Dark psytrance uses horror-film samples where mainstream psytrance uses science-fiction samples

Dark psytrance (also dark psy, darkpsy, or dark trance) is the heavier end of the psychedelic trance spectrum, with tempos starting around 150 BPM. It is characterized by obscure, deep, eschatological backgrounds — meditations on death, night, and transcendence — carried by dismal sounds and heavy basslines. A key discriminating feature is its sampling palette: it draws on horror films, in deliberate contrast to the science-fiction film samples more regularly used in ‘normal’ psytrance. This sample choice, together with the darker mood and heavier bass, is what lets a listener tell dark psy from full-on or mainstream psytrance by ear. The subgenre emerged as a recognizable genre after 2003 in Germany and Russia.

Examples

A dark psy track drops an ominous horror-film voice sample over a heavy bassline at 150+ BPM; a full-on track in the same set instead uses a bright sci-fi voice sample. The sample source is the tell.

Assessment

Name the two sonic features (sample source and mood/bass character) that distinguish dark psytrance from mainstream/full-on psytrance, and state which sample source belongs to which.