Schranz is the name given to European (especially German) hard techno, a style of techno typically around 140-150 BPM and based around massively bass-heavy kick drums, driving percussion and distorted, looping synth noises. The music can however be slower. The term originated in 1994 when Frankfurt-based DJ Chris Liebing used it to describe a certain type of techno in a record store he ran -- "For me personally, since that day in 1994, "Schranz" is a description for various dark and distorted sounds in Techno" (Chris Liebing 2002). "Schranz" has no particular meaning in any language, except for "schranzen" (to eat loudly and voraciously) in Dutch slang. There are speculations, however, that it was meant as a contraction of the to German verbs schreien (scream) and tanzen (dance), i.e. "scrance".
More recently (2005-06), Schranz music has morphed into an even faster style generally referred to as "hardtechno" and running at 150+ bpm. That style is most prominently represented by DJs/producers DJ Amok, DJ Rush, Frank Kvitta, Sven Wittekind and Robert Natus, whereas Chris Liebing has not followed this move and indeed now hovers around 130 bpm in his DJ sets.
Generally these days most schranz releases are based on older more common commercial songs that are remixed to travel at the fast speeds. Older style rock songs in the style of Nirvana and AC/DC are not uncommon to be used.
Other important producers in the genre beside Chris Liebing are DJ Amok, DJ Rush, Frank Kvitta, Sven Wittekind, Arkus P, Weichentechnikk, Gayle San, Cari Lekebusch, Andreas Kremer, Tom Hades, Pet Duo, Felix Kroecher, Tomash Gee, Mario Ranieri, Patrik Skoog, Dr. Robotron and Mr. Mechanical Noyze, Lars Klein and Robert Natus in polish artist's Tomash Gee, Venom, Grzegorz eS, Dariush Gee, Steve Anox, Arkus Vitt, Janik, Sed