Tikal (Vincent & Manuel Bernal) from France came as a huge positive surprise for the worlwide psytrance scene last year when they released their debut album (Ritual Cycle) on the Italian based full on label Neurobiotic Records. They gave us some fresh full on for a change, with new ideas and more variation. Now they are out with their second album called Carnaval with a pretty funny cover art, also this time on Neurobiotic. The first track on this album is some kind of intro track. It starts with a very cheesy voice and some flute. The flute is nice, but the voice ruins it for me. Then we get some quite typical Tikal sounds, before the full on beat starts pumping. But, the cheesy voice followes the track. Clubby trance that will hit the masses, but for me, this is way too fluffy. The melody in this one reminds me actually of pure pop trance! Not very good welcoming... Track 2 gets better. It starts nice with a long intro with some birds singing etc. Then a drifting, full on bassline hits in. Nice, ethnic influences and not too fluffy ingredients. Sort of the style we got on their debut album. A lot of variation... Track 3 starts with several weird voice samples, scratching etc. Then we get thrown into a full on drift, tribal drums etc. A massive melody sneaks in and it sounds quite trippy, but this melody might sound a little bit too fluffy to some people. The rest of the ingredients we get here are pretty nice. Especially the female vocals. We get a lot of variation all the way as usual from these guys, which is a nice change from most other full on these days. Definately a favourite on this album. Track 4 is a track originally made by Silicon Sound (Johannes Regnier), also from France, but here we get a remix done by Tikal. This track goes a very clubby direction, and way too fluffy for my taste. Here we get all the usual full on club trance ingredients that we have heard way too many times lately, such as cheesy melodies and guitar samples... Track 5 has a typical Tikal, full on drift, but still with some clubby vibes in there. But, they saves it with some nice variation and massive production. A track that for sure will make people move on the dance floors this summer. Track 6 starts really chilled, with a quite long intro. Here we get a really clubby melody. Pretty easy digestible full on. Too bad, because I really like parts on the track, but they sort of ruins it with cheese for the masses. Track 7 is a short track that goes a pretty funny, different way, which bring us straight to a carnaval in Brazil. Brazilian drums and trumpets, mixed into a massive, full on bassline. The Brazilian carnaval vibes continues in track 8, and it easily goes a little bit over the top. But, this can for sure make some fun at a party. This is actually the last full on track on this album. Track 9 is a more slow down tempo track with some kind of big beat influences. We also get some sitar sounds from the east. Quite different, massive track with some kind of dramatic vibe. The last track they serve us on this album is a chill out track. It’s quite melancholic, with the sound of violin. Pretty nice track, but in my opinion these guys make better full on than chill out. Theses guys are for sure talented with a lot of ideas and creativity. But, I want to compare them a little bit with another strong French full on group called Bio-Tonic. They are both full of ideas and creativity, but they put a little bit too much of it in their tracks, and instead of going deeper, the result is often fluffier. I like a lot of their ideas, but most of these tracks goes over the top. I’m sure many people will like this album, but personally I prefer their first one.