News / hardstyle
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1 min read
Defqon.1 gave the legends three hours and the old anthems still win
Read more . . . →This year’s program carves out three hours for Defqon.1 Legends, which is a polite way of saying they’re letting the dinosaurs eat. Good. The classics that built this festival hit harder than half of what’s charting now, and the crowd that knows every word is genuinely terrifying. Here’s the homework before the throwback set. 1. Headhunterz - Dragonborn If hardstyle has a national anthem, this is in the running. Dragonborn is 2012 Headhunterz at his most heroic, the melody every younger producer is still quietly lifting. Goosebumps, every single time. 2. Wildstylez Feat. Niels Geusebroek - Year Of Summer The...
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1 min read
The euphoric side of Defqon.1 is for crying in a field, and that's allowed
Read more . . . →Not all of Defqon.1 is trying to break your sternum. There’s a whole melodic wing of hardstyle built for the moment the sun comes up and you decide you love everyone in the field. Cheesy? Completely. I’m not above it. Three for the soft hour. 1. Da Tweekaz - Sunrise Da Tweekaz are the costume-wearing kings of the big melodic singalong, and Sunrise is them doing exactly what they do best. You will hate yourself a little for how much you enjoy this. Lean in anyway. 2. Devin Wild - Silent (Left The System) Devin Wild does the emotional-anthem thing...
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1 min read
Raw hardstyle's new wave is who you should actually be scared of
Read more . . . →Everyone talks about the legends. Nobody warns you about the kids. Raw hardstyle’s younger crew has spent the last couple of years making the screech kick nastier than it has any right to be, and they’re all over the Defqon.1 undercard this year. Three of them, loud. 1. Rooler - BOSS Rooler builds drops like he’s actively trying to get the stage shut down. BOSS is two minutes of menace and one kick that sounds like a building coming down on schedule. Perfect. 2. Vasto - The New Sound Vasto’s whole thing is making the raw kick groove instead of...
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1 min read
The Defqon.1 anthem is the one tradition hardstyle got right
Read more . . . →We’re under two weeks out from Defqon.1, which means it’s time to talk about the one piece of festival marketing that actually rules: the yearly anthem. Every June, Q-dance hands one artist the job of summing up the whole weekend in five minutes of kicks and screaming synths, and somehow it keeps landing. Most festival anthems are forgettable. These are the ones people still scream back a decade later. Here’s the through-line from 2011 to last summer. 1. Noisecontrollers - Unite The one that set the template. 2011 Noisecontrollers is pure early-Defqon euphoria, back when the kick still had a...
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1 min read
Hardwell & Dyro - Not Alone (Bass Modulators Remix)
Bass Modulators drag Hardwell and Dyro into hardstyle and it punches you in the sternum. Harder, faster, and better for it.Read more . . . →Get the tee →Support the blogMade for people who left the room during Yellow. -
1 min read
Unsenses - Far From Home
Read more . . . →We don’t post nearly enough hardstyle around here and that’s a crime, so let’s fix it with Unsenses and “Far From Home.” Dirty Workz knows exactly what this genre is supposed to do to your nervous system, and this track delivers the full euphoric-hardstyle package without apology. The melodic build is huge and unashamedly emotional, the kind of thing that would have a festival crowd screaming the lyrics back with tears in their eyes. Then the kick drops and the whole thing turns into a beautiful controlled stampede. Hardstyle gets unfairly mocked by people who haven’t actually felt one of...
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1 min read
Strixter - Let Him Cook
Read more . . . →Second hardstyle entry today, because once you open that door it’s hard to close, and Strixter’s “Let Him Cook” earns its meme-fluent title. This is rawstyle leaning, harder and dirtier than the euphoric stuff, with a kick that sounds like it was engineered specifically to dislodge fillings. Where a lot of raw hardstyle just screams at you for four minutes straight, Strixter actually builds something, giving you a moment to breathe before the next assault. The screeches and distorted kicks are nasty in the way the genre demands, and there’s a real sense of momentum carrying you from one drop...
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1 min read
Rebelion gets a full stage at Defqon.1 and they've been building to this
Filthy Rave is filthy and it is a rave. Rebelion and Warface doing exactly what it says on the tin and asking zero further questions.Read more . . . →Get the tee →Support the blogThree words. One opinion. Cotton. -
1 min read
Horyzon - Sky Blue
Read more . . . →Dirty Workz hardstyle and it’s doing exactly what hardstyle is supposed to do — kick drums that feel like a bad decision and a melody that makes you think it was worth it. Horyzon’s been putting in work in the hardstyle space and this is the proof. More like this Horyzon - RAVECODE KATALYZE & Wolv - Bury The Light Polish Punisher & Nightcraft - Walls Of Fever
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1 min read
Flux Overload - Violence
Read more . . . →Flux Overload called it Violence and that’s a promise they keep. Scantraxx releases tend to hit a specific quality floor and this one is near the top of the range. The production on the kick drums here is particularly sharp — there’s a punch-through clarity in the low frequencies that doesn’t get muddy even at full volume, which is genuinely difficult to achieve in hardstyle where everyone’s competing to be the loudest thing in the room. The lead after the breakdown is the kind of melodic hook that sticks whether you want it to or not. I’ve had it running...
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