Defqon.1 hits Biddinghuizen at the end of June and most of the coverage fixates on the mainstage hardstyle. Fine. But the reason this festival makes every other summer lineup look soft lives one stage over, where the kicks stop being polite. Hardcore, frenchcore, uptempo, the harder end of the site. If regular hardstyle already feels too gentle for you, here’s your map for the rest of the week.
1. Angerfist - The Nightmare Man
Angerfist has been the face of Dutch hardcore for two decades and “The Nightmare Man,” out last November, is him doing the thing nobody does better. Distorted, mean, zero interest in your comfort.
2. Dr. Peacock & Sefa - Incoming
Frenchcore’s two biggest names in one track. 200 BPM, a kick that gallops instead of stomps, the entire genre’s pitch in four minutes.
3. N-Vitral - Straight To The Core
N-Vitral calls himself the King of Kicks and this March release earns the title. Uptempo that punches a hole straight through the floor.
4. Miss K8 & DRS - Step Up
Miss K8 brings the Ukrainian hardcore that’s been wrecking Masters of Hardcore lineups for years. “Step Up” is exactly the dare it sounds like.
5. GPF - Miracle
And then there’s GPF, who close the RED mainstage on Sunday and treat the whole genre as a joke worth taking seriously. “Miracle” is dumb in the best possible way. More on that absurd booking later this week.
That’s the lane. Get comfortable being uncomfortable.