Astral Projection (group)

Astral Projection are an electronic musical group producing psychedelic trance and goa trance music. They are based in Israel. Its members are Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter, although they started out with Yaniv Haviv and Guy Sabbag as well. In addition to an extensive discography (mostly with their own record company, Trust in Trance, which later merged with Phonokol, although they used Transient in the very beginning and for the re-release of "Trust in Trance 3" under their own name), the group has an extensive worldwide touring schedule.

History

A precursor to Astral Projection, "SFX" was started in Israel in 1989 and originally consisted of Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter. They made a hit single in 1991 named "Monster Mania", which prompted them to start working on an album. This was stopped however, as they decided to travel to New York and try their luck there. While Avi quickly went back home, Lior stayed in the USA and in 1992 released the single "JBIE". In 1993, with Lior still in the US, Avi teamed up with Yaniv Haviv and Guy Sabbag and they released the single "Another World". In early 1994, Lior returned to Israel to work on his own material with the rest of the guys under their new label Trust in Trance. After this release Guy decided to leave the group and they eventually changed their name to Astral Projection.

They have produced 9 albums, the most recent of which is "Ten", released in 2004.With their fast-paced, innovative style, Astral Projection have created such hits as “Kabalah”, “People Can Fly”, “Mahadeva” and “Dancing Galaxy”.

Astral Projection make “full-on trance” combined with goa elements today. Fans of goa-trance claim that Astral Projection has lost their distinctive sound in favor of the “full on trance” style. However, their last two tracks “Open Society” and “The Prophecy” have been greeted more enthusiastically by goa-trance fans, causing renewed interest among goa-trance fans in their new album "Open Society" due on late January - early February 2009.

Discography

* "Trust in Trance 1" (Outmosphere Records/Phonokol 1994)
* "Trust in Trance 2" (Outmosphere Records/Phonokol 1995)
* "Trust in Trance 3" (Trust in Trance Records/Phonokol 1996) (TIP World UK release)**
* "The Astral Files" (Trust in Trance Records/Phonokol 1996) (Transient Recs euro version)*
* "Dancing Galaxy" (Trust in Trance Records/Phonokol 1997) (Transient Recs euro version)
* "Another World" (Trust in Trance Records/Phonokol 1999) (Transient Recs euro version) *
* "In the Mix" (Trust in Trance Records/Phonokol 2000) (Transient Recs euro version)*
* "Amen" (Phonokol 2002) (Transient Recs euro version)*
* "Ten" (Phonokol 2004) (Transient Recs euro version)*

* – released in the UK by London based Transient records, a friendly label of Trust in Trance, its just a European version for European market

** – released by another London based label TIP World in 1996 as ‘Trust in Trance’

As of this writing Astral Projection is getting ready to release their new album titled Open Society late January - early February 2009

External links

* [http://www.astral-projection.com/ Astral-Projection.com] (Official Website)
* [http://www.myspace.com/astralprojectionavilior Astral Projection] (myspace)
* [http://www.phonokol.com/ Phonokol Records]
* [http://www.isratrance.com/www/artists/showartistdetails.php?a_id=1 Band history]