Ten years ago progressive house was on a downward slide into a deep black hole that was sucking all the fun and energy off the dancefloors of the world. Virtually every DJ on the planet was attempting to replicate John Digweed and Jimmy Van M but few were succeeding. The joy and euphoria of progressive trance had disappeared as every serious progressive DJ understandably tried to put as much distance between themselves and the senseless post-Gatecrasher nightmare that trance had become.

Into this dark world, Steve Lawler brought a version of progressive music that was so full of energy it was a joy to behold. He called this series Lights Out and it contained relentless tribal drums, powerful shimmering basslines and a deep, twisted devil’s trance. Suddenly progressive music was spitting dark magic with venom.

A decade after that first release, Steve is back in the tribal groove again. To showcase his modern adaptation of the genre, Steve has released this Lights Out Decade mix, and if you’ve ever heard any of the original Lights Out mixes, you’ll know that this release has an enormous reputation to live up to. The burning question of course is, has he managed it?

If I was being harsh I’d say the opening of the first mix was uninspiring, but I think a fairer way to describe it would be downtempo. Including the usual intro ‘track’, almost nothing happens apart from percussive rhythms until the back end of the fourth track – I must say that even for a fan of drums, this does seem to be a little bit of overkill. When the energy finally does arrive, it comes in fits and starts, as Steve toys with the listener so as to keep them guessing a bit longer about his direction. Tribal drums are definitely there in abundance but at times there is a camp feeling about the music that makes me feel that Steve is definitely targeting a gay audience.

Then suddenly, about halfway through the first mix, Steve suddenly kicks things up a gear as rolling tribal drums build the tempo and the intensity, with the wonderfully named Bubbling Bafoon. Although tribal in nature, the music is definitely ‘house’ music rather than his earlier energetic version of progressive music. While the original discs were full of dark, pounding basslines that tore your body apart almost from the outset, at this point in the mix the energy and melody comes almost exclusively from the percussion. One exception to this rule of drums is the gorgeous and quite brilliant Ostalgia, which does a great job of bringing some wonderful melody and a more playful element to the mix.

Although slow to start, the back end of the first album is exceptionally good; in fact, the back end of the first disc contains a solid run of quality music, programmed and sequenced in an outstandingly clever way. It appears clear, to me at least, that Steve has thought long and hard about how this mix should unfold and I have to admit I’m rather impressed. The music rolls along at a fair pace and would be absolutely amazing on the dancefloor. I played this album whilst exercising and I completely lost track of time as the music worked its magic and filled me with the sort of hypnotic energy I needed. Try listening to Osalund by Omid without moving – it’s virtually impossible – and I love music that causes me to get lost in the moment.

A quick reintroduction starts the second disc and things start off on an interesting note. Give Me a Direction is one of those tracks to which I took an instant dislike, but slowly and surely it brought me around. I’m not sure whether it was the attempts to work out the vocals that resulted in my being intrigued, or something else; but once you’ve heard it a few times I hope you’ll appreciate it as much as I now do.

Steve quickly ramps up the tempo, but once again, as with the first disc the energy is all in the percussion; the basslines and melody are either non-existent or buried so deep that they’re drowned out by drums, layered upon drums, layered upon drums. Then, just when I’m losing interest, Steve slams down two of the best tracks on the entire mix with 3 Minutes, followed immediately by Lower East Side. Suddenly, driving basslines are tearing through my mind and some of the old Lights Out magic is back!

The album continues to roll along in some style for the rest of the second disc, with Steve showcasing a tightly mixed set of dancefloor-oriented tribal house. It is infectious to listen to and should get anyone off their posterior and out onto the dance floor, but therein lays the rub. This is definitely an album designed to make you dance when you feel so inclined, rather than, I feel, an album for repeat listening. The original Lights Out series took the tribal base and layered energy, melody and a large dollop of magic to make it something beyond special.

What the latest Decade release has done is take that tribal base and layer more tribal sounds on top of it, until you end up with a great tribal house album – but not something with the beautifully nasty element of Lights Out. Now, don’t get me wrong – this is a very, very good album, in fact I’ll say it’s a great album. Personally, I feel that this wholly-tribal feel is more in keeping with Steve’s earlier Dark Drums series than Lights Out, and if you know your Lawler history, you’ll understand that is actually a compliment.

Lights Out Decade is out now on VIVa MUSiC.