The story behind Vertical Mode
Vertical Mode is the Israeli collaboration between Moshe Keinan, best known as Xerox, and Hanan Gorenshtien, known through Volcano. The project brought together two different generations of Israeli Psytrance: Keinan’s roots reach back to the formative Goa era, while Gorenshtien represented a newer progressive-oriented production approach.
The albums Madness Express in 2014 and Life in Process in 2016 define the core Vertical Mode period. Their sound combined the precision and psychedelic experience of Keinan’s earlier work with the broader, more progressive festival language that had become dominant during the 2010s.
Later remixes and catalogue appearances have kept Vertical Mode visible, although the project has not shown the uninterrupted release schedule of either member’s other work. It is best described in 2026 as active or intermittent rather than as either fully dormant or continuously operating.
Origins of Vertical Mode
Vertical Mode formed as a collaboration between Xerox’s Moshe Keinan and Volcano’s Hanan Gorenshtien in the early 2010s. The pairing was built around the contrast between veteran Goa/Psytrance experience and a newer progressive direction.
Early career
The duo developed quickly into an album project, with Madness Express in 2014 establishing its identity within the HOMmega network.
How the career developed
Life in Process followed in 2016 and consolidated the project’s progressive-leaning festival sound. later releases activity has been less continuous but confirms that the identity remains in circulation.
Vertical Mode sound
Vertical Mode makes Psytrance with progressive-oriented production, large melodic structures and modern festival dynamics. Historical references to Progressive Trance should not automatically be treated as identical to Progressive Psytrance.
Place in psytrance history
The project is historically useful as a direct bridge between Xerox’s 1990s Israeli Goa lineage and the progressive festival language of the 2010s.
Connections and influence
Vertical Mode connects Xerox, Volcano and HOMmega. Releases should remain separate from either member’s solo discography even when musical ideas overlap.
Vertical Mode today
Vertical Mode is best treated as active/intermittent in 2026. The catalogue remains visible, but a dedicated new 2026 release or clearly documented current duo performance has not been firmly established.
How the sound changed over time
Selected releases in the archive
Related projects and collaborations
Artists with overlapping styles
Animato
Animato is Patrick Chen’s post-PTX Psytrance project, launched in late 2012 as his music moved toward a smoother, lower-tempo Progressive Psytrance direction while retaining psychedelic dancefloor energy.
Astrix
Israeli producer Avi Shmailov’s long-running Psytrance project, known for combining large-scale dancefloor power with detailed psychedelic production and melodic writing.
BLT
Yuli Fershtat’s original Psytrance identity, active before Perfect Stranger and central to his late-1990s and early-2000s catalogue.
Cosma
Avihen Livne’s short-lived but highly influential Israeli psychedelic-trance project, remembered for unusually emotional and progressive production before his death in 2003.
Freedom Fighters
Shahaf Efrat’s Israeli psychedelic project, blending Progressive Psytrance with darker, techno-influenced and experimental directions.
Oforia
Ofer Dikovsky’s long-running Israeli psytrance project, linking the 1990s Goa era with later Full-On and modern psychedelic production.