The Trance Energy tour touches down in Australia this weekend, jetting in direct from Holland, and for local trance enthusiasts it’s been a long time coming. From the initial announcement late last year, the ‘big reveal’ of that stunning lineup in January, to looking on with green-eyed envy at the spectacular original event in Holland a few weeks ago; if this party doesn’t turn out to be awesome, a lot of us will probably be so disappointed we’ll turn our back on the trance scene altogether. But since there’s so little chance of that happening, let’s turn our attention to the official Trance Energy compilation. It, unlike a lot of other similar tie-in releases we’ve suffered, is the real deal. A whopping triple-CD compilation, it’s got two of the tour’s international trance guns on mixing duties in the form of Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson, as well as a disc from one of Australia’s most credible local players Trent McDermott. Already sounds pretty good from the outset, doesn’t it?

NYC native Sean Tyas’s offering is the most traditional of the three discs, but with many of his own elite productions featured, it illustrates even the straight shooters need to be guns in the studio to cut it in the trance scene these days. His current single Seven Weeks gets things rolling, and those familiar piano melodies pretty much scream ‘Tyas’, but the it’s also a tune that sees him stretching his legs into some exciting new territory. And this sets the trend for the entire CD: a solid collection of big-room dancefloor weapons that keep it straightforward, while still pushing out against the edges a bit. The big, powerful euphoric drive is his specialty; a track like Melbourne will be loaded with significance for many on choice of title alone, but it really does show how polished he is at crafting uplifting anthems. Still, it’s a disc with a few patchy moments in terms of mixing, and it’s lacking in the programming department too. Lots of big tunes, but not enough glue to hold it all together.

Simon Patterson kicks off the second disc with the techy rhythms of Matt Zo, making his intentions clear from the outset: tough, tech-heavy beats with an extra injection of euphoric melody, and he plays off the tension between the two beautifully. Ronski Speed’s Revolving Door is a slammin’ tension builder, tech-trance heavyweight John O’Callaghan gets in on the action with a remix that chugs even harder, before Patterson lets rip with the pure, unbridled euphoria of Adymas Kaleidoscope. He tears through to the business end of the mix with several of his own superb productions, including the immense Thump and his remix of Sander van Doorn’s Roundabout, a psytrance-influenced belter that promptly wins Patterson the crown for most impressive mix among the three. His sound has just got so much drive, but we’ll leave it up to the man himself to explain: “Nails, pure nails.”

Melbourne DJ/producer Trent McDermott’s disc is the most progressive of the bunch, with the uplifting melodies complimented by plenty of deeper grooves, and some particularly harsh techno-influenced productions. The disc is at its most accessible with Martin Roth’s melodic remix of Oceanlab’s Breaking Ties, and at its most uncompromising with Marcus Schossow’s rerub of SVD’s Apple. Even more tech heavy that Simon Patterson’s CD, the emphasis here is more on the markedly slower BPMs of tech house and minimal, with McDermott taking it way deep. It’s a clever strategy that ensures he stands out. He makes an impressive contribution to the overall credibility of the release, and reminds us that no, this isn’t just an overseas compilation that’s been repackaged for the Australian market. Trent McDermott is a Aussie name to watch, alongside inthemix50 #1 Tydi, and the two actually share studio duties on their remix of Trance Energy 2009 theme L.E.D. There Be Light, which makes for a fitting conclusion to the mix.

How much longer can the good times keep rolling? There’s so many talented young DJ/producers working their asses off to ensure trance keeps the same momentum it has enjoyed in the last 18 months, but it’s inevitable the energy will be squeezed out again at some point. Until that happens though, we’ve got a massive Australian tour to look forward to and also an excellent companion CD. Far from a shameless cash in, the Australian Trance Energy compilation is the real deal and shows how authentically ID&T is linked to the underground trance scene. Now just bring on the Easter Long Weekend already, because the anticipation is killing me.

Trance Energy hits the stores this weekend through Generationext & Stomp. Make sure you check out ITM’s Festival Page for more news, interviews, mixes, clips and more and have a look at the tracklist across the three CDs…

Disk 1 : Sean Tyas

1. Sean Tyas – Seven Weeks
2. Ferry Corsten – Made Of Love (Push Remix)
3. Ronski Speed – Aural Slave (Thomas Datt Remix)
4. Sean Tyas – Rulebook
5. Signum – Second Wave (Sean Tyas’ Third Wave Mix)
6. Andy Blueman – Sea Tides
7. Activa Vs Chris & Matt Kidd – Ur (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
8. Vast Vision Feat. Fisher – Everything (Aly & Fila Remix)
9. Push – Interference (Sean Tyas Remix)
10. Aled Mann – To The End (Last Mann Standing Remix)
11. Sean Tyas – Melbourne (Original Mix)
12. Christian Zechner – November Mourning
13. Sean Tyas – I Remember Now (Teaser Outro Edit)

Disk 2: Simon Patterson

1. Matt Zo – Lucky Strike
2. Ronski Speed – Revolving Door
3. Project Fnp – Buzzed Up (J.O.C Remix)
4. Genix – Solus
5. Push – Dream (8 Wonders Remix)
6. Tom Colontonio – Mercury Retrograde (Ottaviani Remix)
7. Dreas Vs Alex Robert – Mormugao
8. Adymus – Kaleidscope Eyes
9. Tyas & Patterson – For The Most Part
10. Sam Sharp – Roundabout (Simon Patterson Remix)
11. Simon Patterson – Thump
12. Simon Patterson – Always
13. Fkn Featuring Jahala – Still Time (Aly & Fila Remix)

Disk 3: Trent Mcdermott
1. Above & Beyond Pres. Oceanlab – Breaking Ties (Martin Roth Remix)
2. John Askew – Nothing Left Between Us (Duderstadt Extended Progressive Dub Mix)
3. Meck Feat. Dino – So Strong (Inpetto Dub)
4. Sander Van Doorn – Apple (Marcus Schossow Remix)
5. Jochen Miller – Face Value (Jonas Stenberg Remix)
6. Vincent De Moor – Fly Away (Cosmic Gate Remix)
7. Wippenberg – Chakalaka (Sphaera’s Boom Chakalaka Remix)
8. Maarten De Jong – Mono (J.O.C. Remix)
9. Miller & Divini – Many Years (Vox Mix)
10. W & W – Dome
11. Michael Tsukerman – My Name Is Sawtooth (Sebastian Brandt Remix)
12. Thomas Bronzwaer – Certitude
13. Rank 1 – L.E.D. There Be Light (Tydi & Trent Mcdermott Remix)