Already this year, inthemix has heard a wide range of opinions from visiting DJs and producers about the current state of affairs within trance. The musings have stretched from John Askew’s vitriolic rant from inside “the viper’s nest of cunts” to the optimism of Above & Beyond about a new generation of producers, and of course we can always count on the inthemix comments field to keep the conversation buzzing.

With DJ Mag Top 100 campaigning at its peak, September is always an interesting month for trance fans. The 2010 top ten was as laser-kissed as ever, with Armin van Buuren holding strong to the top spot, closely followed by buddies Above & Beyond, Paul van Dyk, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten (Tiesto was there at #3, but even he calls his music “electro dance” at the moment).

With the likes of Skrillex and Afrojack having it large in 2011, is this the year that trance will lose its stranglehold on the top ten? New York-bred producer Sean Tyas certainly thinks so.

“I think we are all going to drop,” he told the LA Examiner this week in regards to the poll. “I hate to say it, but Armin van Buuren’s [A State Of Trance] show is the only thing that’s kept trance alive. And it’s a little bit scary to think that way, but you know what, that’s fine. Once Armin isn’t number one anymore, trance can actually come back a bit because it won’t be the cool thing anymore.”

For Tyas, the sound is in need of ‘becoming underground’ again (not something that looks that likely to happen with Armin selling out arenas and Above & Beyond upsizing venues around the world).

“It’ll be the underground thing again,” Tyas mused. “And that’s what trance needs to be, trance need to be underground. Once it’s mainstream, it’s all fucked up. There are too many vocals, too many mainstream remixes, and we’re all guilty of it. It’ll be better if it comes back slowly and underground.”