*Disclaimer*: This review is a bit over the top, but I wanted to try something different here. It’s a great album but I ended up with language that’s a bit over the top and flowery. It’s over the top, I know. Just read it and respond in the comments!

“Hello World”, aptly titled perhaps. As the curtain draws open, it is clear we are in for a sonic journey of a new kind. Over a bed of lush symphonic sounds, the melody sprinkles like a light rain, washing away the sins of yesterday. The chants drowned out (RE: “trance is dead”), but we don’t care.

We came here to dance.

Both for the brain, and for the hips, this one is unique. Opening up new thoughts, you haven’t thought, you don’t give care because you just want to move to the beat. This album could be picked apart and praised for its technical feats, or you could just enjoy the beats.

Nhato, the young Japanese trance producer, is making waves with his fresh sound. It’s cliché to say some of those things, but this is frankly the truth right here. Whether you’re home grooving along, or under the lights and LEDs, this release marks the arrival of Nhato. With support from Armin Van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Paul van Dyk, and a Beatport #1 hit with “Far East Garden,” Etude marks his first album release and is going to make his way into the hearts and souls of trance fans around the world.

Blending elements of electro, progressive house, progressive trance, and techno, Nhato balances the sounds into a masterful tapestry of sounds that is at once simplistic (in the best and most digestible of ways) and rich with texture. Between the first few electro influenced tracks like “Hello World” “Gossip” or “Asuka”, and “Chamelonic” to the more Donna Summers-esque vocal samples of “4th Planet” or anthems like “Another Morning”, Nhato uses the LP format to give an expose on the varying styles and breeds he makes.

As “4th Planet” asks “Can you feel it?” Why yes, I most certainly do feel it. Nhato’s tracks are sure to destroy dancefloors as the rest of the world will catch on. Nhato isn’t limited by trance’s seemingly more than ever niche appeal, and instead stretches those limitations. In perhaps pure trance form, Nhato’s collaboration with fellow Japanese producer Hiroyuki ODA entitled “Moonquake” represents a throwback trance track inspired by dark Tokyo nights, long car rides into the night, and of course the feeling of ecstasy. Featured on Armin Van Buuren’s #568 A State Of Trance (ASOT), “Moonquake” will be the track that reigns in even the purest of tranceheads and will be in many top sets the rest of this summer as more DJs catch on.

With a total of 10 tracks, there isn’t one I’d call “filler;” Each track brings a new dimension of Nhato’s frontier sound and as such, I am not going to do it justice in this review. I have tried, but simply, this is explaining colors to a blind man. Grab the album tomorrow when it drops on Nhato’s label Otographic and LessThan3.

We’ve got two tracks here for your free downloading pleasure, but still make sure to get the whole album!

“Hello World” [audio:http://files.electrojams.com/Trance/nhato/01%20Hello%20World.mp3][download]

“Moonquake” (Ft. Hiroyuki ODA)[audio:http://files.electrojams.com/Trance/nhato/07%20Moonquake%20feat.%20Hiroyuki%20ODA.mp3][download]

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Born and raised in NYC, a full-time student in the Towson/Baltimore, I’ve had a wealth of experience in electronic music. I’ve DJ’d parties and on the radio, and am an aficionado all things Electronic Music with a passion for art in general. If you have any questions, concerns, comments, you can email me with inquiries and demos at 808sJake@gmail.com And you can follow me on twitter! @808sJake Follow my music taste on last.fm too! http://www.last.fm/user/Jake0617 doandroidsdance.com