The story behind Blissed
Blissed was the early electronic-trance project of Tsuyoshi Suzuki, Nick Taylor and Takehiro Tokuda. The trio recorded Rite of Passage, released in 1993 through POD Communication, before Suzuki and Taylor continued their partnership through Taiyo and then Prana. Blissed sits at the proto-Goa end of that lineage: its music is more acid-techno-influenced and hypnotic than the mature Psytrance associated with the later projects, and it represents the first recorded stage of a partnership that became important to Goa Trance. Developed in Tokyo from the early collaboration between Tsuyoshi Suzuki, Nick Taylor and Suzuki’s school friend Takehiro Tokuda. The trio’s first substantial recorded work culminated in the 1993 album Rite of Passage on POD Communication.
After Blissed, Suzuki and Taylor continued as Taiyo and then formed Prana in 1994, while Blissed remained a distinct earlier project identity. Blissed predates Taiyo and Prana in the Suzuki/Taylor collaboration and forms part of the prehistory of their later Goa Trance work.
Historical project; later activity is archival , not a continuing group. Direct lineage into Taiyo and Prana through Tsuyoshi Suzuki and Nick Taylor; Takehiro Tokuda belongs specifically to the Blissed stage.
Origins of Blissed
Developed in Tokyo from the early collaboration between Tsuyoshi Suzuki, Nick Taylor and Suzuki’s school friend Takehiro Tokuda.
Early career
The trio’s first substantial recorded work culminated in the 1993 album Rite of Passage on POD Communication.
How the project evolved
After Blissed, Suzuki and Taylor continued as Taiyo and then formed Prana in 1994, while Blissed remained a distinct earlier project identity.
Blissed sound
Proto-Goa electronic trance with acid-techno influence, hypnotic repetition and a rawer early-1990s club aesthetic than the later Prana material.
Legacy and historical importance
Blissed predates Taiyo and Prana in the Suzuki/Taylor collaboration and forms part of the prehistory of their later Goa Trance work.
Connections and influence
Direct lineage into Taiyo and Prana through Tsuyoshi Suzuki and Nick Taylor; Takehiro Tokuda belongs specifically to the Blissed stage.
Later history and legacy
Historical project; later activity is archival , not a continuing group.
Selected releases in the archive
Related projects and collaborations
Artists with overlapping styles
Tsuyoshi Suzuki
Japanese DJ, producer and Matsuri co-founder whose career links Tokyo, London, Goa Trance and the Prana project.
0101
Short-lived collaboration of Total Eclipse founder Stéphane Holweck and Greek producer Marios Trivyzas, preceding their modern Total Eclipse partnership.
Alien Project
Israeli producer Ari Linker’s long-running psychedelic-trance project, active since the 1990s and closely tied to the international full-on movement of the early 2000s.
Astral Projection
Israeli Goa Trance pioneers Avi Nissim and Lior Perlmutter, whose melodic, layered production helped define the sound of the genre in the 1990s and who remain active performers in 2026.
California Sunshine
Israeli Goa Trance project created by DJ Miko and Har-El Prussky, whose classic late-1990s catalogue later split into separate branches using the same name.
Chakra
Pioneering Israeli Goa-trance and psytrance project associated with Ofer Dikovsky and the late-1990s transition from classic Goa into the emerging Israeli psychedelic sound.