Biography
Cosma was the project of Israeli producer Avihen Livne, from Kiryat Bialik near Haifa. He began producing trance in the late 1990s after first working in the duo Diablo, then moved into solo production under the Cosma name. His early music appeared at a moment when Israeli psytrance was rapidly changing, and he stood out for combining strong dance-floor construction with a softer, more emotional sense of melody and space.
The debut album Simplicity established Cosma as one of the most promising producers of his generation. His second album, Nonstop, was completed around the time of his death in a motorcycle accident in Goa in February 2003. The tragedy froze a career that was still developing quickly, but it also left behind a compact catalogue whose production style remained unusually forward-looking.
Cosma is often remembered because the music avoided the obvious extremes of its era. It could be powerful without becoming blunt, melodic without becoming sentimental, and progressive without losing psychedelic tension. That balance made Livne an important reference for later Israeli progressive psytrance and ensured that the Cosma catalogue continued to circulate long after his death.
Origins of Cosma
Cosma followed Livne’s earlier involvement in the Israeli project Diablo and emerged as his own production identity around the turn of the millennium.
Early career
Early releases appeared in the Israeli Psytrance network before the debut album Simplicity established Cosma internationally.
How the career developed
Simplicity appeared in 2001; Livne then spent 2001–2002 building Nonstop and preparing a world tour. His death occurred shortly before the album’s release.
Cosma sound
Melodic and progressive psychedelic trance with emotional harmonic writing, clean low-end and spacious arrangement. Cosma’s work sits between early-2000s Israeli Psytrance and the progressive direction that became more prominent later.
Place in psytrance history
Despite a very short career, Cosma is repeatedly described by HOMmega and specialist Psytrance histories as a distinctive, emotionally resonant talent whose tracks continued to be played long after his death.
Connections and influence
Related artists, labels and topics: Diablo; HOMmega Productions; Domestic; Psytrance; Israeli scene.
Cosma today
Historical/deceased. HOMmega continues to maintain the catalogue and released Nonstop (Remastered) in 2023 while explicitly preserving the original 2003 album chronology.
How the sound changed over time
Selected releases in the archive
Related projects and collaborations
Artists with overlapping styles
Oforia
Ofer Dikovsky’s long-running Israeli psytrance project, linking the 1990s Goa era with later Full-On and modern psychedelic production.
Space Cat
Avi Algranati’s veteran Israeli project, bridging the early Goa scene with melodic, acid-rich Full-On Psytrance.
Animato
Animato is Patrick Chen’s post-PTX Psytrance project, launched in late 2012 as his music moved toward a smoother, lower-tempo Progressive Psytrance direction while retaining psychedelic dancefloor energy.
Astrix
Israeli producer Avi Shmailov’s long-running Psytrance project, known for combining large-scale dancefloor power with detailed psychedelic production and melodic writing.
BLT
Yuli Fershtat’s original Psytrance identity, active before Perfect Stranger and central to his late-1990s and early-2000s catalogue.
Freedom Fighters
Shahaf Efrat’s Israeli psychedelic project, blending Progressive Psytrance with darker, techno-influenced and experimental directions.