The wait is finally over, Cortex Thrill aka Ivo T. Montina returns to his Bonzai home, after 20 years on hiatus, with the retro laced upfront progressive house cut Mitochondria. Ivo launched his Cortex Thrill project in 1993 on Loving Ed Records, but he was soon picked up by the expanding Bonzai Records in 1994 with his debut – Intro. A string of classic hard trance, trance and techno EP’s (Duction, Infiltration and Euphoria) followed – along with a quality remix for Jones & Stephenson’s First Rebirth – and it was during this time that he was joined by studio partner Sven Gleda. In 1995 the guys took a break and returned in 2001 with releases on various labels including the album The First Contact Death Star on Croatian label Dancing Bear. As Sven pursues other projects, Ivo took the decision to revamp Cortex Thrill and the results are simply stunning. Even though it’s been 20 years since his last Bonzai release, he is in tune with the quality sound the label offers today. As if his return isn’t good news enough, Ivo is committed to delivering more of his unique sound in future release, something we very much look forward to. For now though we invite you to Mitochondria and its two superb remixes from Fabian Jakopetz and RBA.

First up is the Original Mix and straight away you get locked on to the solid progressive groove it has to offer. After a series of synth shots and FX the track opens up into a full on driving progger full of chunky beats and a superb, deep rolling bassline. Cortex Thrill’s distinctive 90’s sound can be found within the swirling pads and the underlying acid vibe. Cool vocals are littered throughout and add to the multi layered textures of the sound. Big and ballsy stuff that straddles the border with trance, top notch indeed.

Another returnee to the Bonzai stable, Fabian Jakopetz joins us on remix duties. He is no stranger to Bonzai with a raft of releases across many of its labels and he has over 100 releases on other various labels with support from around the world. It was back in 2012 when we last seen this guy when he joined forces with Dub Way on Mellow Mode (Bonzai Basiks). Great to see him back for more and we’ve no doubt that this remix will top many charts and playlists. Here Fabian takes us on a wonderfully rich tech house trip complete with tribal drums and a superb synth section. The drums stand out brilliantly and are led by a thumping kick drum while crispy hats and various other percussions work their magic to deliver a solid rhythm. The synth play is outstanding with a myriad of sounds converging to create a real sense of darkness. Excellent stuff once more from this super talented artist, not to be missed.

RBA debuts on Bonzai Progressive with a superb remix that is dripping with serious progressive vibes. On the remix here we get drawn into a deep progressive groove right from the get go. The intro boasts a pulsing bass note that hooks you in before a chunky kick drum comes along and gets things moving. Organic fuelled synths dish out a wonderfully textured riff that is mixed brilliantly with the superb vocals and gritty bass tones. A deep, dark monster for sure, this one will turn a few heads.

#cortexthrill #bonzaiprogressive #fabianjakopetz #rba