Tech Trance

Tech trance is a subgenre of trance that emerged in the mid-1990s by fusing trance's euphoric melodic build with the harder, more mechanical drive of techno. Dutch producer *Marco V* is regarded as its forefather: his V.ision EPs set the blueprint of pounding kick drums, aggressive basslines, distorted synth riffs and breakdowns engineered for peak hours. The style favours rawer sound design and heavier grooves over the polished euphoria of mainstream trance, and it shaped the harder edge of 2000s club music through producers such as *Sander van Doorn*, *Richard Durand* and *Marcel Woods*.