Hardstyle next direction?

[JensJacobsen]

for me, I hate nu-raw so much
can't even listen to it anymore

euphoric hardstyle. Still doing solid tho! good to see!


but what would you like to see come back? like w/ a modern touch
early or gated?

[Emre]

Tbh gated kicks have been back for years, Adjuzt for example is good at them, and those kinda kicks are the best (hardstyle) kicks for me. I probably could live with piep/regular raw kicks dissapearing in hardstyle as long as gated kicks stay. As long as uptempo keeps the pieps/zaags.

[th3r3zo]

For me everything is fine, if the kick fest tracks with those ugly kicks disappeared. Sounds like when you throw a rock over the street or you scratch a board with the nails.

[Shodan]

For me euphoric always has been a big hit or miss, i love the style so much but melodies sound so random and funny enough not euphoric at all sometimes, non-euphoric acts make better melodies, raw is going to dominate as it always has been, the hopes of euphoric making a "comeback" is hard copium imo

i don't mind the kick salads tbh, of all the current trends, im really tired of fake drops and i hope those die soon, and for the future not really sure but i'd like to see "industrial"-ish rawstyle go bigger, Deezl Mortis and Kruelty having huge potential, Sub Zero Project has been doing really good hard kicks recently and we will see some colourish kicks pop here and there

[DjVero]

In 1,5 years the "gang-style" will have taken over with hard-hitting powerful kicks, funky melodies and fun(ny) vocals, mark my words! This current raw is pure overkill, even though there are some absolute bangers which I adore, but this overkill can't last for long, can it?

What I wish to come back though is 2008 thru 2011 hardstyle when there were actual PROPER mid-intros and climaxes with recognizable melodies that you could easily remember or hum to, with an A- and B-side. Just plain and simple stuff. Decent drop lengths! Nowadays it's just one big pile of 23 seconds rawfest with hardly any recognizable stuff, barring a few exceptions. And the euphoric is barely standing out either.

Why is this in off-topic though?

[battlejellyfish]

What I wish to come back though is 2008 thru 2011 hardstyle when there were actual PROPER mid-intros and climaxes with recognizable melodies that you could easily remember or hum to, with an A- and B-side. Just plain and simple stuff. Decent drop lengths! Nowadays it's just one big pile of 23 seconds rawfest with hardly any recognizable stuff, barring a few exceptions. And the euphoric is barely standing out either.

a counterreaction probably comes when the popular stuff is getting tiresome, the question is only the how. I think classic hardstyle is going to come back in a way we don't see yet. maybe some bigger producers will start and the others follow or going to find new audiences like early hardstyle does in the techno scene. maybe shuffle is going to have its renaissance in a couple of years and so people will try to make the same type of music they've heard under so many shuffle compilation videos and BAM you have a classic hardstyle-ish comeback. worth noting that despite some producers are trying, I don't see that big impact coming yet

[DjVero]

What I wish to come back though is 2008 thru 2011 hardstyle when there were actual PROPER mid-intros and climaxes with recognizable melodies that you could easily remember or hum to, with an A- and B-side. Just plain and simple stuff. Decent drop lengths! Nowadays it's just one big pile of 23 seconds rawfest with hardly any recognizable stuff, barring a few exceptions. And the euphoric is barely standing out either.

a counterreaction probably comes when the popular stuff is getting tiresome, the question is only the how. I think classic hardstyle is going to come back in a way we don't see yet. maybe some bigger producers will start and the others follow or going to find new audiences like early hardstyle does in the techno scene. maybe shuffle is going to have its renaissance in a couple of years and so people will try to make the same type of music they've heard under so many shuffle compilation videos and BAM you have a classic hardstyle-ish comeback. worth noting that despite some producers are trying, I don't see that big impact coming yet

Agreed, the current stuff is still way too popular! And there is a new style coming too.

It's also loads of wishful thinking imo. It just won't work at hardstyle parties anymore. The polarisation (hard vs. melodic) is bigger than ever. Imagine having Rebelion before Ran-D and then Wildstylez doing the renaissance sound, albeit in a new jacket. People want harder and harder and then faster, can't see how that would play out. But yea, maybe, just maybe the current state will get tiresome. Hope so! Or, this fast-paced reversed bass hardstyle like Double F-Ect - Bumpin' Hard or Daniele Mondello - What's The Noise - mind you, both poorly produced though - catches on and you got yourself a whole different breed of hardstyle as well.

Hardcore had a huge dip late 90s and a revival after. Hardstyle needs a reset like that as well I'm afraid.

[The Blaster]

Yeah it's almost all fucking terrible. And every trend that you would mock-predict like 15-minute sets, no mixing, tracks under 2 minutes, kicks changing every X seconds (we have yet to get it down to every 1 second but i'm sure it's doable) seems to come true.

I'll put out there collaborations with pop artists. Yes, a trillion have happened (Brennan Heart maybe the first?), but I would really like to see some huge pop icons, like justin bieber. Would be great.

Techstyle remains at it's strongest point ever. I think 10 years ago had a discussion here with Thera and Geck-o and 10 years later they are both doing hard techno. amazing. You could not ask for more. It's just overlooked by literally millions and millions of hardstyle fans. But I suppose all good things are.

What raw will turn into, god knows. I would have never predicted the overexaggerated meme genre uptempo fusing with raw. So maybe just an extension of a trillion meme kicks, keyboard kicks, whacked in the balls kicks, table tennis ball kicks, smashing a pane of glass while on a hoverboard kicks. exciting future for the genre!

[The Ascendant]

I'm just happy the genre has stayed relevant in general, and that there is so many producers making various variations of hardstyle.
I believe the future is really bright and we are going to see a reinvigoration of a lot of older styles.