199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008     back | search     56: Yahel STYLE: Trance KNOWN FOR: My trance anthem 'Voyage'. TUNE OF 2008: Yahel & Tammy feat Riko 'Fear Of The Dark' PRODUCER OF 2008: Chakra First record you ever bought? LFO 'LFO' Weirdest thing you've seen all year? It's too hard to say! Top gadget of 2008? Roland VG-99. It's a USB guitar effect that lets you play different sounds with the guitar. Very cool for live shows. Most important thing you've learned this year? How to mix properly!  Music from Yahel Israel's trance artists have a habit of keeping up a fairly prolific production rate. Amidst all their frantic touring, Infected Mushroom still manage to squeeze out one LP every two years but not even they have hit the eighth album landmark that Tel Aviv's Yahel has just truck. "I'm just putting the finishing touches to my new album 'Xport,'" explains Yahel. "I'm about to mix down the final track and will be sending the master away tomorrow. By the time you read this it should be in the stores." Streaming a diverse blend of global and ethnic influences through his pulsing trademark trance groove, 'Xport' begins with Yahel's uplifting interpretation on Iron Maiden's dad metal anthem 'Fear Of The Dark' - the sort of psy-metal hybrid that fans of Infected Mushroom will like. Yet unlike many of his compatriots, it's not unknown for Yahel's soaring compositions to find their way into the boxes of Ferry, Tiësto, PvD and Armin, with his 2000 epic 'Voyage' famously snapped up by the In Trance We Trust label. Yahel continues to make a mark on the UK trance scene with regular sets at London's Gallery. He also transported his washing melodies to Korea for the first time this year. But for Yahel there's still no place like home. "Most people might not see Israel as a party place but for me there's no better place to play and party in the world," he tells DJmag. "It's a way of life for us." Words: Allan McGrath