Dutchman Ronald Van Gelderen, the man behind the Kid Vicious alias, comes home to High Contrast after a two year hiatus, and even lays down the vocals. The headline remix comes from Irishman John O’Callaghan, whose Armada sub-label Subculture has recently been on fire, creates a blaze, with the final remix from Ronald’s HCR label-mate and compatriot Artento Divini.
On the original mix, Ron flexes his tech-muscles, with a driving kick and steely percussion giving it plenty of fizz up front. A sweet rolling bass joins the proceedings before an electro riff pulses into life. RVG’s own pleading vocals come in on top of the electro riff to good effect at the break before a classic style tech-trance stab take over, with smooth melodies giving it extra depth.
Next up it's Celtic tiger JOC, who delivers a roaring remix. The filtered kick and percs are joined at the 30 second mark by the hint of a dirty acid-laced hard dance style hook which triggers a nice fat, quaking bass. Everything else just falls into place, with the electro riff and melodies coming in and a first mini-break when the hook comes out of the closet injecting a bit of groove! The vocal gets dropped but isn’t really missing as the focus is shifted to the melodic break, offering plenty of hands in the air moments before that hook pulls back in the slamming kick. This tough trancer will dominate floors for the rest of 2010.
Last up is the Dutchman who has been one of the highlights of HCR this year, with Artento opting to drop the pace down to the low 130s where he usually operates. With a slick, rolling bassline at the centerpiece that’s reminiscent of Remy’s bouncy progressive techno on the seminal Bang! The vocal returns with lots of chopped up synths, echoes and other electro effects.