3rd: Pandemonium)
I'm personally fond of these Anamara-ish tracks, but this one is not as amazing as Anamara or From Within. 7/10.

The melodies of the first track sounds too mainstream for me, I just couldn't get it, probably because of my own preferences somehow, so I may give a 6.5/10. The rhythm/percussion and the bassline are good.
(apologies for the lower score, my average rating is pretty low too, 7.5 pts is enough for me to love it and listen to it over and over again)

Lakota is very good in structure and sound design, but this track is not as intense as I expect it could be, I may possibly increase its BPM in my sets. I will give this one a higher score of 7.5/10.

 

[Air_Water]

Another quality borderline drop. This has got to be one of the best years in trance in a decade or more.

 

[Perpetuous dreamer]

Straight forward modern trance but done well. Lakota and Outlander my picks, but I do like the simplicity of Pandemonium. Reminds me of something.

 

[SaltAcidFatHeatAcid]

Just listened to this one all the way through. All four have that something something I usually find modern tracks lacking. It's like they all stumbled on the missing ingredient in subtlety and build that's been missing (even in most Borderline releases). Great tempos too to connect prog and faster stuff. If I had to pick one, it would be the Mac and Monday release. What a groovy track. Prob hitting my top 5 of the year right now. Lakota prob my second, can't place that sample but I know it for sure.

 

[Manofearth]

Lakota and the M&M remix for me as well. The whole release is good.

 

[Progrez]

Those Bandcamp samples are terrible mastering/quality. Delta has a really nice melody. Reminds me a bit of Ways of Nimbus or Ways and Means

 

[ChurRuy]

Those Bandcamp samples are terrible mastering/quality

I can assure you the sound is top quality on purchase, they all sound excellent.