Diversity is a wonderful thing.? If you are reading this, then you have a passion for dance music, and while we have that in common our preferences may vary widely.? The words house and trance seem meaningless these days due to all the specialist and niche subgenres.? One subgenre that doesn’t often get love from people outside the subculture is hardstyle.? The music is banging, aggressive, and normally over 150 bpm making it great for aerobics or for dancing out major aggression (think mosh pit for ragers). The Prophet has been producing tracks and DJing in the hardstyle/hard dance world for nearly 15 years under his name and several aliases (Hardheadz, Punk Brozz, Oral Fixation).? So it seems a bit odd that he is just now releasing his debut artist album.? The title track sets the tone because this music needs to be played “Louder” than just about anything else on your music player. To say the beats are banging is redundant, the drill-like cadence is so insistent and relentless that it is futile to resist.? Along with the pounding comes a cinematic feel, with both a drop to a horror theme instrumental break and the spoken voice of a movie preview announcer.? The funny thing is that just as the hip-hop world has embraced trap, I could see “Louder” with a rap on top and the crowd dancing halftime to it – kind of like drum and bass, back in the day.? If you like “Louder,” explore the album and be sure to check out “Make Me Stay” with Noisecontrollers & Leonie Meijer for a Sarah McLachlan-esque vibe form of aggression.? Yes, that sounds strange, but it works so well.
Image Courtesy of Scantraxx.