Psychedelic trance (often referred to as psy trance) is a form of trance music (a style of electronic music), developed in the late 1990s. Trance has a fast beat, in the range 125 to 150 beats per minute (bpm), compared to ambient trance music and other forms like house and techno. It has a strong bass sound that beats continuously without change and is overlaid by many other rhythms, often made with the famous Roland TB-303.
Psychedelic trance as a term is used very ambigiously and almost synomously with the name Goa trance. There is no consensus distinction or definition for these two terms. Some for example, began to use the term psychedelic trance to distinguish the newer material made by artists which were formally known to have been Goa trance artists, but the new material by these artists was more minimalist, and less melodic. Others use the term Goa trance to simply distinguish those pieces which seem to incorporate more eastern or Indian melodies, to distinguish those which don't incorporate such elements which they would call psychedelic trance.
This type of trance is popular in the UK, but is a truly global phenomenon, and interestingly there is an underrepresentation of American artists, although Israeli artists are well represented. Developing out of the late 1990s UK outdoor festival scene through artists such as TimeShard and Eat Static, both on the Planet Dog record Label. As of 2002 many Japanese artists have started to take in this genre from the influence of UK DJs.
The club and dance scenes world wide have been using psychedelic trance in performances along with Goa trance, ambient trance, progressive trance, and minimalist trance. The mixture of Goa and psychedelic trance music is the popular kind of trance performance to many trance listeners. Psychedelic trance can be considered an offshoot of Goa trance.
Popular artists that make psychedelic trance include Astral Projection, Space Tribe, Infected Mushroom, Atmos, Total Eclipse, Cosmosis and Simon Posford. Psychedelic trance is often played at outdoor festivals. People at these festivals sometimes consume psychedelic drugs like LSD ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. The festivals often take place over a few days with music being played 24 hours a day.
