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Hear it now
Press play.
This is BALIMORE — written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen. Full tracks, no sign-up, no download. Four minutes is enough to know whether this is your sound.
- Lane
- Melodic techno / progressive
- Tempo
- 122 – 126 BPM
- Signature
- Octave bassline under wide chords
- Vocals
- Occasional, as a hook
Two things stated plainly before anything else. This page is not affiliated with the artist it discusses, is not endorsed by them, and sells nothing — no tickets, no merchandise. For shows and tickets, go to that artist’s own official site or their announced ticketing partner and nowhere else. And my information has a cutoff: labels, line-ups and rosters move, so read every name here as a direction to search in rather than a current fact.
The three things doing the work
An octave bassline that never stops. The bass alternates between a root note and the same note an octave up, usually on every eighth. That is what gives these records their forward lean — the groove is in the bass, not the hats. Strip the chords off an ARTBAT-style record and you still have something that moves.
Chords stacked wide, not loud. The big moment is not a louder sound, it is a wider one: the same chord voiced across three or four octaves with heavy detuning, so it fills the stereo field rather than the level meter. It reads as “huge” at a volume that is actually quite moderate.
A progressive-house build on techno drums. This is the hybrid. The arrangement logic — patient, layered, one element per eight bars — comes from progressive house. The kick and the room come from techno. At 124 BPM each bar is 1.94 seconds, so a 64-bar approach is just over two minutes.
Where the lane continues
Adjacent in sound or in scene, as listening directions: Kevin de Vries and Massano for the harder, brighter end; Argy for the more anthemic side; Adriatique and Mind Against if you want the same patience with less weight; Tale of Us and the Afterlife catalogue for the filmic version of it.
What to search instead of the name
Once you know the structure, the structural queries work better than the artist name: melodic techno 124 BPM, progressive melodic techno extended mix, octave bassline techno. The name gives you one catalogue; the tempo gives you the lane.
And, in the interest of being straight with you
BALIMORE is my own project — I write, produce and mix all of it myself as Steven Ran Cohen. I am not going to claim it belongs beside the name at the top of this page; that artist has spent years in rooms I have not played. What I will say is that it is built in the same lane with the same arrangement logic, the player above is free, and four minutes will tell you more than any comparison I could write.
BALIMORE sets
Continuous 20–80 minute mixes, written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen.
- Best Hits Psytrance 2027 — The Last Light1:20 · psytrance
- No Borders After Darkafro & latin
- Techno House Best Mix 2026 — Project Xpeak time
- Tech House Mix — Time To Shine Againtech house
- YouTubeplaylist
Questions people actually ask
What genre is ARTBAT?
Broadly melodic techno with a strong progressive-house influence — typically 122 to 126 BPM, minor key, built on an octave bassline with wide detuned chord stacks and long layered builds.
What artists sound like ARTBAT?
Working in the same or adjacent territory: Kevin de Vries, Massano, Argy, Adriatique, Mind Against, Tale of Us, Agents Of Time and Colyn. Rosters and line-ups change, so treat any list as a search direction.
What BPM is this kind of melodic techno?
Mostly 122 to 126 BPM. At 124 BPM a single bar lasts 1.94 seconds, which is why a 64-bar build takes just over two minutes.
Where do I buy tickets?
Only from the artist's own official website or their announced ticketing partner. This page is not affiliated with any artist named on it and does not sell tickets.