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Hello everyone!
Happy New Year's Eve/New Year!
Despite 2020 being a pretty bad year for musicians of all types, thanks to a lack of concerts and other live events, this past year has seen amazing releases and some out-of-the-box virtual events in the Hard Dance scene unlike the world's seen before!
I'd like to take a look back and discuss some of my favourite productions to come out of 2020.
I'll be breaking this down into three(3) sections: Album Releases, Single & EP Releases, and finally Virtual Events.
I hope you enjoy reading!
Album Releases
2020 saw a fair amount of albums get released. Here I'll be discussing a few of my favourite albums that have released in 2020, in no particular order.
Phuture Noize - Silver Bullet
Here we have Marco Spronk's 3rd solo studio album. His style has evolved a lot since 2017 when he released Pursuit of Thunder, but his motto has more or less remained the same: bring the hardstyle genre to the next level.
This album contains 11 tracks: each containing a very signature, unmistakable sound.
It's hard for me to even narrow down a few highlight tracks on this one since the whole album is just plain amazing, but here are my must-listens: Silver Bullet (the title track), It Ain't Easy, Masquerade, I Am a Fighter, Silhouette, and A Fantastic Vibration.
D-Verze - The Internal
This is D-Verze's debut album, and the second studio album released on Spoontech Records.
The album takes you on a musical journey through D-Verze's thoughts and emotions that are normally locked up inside. He expresses his love, humour, worries, and even his anger throughout the tracks of this album.
Containing 17 tracks, including an intro, 3 skits, and an outro, you have quite a lot to learn from D-Verze's "internal".
My personal highlights are: The Introvert with Infirium ft. Els, Crushed, Painting Perspectives ft. Yuna-X (Hatom Remix), and Shortsighted Society.
Udex - Corrupted
Following up his 2018 mini-album Code Red, exploring the rise of artificial intelligence, this full length album explores the corruption that occurs as the AI rises.
Udex's Corrupted is a 14 track piece of musical storytelling containing both hard hitting kickdrums and beautiful melodies.
Personal Highlights: Corrupted World, End of the Road, Tomorrow, Before It Kills Us with Regain, and Digital Story.
Never Surrender - Rise
Yet another debut album - this time by hardcore rising star Never Surrender. Beware before listening, as this producer has no mercy. Pure aggression comes across throughout the 14 track album, but the last track becomes a calm after the storm as it's a chill "Cool Down" edit of his 2019 Free Festival Anthem.
Personal Highlights: Rise (title track), Beat the Drum, Devil Spirits ft. Nancy, We Came from Nothing with Nosferatu, and Hardcore Door Je Donder with Tha Playah.
Desolation - Lunatic
This album by French doomcore & industrial hardcore artist pushes the concept of "quality over quantity" to the next level. Only containing 8 tracks the album is rather short but it certainly makes up for it in the deepest and darkest of vibes. Another nice touch is that the tracks increase in tempo as the album goes on.
Personal Highlights: Spiritus Sancti, Demon Girl, and I Hate U.
Single & EP Releases
Some producers didn't put out studio albums this year, but instead released smaller doses of music in the form of singles or EPs. Here are some of my favourites to come out of 2020.
B-Front - Thank God for Music EP
Bob van der Palen released this 4-track banger after playing the songs numerous times during pre-pandemic festivals and events, and let me tell you the wait was worth it! The entire EP is just pure awesomeness, and the vibes couldn't get better!
Wasted Penguinz ft. Maggie Szabo - Life Support
This is the fourth track released by Pontuz Bergman after the unfortunate split of this former duo when Jon Brandt-Cederhäll left the project. This song is an amazing piece of storytelling going from chaos to serenity.
Headhunterz ft. Sian Evans - The Hunter and the Prey
Willem Rebergen aka Headhunterz aka Heady is easily one of the most popular producers in the hardstyle genre, and for good reason. Productions like this one really show the beauty of hardstyle music, proving that the genre isn't just a bunch of "boom boom". Stunning vocals, an interesting psytrance bassline in the mid-intro, and of course a beautiful melody when the climax comes to play!
Vyral - Into the Unknown
Gotta talk about the talent found on Spoontech Records. Into the Unknown combines dark hardstyle with psytrance to create a beautiful masterpiece.
Scarra - E.N.D.
This track is pure absolute destruction! Bringing you some of the hardest of what raw hardstyle has to offer! Explosive gated kickdrums, insane screeching leads and pure aggression all around! Prepare yourself before listening to this beast!
D-Verze & Criminal Mayhem - Time
What happens when you combine pure aggressive vibes with deep thoughtful vibes? You get a track like this! A wonderful masterpiece with both hard hitting kickdrums and beautiful melodies!
Mindwalker & Broken Code - The Form of Light
This 3-track EP has a very unique sound. The first 2 tracks are industrial hardcore at it's finest, then the final track goes back to an old school sound with a track by a new act between Mindwalker and Broken Code called The Lifeline Sequence.
Ophidian & Penta - This World
How can I talk about hard dance this year without talking about Ophidian? The answer: I can't.
This track combines Ophidian's atmospheric drive with Penta's insane distorted kickdrums, and the outcome of this collaboration is an absolute masterpiece!
Hypoxic - 2020 EP
This Australian industrial doomcore producer always pushes the boundaries. This EP is no exception!
4 tracks and each is completely unique! "You Cannot" takes some influence from dubstep rhythms, "Domination" hits you with classic acid leads, "Despair" goes really dark and industrial, and "The End" goes really funky and throws the tempo for a loop throughout the track!
Virtual Events
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, music festivals and events all around the world were cancelled or postponed. This lead to event organizers thinking outside the box for how they can hold events in a world where massive gatherings are banned. I'd like to talk about a couple of these events and how they helped keep the community together despite the odds!
Defqon1 At Home
This virtual livestreamed version of the Defqon1 summer festival was a treat for those in the hardstyle community! Sure, we can't gather and rave, but we can certainly enjoy our music together worldwide thanks to the World Wide Web!
Sets to check out: Headhunterz, B-Front, Phuture Noize: Silver Bullet, and Warface & D-Sturb Synchronised
Qlimax The Source
This is an audiovisual experience like no other! It's even the first hardstyle film to be released on Netflix!
Q-Dance really went big on this years edition of Qlimax, rather than a one night gathering of ravers, this time we have an hour of cinematic beauty! This journey ventures through 6 chapters: "Enter the Realm" by Sub Zero Project, "A New World" by Phuture Noize, "Transcendence" by Headhunterz & JDX, "The Light of Darkness" by B-Front, "The Alignment" by KELTEK, and "The Omega" by Sefa. In between the chapters by the main acts of the show we have transitions by an act known as The Qreator.
This edition of Qlimax will go down in history for sure!
If you read through this, THANK YOU! Hopefully this wall of text didn't bore you!
I can't wait to see what 2021 has instore by way of amazing musical productions, and maybe actual in person festivals & raves once the pandemic is finally over!
P.S. Dang, this took a long time to type! There was still daylight when I started and now the sky is pitch black!
Happy New Year's Eve/New Year!
Despite 2020 being a pretty bad year for musicians of all types, thanks to a lack of concerts and other live events, this past year has seen amazing releases and some out-of-the-box virtual events in the Hard Dance scene unlike the world's seen before!
I'd like to take a look back and discuss some of my favourite productions to come out of 2020.
I'll be breaking this down into three(3) sections: Album Releases, Single & EP Releases, and finally Virtual Events.
I hope you enjoy reading!
Album Releases
2020 saw a fair amount of albums get released. Here I'll be discussing a few of my favourite albums that have released in 2020, in no particular order.
Phuture Noize - Silver Bullet
Here we have Marco Spronk's 3rd solo studio album. His style has evolved a lot since 2017 when he released Pursuit of Thunder, but his motto has more or less remained the same: bring the hardstyle genre to the next level.
This album contains 11 tracks: each containing a very signature, unmistakable sound.
It's hard for me to even narrow down a few highlight tracks on this one since the whole album is just plain amazing, but here are my must-listens: Silver Bullet (the title track), It Ain't Easy, Masquerade, I Am a Fighter, Silhouette, and A Fantastic Vibration.
D-Verze - The Internal
This is D-Verze's debut album, and the second studio album released on Spoontech Records.
The album takes you on a musical journey through D-Verze's thoughts and emotions that are normally locked up inside. He expresses his love, humour, worries, and even his anger throughout the tracks of this album.
Containing 17 tracks, including an intro, 3 skits, and an outro, you have quite a lot to learn from D-Verze's "internal".
My personal highlights are: The Introvert with Infirium ft. Els, Crushed, Painting Perspectives ft. Yuna-X (Hatom Remix), and Shortsighted Society.
Udex - Corrupted
Following up his 2018 mini-album Code Red, exploring the rise of artificial intelligence, this full length album explores the corruption that occurs as the AI rises.
Udex's Corrupted is a 14 track piece of musical storytelling containing both hard hitting kickdrums and beautiful melodies.
Personal Highlights: Corrupted World, End of the Road, Tomorrow, Before It Kills Us with Regain, and Digital Story.
Never Surrender - Rise
Yet another debut album - this time by hardcore rising star Never Surrender. Beware before listening, as this producer has no mercy. Pure aggression comes across throughout the 14 track album, but the last track becomes a calm after the storm as it's a chill "Cool Down" edit of his 2019 Free Festival Anthem.
Personal Highlights: Rise (title track), Beat the Drum, Devil Spirits ft. Nancy, We Came from Nothing with Nosferatu, and Hardcore Door Je Donder with Tha Playah.
Desolation - Lunatic
This album by French doomcore & industrial hardcore artist pushes the concept of "quality over quantity" to the next level. Only containing 8 tracks the album is rather short but it certainly makes up for it in the deepest and darkest of vibes. Another nice touch is that the tracks increase in tempo as the album goes on.
Personal Highlights: Spiritus Sancti, Demon Girl, and I Hate U.
Single & EP Releases
Some producers didn't put out studio albums this year, but instead released smaller doses of music in the form of singles or EPs. Here are some of my favourites to come out of 2020.
B-Front - Thank God for Music EP
Bob van der Palen released this 4-track banger after playing the songs numerous times during pre-pandemic festivals and events, and let me tell you the wait was worth it! The entire EP is just pure awesomeness, and the vibes couldn't get better!
Wasted Penguinz ft. Maggie Szabo - Life Support
This is the fourth track released by Pontuz Bergman after the unfortunate split of this former duo when Jon Brandt-Cederhäll left the project. This song is an amazing piece of storytelling going from chaos to serenity.
Headhunterz ft. Sian Evans - The Hunter and the Prey
Willem Rebergen aka Headhunterz aka Heady is easily one of the most popular producers in the hardstyle genre, and for good reason. Productions like this one really show the beauty of hardstyle music, proving that the genre isn't just a bunch of "boom boom". Stunning vocals, an interesting psytrance bassline in the mid-intro, and of course a beautiful melody when the climax comes to play!
Vyral - Into the Unknown
Gotta talk about the talent found on Spoontech Records. Into the Unknown combines dark hardstyle with psytrance to create a beautiful masterpiece.
Scarra - E.N.D.
This track is pure absolute destruction! Bringing you some of the hardest of what raw hardstyle has to offer! Explosive gated kickdrums, insane screeching leads and pure aggression all around! Prepare yourself before listening to this beast!
D-Verze & Criminal Mayhem - Time
What happens when you combine pure aggressive vibes with deep thoughtful vibes? You get a track like this! A wonderful masterpiece with both hard hitting kickdrums and beautiful melodies!
Mindwalker & Broken Code - The Form of Light
This 3-track EP has a very unique sound. The first 2 tracks are industrial hardcore at it's finest, then the final track goes back to an old school sound with a track by a new act between Mindwalker and Broken Code called The Lifeline Sequence.
Ophidian & Penta - This World
How can I talk about hard dance this year without talking about Ophidian? The answer: I can't.
This track combines Ophidian's atmospheric drive with Penta's insane distorted kickdrums, and the outcome of this collaboration is an absolute masterpiece!
Hypoxic - 2020 EP
This Australian industrial doomcore producer always pushes the boundaries. This EP is no exception!
4 tracks and each is completely unique! "You Cannot" takes some influence from dubstep rhythms, "Domination" hits you with classic acid leads, "Despair" goes really dark and industrial, and "The End" goes really funky and throws the tempo for a loop throughout the track!
Virtual Events
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, music festivals and events all around the world were cancelled or postponed. This lead to event organizers thinking outside the box for how they can hold events in a world where massive gatherings are banned. I'd like to talk about a couple of these events and how they helped keep the community together despite the odds!
Defqon1 At Home
This virtual livestreamed version of the Defqon1 summer festival was a treat for those in the hardstyle community! Sure, we can't gather and rave, but we can certainly enjoy our music together worldwide thanks to the World Wide Web!
Sets to check out: Headhunterz, B-Front, Phuture Noize: Silver Bullet, and Warface & D-Sturb Synchronised
Qlimax The Source
This is an audiovisual experience like no other! It's even the first hardstyle film to be released on Netflix!
Q-Dance really went big on this years edition of Qlimax, rather than a one night gathering of ravers, this time we have an hour of cinematic beauty! This journey ventures through 6 chapters: "Enter the Realm" by Sub Zero Project, "A New World" by Phuture Noize, "Transcendence" by Headhunterz & JDX, "The Light of Darkness" by B-Front, "The Alignment" by KELTEK, and "The Omega" by Sefa. In between the chapters by the main acts of the show we have transitions by an act known as The Qreator.
This edition of Qlimax will go down in history for sure!
If you read through this, THANK YOU! Hopefully this wall of text didn't bore you!
I can't wait to see what 2021 has instore by way of amazing musical productions, and maybe actual in person festivals & raves once the pandemic is finally over!
P.S. Dang, this took a long time to type! There was still daylight when I started and now the sky is pitch black!
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