The psychedelic trance outfit
Astral Projection have gained respect and sales as one of the best in their field despite their base in Israel, far afield from the European dance mainstream. The group evolved from a production partnership involving childhood friends
Avi Nissim and
Lior Perlmutter, each of whom were DJs in Israel's dance/industrial scene of the late '80s before beginning their production careers in 1989. One year later, "Monster Mania" (recorded as SFX) became a club hit after being released on Belgium's Music Man label. The duo spent time living in New York running their own X-Rave, but returned to Israel by 1994.
Nissim and
Perlmutter founded another label named Outmosphere, which became Trust in Trance by 1995.
Initially, the label was strictly a compilation-oriented venture; also in 1995, the pair issued the first volume in an ongoing series (
Trust in Trance: Psychedelic Vibes) that featured many of their own productions -- including the first as
Astral Projection. The second in the series did well on the Israeli charts, while the third volume broke them in Europe as well, earning re-release on the British trance label TIP (it appeared as the single-artist album
Trust in Trance as
Astral Projection).
Nissim and
Perlmutter soon jettisoned the compilation concept and released their first true
Astral Projection album,
Dancing Galaxy. It became one of the best-selling trance albums in history after its release in 1997.
Another World followed in 1999 and
Astral Scene the following year.
Nissim and
Perlmutter also reissued their early SFX recordings on
The Unreleased Tracks 89-94 and released a DJ album,
In the Mix.~ John Bush, All Music Guide