What defined Who's Afraid Of 138?!
Who’s Afraid Of 138?! is a specialist Armada Music imprint launched in 2013 around the faster side of modern trance. The name grew from a running idea on Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance radio show and developed into a recognisable movement for listeners who wanted the genre to retain its high-energy 138 BPM character.
The label is not a dedicated psytrance imprint, but its harder, faster programming has repeatedly crossed into psychedelic and tech-trance territory. That makes it relevant to the modern boundary between uplifting trance and psytrance without collapsing the two styles into one.
How Who's Afraid Of 138?! developed
A State of Trance announced the label in 2013 after the Who’s Afraid Of 138?! concept had grown from a joke on the radio show into a popular event and fan identity. Armin van Buuren framed the project as a home for faster, louder uplifting trance at a time when much mainstream trance had slowed down.
The first wave of releases included material connected with Photographer, Andrew Rayel, Alexandre Bergheau and John O’Callaghan. Over the following years the imprint developed a large catalogue of uplifting, tech and high-energy trance, with occasional releases that sit close to psytrance in sound design and rhythmic drive.
People, organisation & management
The imprint operates inside the Armada Music ecosystem and is closely connected with the A State of Trance brand. That relationship gives it a direct line between radio exposure, live ASOT events and label releases.
Sound, roster & A&R direction
The core sound is fast uplifting trance around the 138 BPM range, often with harder kick drums, longer builds and a more driving club structure than progressive trance. Tech-trance and psytrance influences appear in parts of the catalogue, but the label’s central identity remains high-energy trance.
Place in psytrance history
Who’s Afraid Of 138?! became one of the clearest institutional statements in favour of faster trance during the 2010s. It helped turn a fan slogan into a sustained label identity and gave producers working at higher tempos a high-profile outlet inside Armada.
Scene impact & cultural reach
Connected the A State of Trance movement to a dedicated release imprint with a sustained international catalogue.
Key releases & catalogue moments
The label launched with the Photographer remix of Armin van Buuren’s “Who’s Afraid Of 138?!” and quickly featured artists such as Photographer, John O’Callaghan, Andrew Rayel and later a broad roster of uplifting and tech-trance producers. Warriors’ 2017 EP is one of the catalogue points most directly relevant to ViralFlowMusic’s psytrance coverage.
Artists connected to the label
Warriors
Separate collaboration between Skazi and MR.BLACK.