Total '90s Recall Part 1 - Hard Trance (2026)

Martin van Zeelandt / TCD
4 days ago
3 min read

Today it's all about Trance music. The previous review was focussed on classic Trance anthems, and this one goes a tad faster, and more heavier. Obviously, if you have read the title, you know it's all about Hard Trance, and as I'm about to see Tiesto on Sunday, I want to listen to as much Trance as I can. Hoping obviously that the legend will play some Hard Trance anthems, but I highly doubt it. One can only dream, right? He might, you never know. Only Tiesto will know.

I have always had a soft spot for Hard Trance. I don't know why. Maybe it was a combination of me loving harder styles and Trance, and some of these Hard Trance anthems were the right mix of beautiful elements and hard beats. Girdler Synthetic came up with the idea to focus on the early sound, when Hard Trance was at the beginning of its journey, and he's picked 19 of those wicked records from back in the day.

As much as I loved listening to it during the 90s and early 00s, I have never found a true passion for it, like I did for Trance. I remember names of the artists, track titles, but when it came to Hard Trance, names and titles never stuck as much as they should have done. So when I first looked at the tracklist, there were so many unknowns to me. But then I listened to them, and immediately remembered them. Sometimes I'm a bit slow.

McKay - Phantoms
Energy Source - Time Travel (Past Mix)
Sanity - Welcome To Paradise (Trance Mix)
DJ Shoko - Was'n Das?
Jose Amnesia - The Eternal
La Forge - First Contact
Sean Dexter - Mankind
D & A - Crystal
I-Ching - The Forgotten Dream (Sunrise Mix)
Travel - Bulgarian (Signum Remix)
Scoop - Wings Of Love (The Effect Remix)
Monteverde - Path To Utopia
Skynet UK - Open The Floodgate '99
Dimorphic - Distorted Sensation
G Punkt - Jacob's Drohnung II (Listen To That Phatt Base) (Club Attack II)
Front 242 - Heathunter (Space Frog Remix)
Mat Silver - Memories
Vectrex - Meteor (DJ JamX & De Leon Remix)
Caveman - King's Cross

This certainly takes me back to those glorious years. I remember listening to these on my walkman, or my 'non skipping' CD player, on the bus, or on the train (and did it skip? it fucking skipped continuously!). And my headset was so cheap and so bad, but at least it did its best to penetrate my skull with those hard bass sounds! Good times eh?

This mix has got it all, and I enjoyed it a lot. So many great records, some forgotten, some just ignored. But it's always great to hear them again, years after you last heard them. Especially 'Crystal'. It must have been at least 20 years since the last time I heard it. What a big track, love it.

Girdler Synthetic's mix is a great one. Obviously I'm riding the Trance train this weekend, and I hope you are joining me too. If you are looking for a pleasant Hard Trance set, this is certainly one you will enjoy. Highly recommended. And the second mix will be focussed on Acid Trance, which is yet another style highly underrated, and I cannot wait to hear what Girdler Synthetic has got in store for us!

Which record in this mix is your favourite? Comment below!