Australia’s queen of hard dance has returned with the tenth instalment of her Mixology CD series, serving up a triple disc set of trance and hard dance. Although Bexta has been working the progressive/tech trance sound for the past few years, she’s shows us on this album that she hasn’t forgotten her hard dance roots, as she covers loads of territory across the three individual discs.

Disc one focuses on the ‘Sounds of Now’ with the freshest club tracks doing the rounds at the moment. With names like Markus Schulz, Remo-Con, Leon Boiler, Marcel Woods, and Sander Van Doorn, plus Aussies Steve Black and some of Bexta’s own killer tracks, this set encapsulates the sound now you’re most likely to hear when you see Bexta play. Stand outs include UK’s Richard Durand, who just recently toured down under with Godskitchen, and his take on Way Out Wests’ The Fall and Tiesto’s Break My Fall – he is truly awesome at the moment and one to watch! Marco V’s remix of Higher State of Consciousness however was an inclusion I felt wasn’t necessary, yet I love that Bexta’s huge classic One for the Road is making a comeback with a trancier edge – I have fond memories of dancing hard to that at Adventjah raves in Brissie back in the day.

Disc two is chock a block with ‘Trance Anthems’ weaved together to form a storming mix with tracks that never seem to feel old, such as Rank 1’s Airwave, Zombie Nation’s Kernkraft 400, Binary Finary’s 1998 alongside with re-works of classics. Although some choices are questionable as “anthems”, it’s still consistent enough to keep you hooked.

Disc three is a ‘Tribute to Hard Dance’ and is in one word: banging! Starting off strong with DJ Scot Project’s O (Overdrive) and DJ Misjah & DJ Tim’s Access, the disc gets harder and harder by the minute. With tracks from Yakooza, Remo-Con, Walt, DJ Wag plus one of the hardest DJs in the scene right now, DJ Zany, this is not for the faint-hearted. Throw in two of Bexta’s own absolute bangers, Silent Dance and Angel and you’ll find yourself gasping for breathe as you try to keep up with this set.

It’s great to see that Bexta still has what it takes to produce solid mixed CDs that can get you all worked up in your own home. Although I’m not really into the way hard dance has headed lately as it’s been lacking enough melody or bounciness (or maybe I’m just getting too old?), Bexta pulls out some great numbers from trance and hard trance on disc one and two. Her sound has certainly grown up since her earlier days and she is still one to watch in the Australian hard dance/trance scene. A great compilation to add to your Mixology collection, it’s also good if you’re too young to remember Bexta from the good old rave beginnings.