Church of Trance

Nefarious Things is a masterclass in storytelling through sound from one of Trance's heroes Deon Butler, aka. Kaeno. One of our friends here at the Church of Trance I had the chance to talk to him about his origins in Music back in 2024 [ watch / listen / read ], and now in 2025 he continues to innovate through his globally syndicated platform, The Vanishing Point Records. Kaeno has always been the champion of the unsung voices of Trance and pioneers the future of underground music, and Nefarious Things is the stage where he weaves his own personal history, pioneers genre innovation, and embeds emotional resonance into a cohesive album, making this project stand out across both the trance and techno landscapes. Each track invites you not just to hear but to feel the journey, and the collaborations amplify the album’s emotional depth, genre fusion, and storytelling. Each partner brings a distinct flavor, helping Kaeno realize his vision of an album that’s as personal as it is uni...

“ Always, I have believed that artist albums need a purpose ” says Johan Gielen , “ and that purpose can’t simply be feeding the industry machine or the bi-annual expectations of a fanbase ”. Nonetheless, it’s been nigh on twenty years since ‘Revelations’ appeared, making ‘ Etherflow ’ less of a ‘return’ to the Johan Gielen longplayer, and more a musical reckoning for it. Fair to say then that expectations have been raised, and its taken the Belgium-born/Dutch-based legend three earth cycles of production to meet them. An album forged in grief, resilience, and a raw creative truth, ‘ Etherflow ’ isn’t just a long-awaited ‘next chapter’ . It’s part an epic celebration of life, and part an existential excavation of it - one that’s been written from the inside out and charged by the weight of lived experience. As Johan himself puts it: “ there’s the Beauty of Silence, but also ‘the beauty of absence” . ‘ Etherflow ’ though, is where that absence ends. What’s in a title then? Joh...

It’s by design that  Cold Blue  has taken the longer road back to back to LP life. For a man with as much affinity for the current season as he, it’s significant that he refuses to work in regular album cycles. Indeed, ‘desire’ remains the only point on his production compass. As such, it’s been six rotations since the release of  'Winter'  — his debut longform, and one which set a new high-water mark in electronic music purity and definition. ‘Mountain’ , his sophomore work ( arriving Nov 14 ), is certainly a continuum of that, but also one that, over time, may prove to be his artistic zenith. It’s the product of a creator who places studio craft over song, atmospheres beyond clubfloor furore, … and patience - quite simply, above all other concerns. Now, that patience — both his and yours — is rewarded through the release of the extraordinary  ‘Mountain’ . If 2019’s ‘ Winter’  captured Cold Blue at his most expansive, then  ‘ Mountain ’ finds him in...

For ten years, Dreamstate has been the ultimate sanctuary for trance lovers in the US, and has gained notoriety around the world as the place where melodies soar, beats unite, and the community thrives. Seeing the Trance family travel to Southern California from the 4 corners of the globe year after year, we've witnessed friendships created, relationships built, and even wedding vows spoken. This year,  Dreamstate Southern California  returns to the  Queen Mary Waterfront in Long Beach, CA  for its 3rd time, marking a milestone anniversary with a lineup that’s nothing short of legendary. Four Stages, Infinite Vibes Dreamstate’s magic lies in its diversity. with four distinct stages that TRANCEport fans through every shade of melody from the uplifting to the psychedelic to Trance's favorite older cousin Techno. Here are a few of our must-see sets from the 4 stages, where there's no doubt set times will create schedule conflicts galore (especially trying t...

THE FIRST ARTIST ALBUM FROM ONE OF JAPAN’S FOREMOST ELECTRONIC MUSIC TALENTS. FEATURING MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS WITH CHRISTINA NOVELLI, JULIE THOMPSON, LINNEA SCHOSSOW, CLARA YATES, CARI AND OTHERS From Tokyo’s high-rises to the farthest edges of sound, one figure has spent the last decade bending studio frequencies to her will. Over that time, she’s built nothing less than a sonic solar system, with  Rina   ‘Rinaly’   Noguchi  firmly at its core. ‘Ecliptica’ , her debut longform. takes its title cues from the passage of the sun — a rotation where shadow and luminosity are locked in a permanent state of pursuit. First track through last, that chase musically characterizes the album, cycling between mass and elevation, brightness to grit and synth glare to bass drive ...  ‘Ecliptica’ s opposing poles are formed by techno and trance, and the artistic yin-yang they develop is one Rinaly both identifies with and channels throughout. “ My life ha...

FEATURING THE MUSIC OF BT ,  ROBERT NICKSON, STANDERWICK, DOSEM, BLR, MONOCOC ,  KAUFMANN DE, WESKA, AERIDAN, SOLID GLOVE   AND MARKUS SCHULZ PRESENTS DAKOTA For more than two decades, ‘In Search of Sunrise’ has been the portal through which dance music’s most immersive states of mind have been explored. A series that’s always thrived on the magic of transition, forever tuned to the shift between memory and motion. With the 21 st  edition of the series, Markus Schulz has reimagined that legacy as a summer-spanning trilogy for a new generation of Dreamers, with each mix a chapter, forming part of its broader musical story. Having already brought names like  London Grammar, Sasha, Deep Dish, Hernan Cattaneo and Röyksopp  to the  ‘ISOS’  fold for the first time, they’ve been joined by  Paul Oakenfold, Ferry Corsten, Cosmic Gate, Estiva, Kyau & Albert  and many, many other luminaries besides. Where The Awakening cruised through sun...

  FEATURING THE MUSIC OF LONDON GRAMMAR, SASHA, DEEP DISH, PAUL OAKENFOLD & HERNAN CATTANEO, COSMIC GATE, ESTIVA, KOROLOVA, JEROME ISMA-AE AND MARKUS SCHULZ PRES. DAKOTA An emotional expedition toward tomorrow, unfolding in three chapters across the summer of 2025. It’s not just a compilation. It’s a reimagination. For over two decades, In Search of Sunrise has been more than a series, it’s been a sanctuary for sonic wanderers; a space where emotion, beauty, and transcendence meet under one sky. Now, as the next chapter begins, Markus Schulz steps fully into the role of creative guide, evolving the series into something not just reflective, but visionary. “The world has changed. So has the music. But the need to escape, to dream, and to feel—that remains,” Markus says. “And that’s what this next era of In Search of Sunrise is about: building a bridge from nostalgia into a future worth believing in.” For the first time ever, In Search of Sunrise will roll out as three s...

It’s been a minute since  Solarstone’s  last album. (Actually, it’s been several million of them, as  ‘island’  was released five years ago!). In that time life’s given us all plenty to ponder, and Rich Solarstone’s no exception to that. At a point in time where everything is supposed to streamline, Solarstone’s experience might better be described as ‘mainline’. He became a husband, a father again and watched his firstborn come of age. A lot of new perspectives are naturally going to follow that. No stranger to pouring his creative force, thoughts and feelings into his music, that reaches an apex this month with the release of his ninth album. Make no mistake … this one’s coming from deep within. “ Good music demands that you push yourself, and the best of it also forces you to take risks … ”  says Rich Mowatt,  “and I’m more than aware that ‘innermost’ inherently carries some of the latter. In its native form, this is not a club album, but then I d...

FEATURING LEGENDARY PRODUCTIONS FROM LUMINARIES INCLUDING DELERIUM, MARKUS SCHULZ, BT, JES, RABBIT IN THE MOON, SANDRA COLLINS, DEEPSKY, NEIL KOLO & CHRIS FORTIER’S FADE, CONJURE ONE & MANY OTHERS! After previous stop-offs in The Netherlands, Germany, The UK and Belgium, May 2025 finds  ‘Hypnotised’ - the country-by-country-hopping history of trance music - reaching  American shores . There it explores one of the genre’s lesser told yet equally fascinating tales. The fifth album in the series is again compiled by  Arjan Rietveld,  author of its encyclopaedic companion book,  Hypnotised: A Journey Through Trance Music 1990 – 2005 . To a significant extent, the American trance scene evolved inside its own bubble. Ocean-crossing breakout acts were rare, which gave the scene space to develop a distinct sound and identity – one that was driving yet linear, progressive, more tribal, and less focused on the melodic elements that dominated the European la...