Acid Trance
tagStarted early 1990sPeak 1992–1997Last big hit late 1990s
Acid trance is trance shot through with the Roland TB-303’s liquid squelch: spiraling resonance, hypnotic looping, and rave propulsion with an extra chemical shimmer. It is often more repetitive and druggy than melodic uplift, with a harder edge and a distinctly 1990s sense of sweaty futurism.
History
The style emerged as acid house mutated into harder continental forms and met the early trance current in Germany, Belgium, and the UK. Hardfloor, Union Jack, Emmanuel Top, Jam & Spoon, and related acts made it one of trance’s foundational rave branches, and its signature bassline behavior still echoes in modern raw and hard-trance revivals.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Beatport’s trance history.