Acid Trance

Acid trance was one of the initial first-wave Trance offshots, having its major popularity on European areas in the early 1990s but especially in Belgium. It was modeled after the combination of Acid House basslines (which were popularized with that genre back then) and psychedelic elements with trance's evolving structure. The modulation of the 303 bass is an important element since it gives the genre's own rhythmic atmosphere, when compared to classic trance's mellower, busier and arpeggiated nature. The genre started declining in popularity since the mid 90s, but led into being a strong influence for future subgenres. Two were especially Goa Trance and Psytrance, using the acid beats from the genre and adding more eclectic samples and instrumentations, especially in the former, while the minimalist repetition and surrealism was furtherly employed in psytrance. Hard Trance also used the acid basslines from the genre into a more upbeat and sometimes distorted result.