Hardwave

Hardwave is a festival-oriented offshoot of wave music that emerged in the late 2010s. It hardens wave's template — reese basses, icy synthesiser pads and trap-derived drums — with trance and hardstyle elements: anthemic supersaw leads, euphoric build-and-drop structures, four-on-the-floor climaxes and cleaner, louder production. Developed by Perth producers *Skeler* and *Ytho* from 2017, and spread through the #Liquid Ritual# and #Wavemob# networks, hardwave abandons most of wave's hip hop influence for a purely electronic, DJ-driven sound designed for clubs and festival main stages rather than headphones.