#68 Feat. Staff Picks in Trance (Main Floor)

Throughout his entire professional music career, and even long before that as a listener and a beginner DJ, Roman Messer has always loved and cherished trance music, and especially uplifting trance if he had to pick his one true love. Being the closest thing in Roman's book to the elusive label of 'true trance' if there is one, uplifting trance and closely related sounds always held a special place in the artist's heart. But anyone with more than a couple years of listening to the genre under their belt can attest: trends in trance can change faster than seasons do. There is always a exciting new sound to explore for a producer, or an inspiration from outside the genre that results in something fresh and quirky, there's always room for personal growth as an artist by broadening your production skills, there's always a song idea coming from a vocalist that would work great as a mellow progressive tune... In other words, it can be rather hard - and, one might argue, even detrimental - to pigeonhole yourself into one particular style or sound throughout your entire career. It is no surprise then, and certainly no crime, that Roman Messer's four earlier studio albums covered a very wide spectrum of sound that could broadly be described as modern trance music in general and even some things on its fringes. But the time has finally come to pay a proper tribute to 'the' true trance sound that Roman has always loved. 'For All Time', Roman Messer's brand new fifth studio album, is all about that profound majestic feeling of flight which, arguably, only uplifting trance can give you. What might seem like a career anniversary milestone celebration of some sort - after all, Roman's brainchild Suanda Music turned 10 years old this year, and his professional career as a producer with signed releases is only about a year older than that - is, in fact, a project that's been in the making since long before 2023. Long-time followers undoubtedly took note of Roman's overall focus on uplifting trance lately, and he even reworked some of his biggest progressive anthems into supercharged 'Full Fire' versions over the last few years. Glancing at the album's tracklist, one might notice a couple of tracks that were first presented all the way back in 2020; indeed, every now and then, Roman put a special track or two aside for the uplifting trance album that he had been planning, with work on said album really picking up the pace once the producer fully devoted his studio time to the project. A risky one, perhaps, according to his own admission - after all, the world of trance has plenty of styles and there's always a chance that listeners might prefer more variety on an LP - but a very deliberate one, as Roman felt he was long overdue to pay tribute to the sound that he loves and share this love with his like-minded followers and proselytize the more sceptical ones. Apart from Roman's own solo productions, 'For All Time' sees a fair share of his collaborations with musicians ranging from Roman's own all-time trance idols, like Alex M.O.R.P.H., Emma Hewitt, Roxanne Emery and Christina Novelli, to rising stars that he himself helped grow through his own earlier productions and through his label. Vocalists like Cari, Joe Jury and Diandra Faye saw a surge in their own popularity and demand in the trance scene after working with Roman, while artists like Skyvol and NoMosk are among Roman's favorite producer talents at the moment and are tipped by him to have a very promising future ahead with their excellent sound. Something else that connects Roman's album to the surrounding trance scene is the inclusion of his versions of some of his personal favorite classics throughout the years. The vocal anthems 'Silence' and 'Need To Feel Loved' have always been among Roman's most cherished trance works, and although the producer was initially hesitant to rework them fearing that he wouldn't be able to do them justice, the end results proved very popular with the trance crowd, ending up being some of his most in-demand tracks lately. A self-admitted bold experiment - complete with a fully solo open-to-close club night to celebrate its launch, which isn't done all that often in trance music these days - and a heartfelt love letter to the genre that shaped Roman's own tastes and his music career. Full of sonic adventures through the landscape of modern uplifting trance from start to finish, 'For All Time' is intended to, you guessed it, stand the test of time and remain one of the centerpieces of Roman's discography for years to come.

Roman Messer, Emma Hewitt, Diandra Faye, Davey Asprey, Joe Jury, Jaki Nelson, Six Mists, Roxanne Emery, Alex M.O.R.P.H., NoMosk, Christina Novelli, Skyvol, Cari