Trance was Chris & Cosey’s second album as a duo, and expands upon their prior work as founding members of sonic terrorists Throbbing Gristle. Trance is a soundtrack to our cyberpunk past, present, and future, a brilliant showcase of Chris Carter’s ingenious electronic tinkering and Cosey Fanni Tutti’s straddling of the oh so thin line between high and low culture. “Cowboys in Cuba” is a hazy soundscape beset by marauding percussion and squalls of analog tones. “The Giant’s Feet” begins in near silence, percussion and distorted voices sounding like they’re echoing through and endless cluster of haunted subterranean tunnels. “Re-Education Through Labor” uses sampling in a similar fashion to early OMD tracks but with a far more harrowing and claustrophobic effect, vocals turned into percussive snippets orbiting a massive, throbbing kick. Black-clad folks of endless ages and backgrounds have been trying for decades to make a synthesizer record as good as this one, and while some have come close, they have never achieved the auditory wonder of his masterpiece. This pressing features the audio from the 2010 remastered edition, and is pressed on gold colored vinyl. Includes a 2 sided printed insert with newspaper and magazine clippings from the era, giving a neat look into the context of this album’s original release. Highly recommended.

• gold colored vinyl pressing
  
• includes printed insert with images of vintage press clippings 
• limited edition
• also available: Chris & Cosey: Songs Of Love & Lust (Colored Vinyl) Vinyl LP, Chris & Cosey: Heartbeat (Colored Vinyl) Vinyl LP
• music label: Conspiracy International 2019

reviewed by GRISTLEIZER 01/2020