The Harder View

After the somewhat controversial preview on the latest instalment in the Hardbass mix album series, I felt obliged to review it upon release and base a new opinion on the actual product. The first CD, mixed by Rocco & Bass-T as always, contains a large amount of tracks probably unbeknownst to most hardstyle fans. CD2, however, should make all your Superplastik bells ring as it is mixed by the big boss & the new signups, The Pitcher & Noisecontrollers.

We start in chronological order, taking a look at CD1 first. The mix is kicked off with a not particularly exciting rework of the Blade theme. Rocco & Bass-T immediately pick up speed though, mixing Down Under in in less than a minute and a half. A couple easily digestible tracks pass by accordingly; among them is Echoes 2009, which is only noteworthy for having a ripped bassline from TBY – Oh My God and being completely terrible besides that.

The first track which is not from the everyday hardstyle scene is a pleasant surprise. Illuminatorz, Jan Wayn & RainDropz show some actual musical talent by reworking the piano arrangement of Linkin Park’s Numb. More complicated and subtle than the original, the rework is a joy to listen to. Unfortunately, it breaks down into a completely generic nustyle climax.

Numb is followed by more nustyle and boring handsup until track 11, Lonely Day. Philippe Rochard does a wonderful effort at showing us that unless one has exceptional skill, some songs should just be left alone. His remix of the great System of a Down song sounds forced and just does not work. Subsequently, endless amounts of pop remixes ranging from mildly entertaining to terrible pass by. Every now and then, the trend is interrupted by original and even good hardstyle songs, such People Won’t Like This and Floorspin. One very pleasant addition is Scope DJ’s wildly underrated Tuned In – a unique melody and delicous reversed bass in the climax.

After 30 tracks of handsup madness, we move on to the real deal – CD2. A short, but entertaining intro (“I am The Pitcher’s voice”) is followed by Our Core, a track we have already reviewed. Its uplifting melody forms a sharp contrast with the dark, unsettling intro of Relax. An intro I hereby deem best of all time – that breathtaking is the atmosphere it creates. Relax’ banging climax is followed by the most complicated and therefore second best intro of all time, namely that of Guardian Angel. The DJs now seem to take the pedal off the metal a little with the decidedly calmer new Williams Syndrome (NC’s Superplastik alias). Secrets has a long climax with a lot of variation in the melody, making my lack of superlatives painfully clear for the third time now. We progress through Serenity to Revolution is Here, a new Noisecontrollers track. With samples that work wonderfully well and a typical NC lead and melody, this one is nothing but good. Again.

Another addictive, magnificently atmospheric Michel Pollen intro takes us into Shine. Cheesy lyrics and an uplifting melody make what may very well be the first hardstyle-pop song – but who cares if it’s pop when it is this good. MC DV8 does an even greater job than usual on the vocals and the melody, combined with the background bagpipes (yes, you read correctly, bagpipes!) suits them perfectly. The whole is so blatantly cheesy that you can’t even blame it for being that. Interesting conclusion: I have no doubt in the slightest that if a music video were made for Shine, proper promotion would earn it hit status with the general public.

Enough about the popstyle for now. Yet another unreleased song, Emotions by Williams Syndrome, shows us how Superplastik material seems to be impervious to being bad. An absolutely stunning climax puts this one above Secrets and, composition-wise, above The Pitcher’s latest release too. Muzic or Noize, Wildstylez’ latest track, consequently makes you realize that his Superplastik would be a way better place for him than Scantraxx. A Killer Clown intermezzo takes us to the next slice of Scantraxx – and indeed, I have changed my opinion on it. Some of you may remember me burning it to the ground previously, but placed in the context of all these great masterpieces and pitched properly it becomes irresistible. The intro, though stolen from Shreek, works very well and the melody teams up with a mysterious sample to take you to a happy place in your head – terribly cheesy, yet oddly attractive.

Proceeding with two tracks from Zany’s The Fusion of Sound album, we end up at Yellow Minute, yet another Noisecontrollers masterpiece. The quality of their productions actually seems to be approaching that of Michel Pollen himself, an unexpected feat. Yellow Minute takes its sample from the same poem as Shreek and Zany – Conceptions, and they are still as perfectly suitable as in those two songs. A mindblowing synth does the rest.

Animated Audio, a clearly Pitcher-influenced work of geniosity, and Tormented are then followed by the third new NC production, Sanctus. While not as notable as the other two, the never-heard-before growling sound in the intro makes it completely worthwhile. The last trio of tracks on the CD are a short excursion to Seismic, the long-awaited but still not released Psycho Stylez and the Noisecontrollers remix of Zany – Thugz. The latter is a complete break-away from the rest of the CD, as it is the only track that does not have a nustyle melody and pitched kicks.

And it is precisely that which the issue with this CD – though it consists of merely genius tracks, leave one or two, it suffers from a certain lack of variation. The complete lack of creativity in the mixing then finishes things off and leaves you with slightly mixed feelings about the whole. And mind you, I say mixing, but it’s not even really that – most of the time, one song’s climax just ends with a quick fade into the next one’s midintro.

CD1, though mixed very well and very fast, something that should be done more often in hardstyle, suffers from the opposite problem. An at times terrible track choice makes it perfect for easy listening, just like the way you secretly watch Dr. Phil when you come home after a long day of school or work. Yet, in sharp contrast with the second CD, one should not put it on for musical aesthetics.

All in all, the huge pile of new Superplastik productions makes it all worth the while. If Pitcher and Noisecontrollers had actually opted for mixing instead of showing off their tracks, the score would have been higher still. For now, however, it will have to do with a satisfying

Verdict: 91/100

Tracklist:

1. Art Of Punk – The Beginning 1.6 (01:20)
2. Showtek – Down Under (02:56)
3. Mike NRG – Lost In Dreams (02:29)
4. DJ Pavo & Blutonium Boy – Echoes 2009 (04:03)
5. Headhunterz – Just Say My Name (03:32)
6. Jan Wayne, RainDropz – Numb (02:07)
7. Dj Gollum, Scarlet – All The Things She Said (03:35)
8. Emvace, Tierra – Feelings Of My Heart (02:32)
9. Ben Sander – Love Sees No Colour (03:21)
10. TI-MO – The Dancecore Brother (02:27)
11. Philippe Rochard – Lonely Day (02:44)
12. Rocco, Bass-T – Break It Up (02:50)
13. Francesco Zeta – Fairyland (02:19)
14. Phase 3 – Fine Day (02:19)
15. Epic Gold – Superstring (02:52)
16. The Masochist – LDMF (02:00)
17. Citizen – People Won’t Like This (03:20)
18. Showtek, MC DV8 – Back 2 Skool (01:50)
19. Scope DJ – Tuned In (01:47)
20. Skyscaper – Paradise (03:14)
21. Brian M, Mc Bunn – Rewind (01:45)
22. Technoboy – Next Dimensional World (04:45)
23. Davide Sonar – Natural (02:42)
24. Tunnel Allstars DJ Team – Liebesrausch (02:11)
25. Andy Judge – Castles In The Sky (02:21)
26. Punk Freakz – Heartbeat (01:57)
27. G&G – Personal Jesus (01:56)
28. Flarup – Hardstyle Ambassadors (03:48)
29. Dutch Master – Floorspin (02:51)
30. Headhunterz – The Fear Of Darkness (02:04)

1. The Pitcher – Our Core (04:18)
2. Dozer – Relax (03:10)
3. Zany, The Pitcher – Guardian Angel (03:24)
4. Williams Syndrome – Secrets (03:59)
5. The Pitcher – Serenity (03:01)
6. Noisecontrollers – Revolution Is Here (03:04)
7. The Pitcher, MC DV8 – Shine (03:21)
8. Williams Syndrome – Emotions (03:50)
9. Wildstylez – Muzic Or Noize (04:23)
10. Killer Clown – Silentium (03:16)
11. Headhunterz – A New Day (03:27)
12. Zany, Noisecontrollers – Delomelancum (04:06)
13. Zany – Razr (03:46)
14. Noisecontrollers – Yellow Minute (04:39)
15. Zany – Animated Audio (03:01)
16. Killer Clown – Tormented (02:49)
17. Noisecontrollers – Sanctus (03:23)
18. Max Enforcer – Loudness (05:20)
19. Floorcrushers – Psycho Stylez (04:04)
20. Zany – Thugs (03:20)

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