Out now on the High Contrast imprint is 'This Way', the follow-up to mainroom monsters 'F!lth' and 'Cold Storage'. The remix on the flip comes courtesy of Rank 1, so head in for a full review.
Ronald van Gelderen has steadily been building his name over the past few years, releasing lots of singles and remixes. With his most recent releases, his sound has moved towards a somewhat rawer, meaner mixture of trance and tech, sometimes accompanied by vocals. This time around, Ronald himself took care of the vocals once again (just as in 'Crying Out'). The infamous Rank 1 duo took care of the remix.
A-side: Original Mix Starting off in RvG's typical, somewhat harsh sound using raw bassdrums, a very thick, rumbling bassline and some slick bits of percussions here and there, 'This Way' immediately sports a hefty, banging feel. Snips of Ronald's vocals blend in seamlessly, led onwards by stabbing, punchy bass chords and a set of mysteriously pumping synths at the background. The breakdown has been kept at a rather minimal level using just the vocals and a nicely crafted accompanying guitar-like melody, which plays along in a nicely relaxing, sunny way. I'm usually not a fan of male vocals, but this tune somehow cought me: it all sounds smooth and well polished, showing Ronald has more in him than just producing instrumental tracks. The final part of the breakdown encompasses an arrangement that might sound very familiar to some of you: a tiny synth starts putting out a constantly repeating, teasing rhythm, loaded with effects to create a tense feel just before the climax. I guess it's unintentional, but this definitely sounds like a replica of the exact same part in Bossanova's 'Stonecold', released back in 2004. Anyway, the climax is (as expected) of the banging type, ready to get the floors going using them massive basses and them stabby rhythms. Not Ronald's best work, but definitely good food for a dancefloor. Rating: 7,5/10
B-side: Rank 1 Remix The Dutch duo everyone seems to love hands in their remix on the flip of this release. If you think this is going to be a more trancy number, well, you're going to be disappointed. The boys go on in their newly found techy, stabby style using a similar structure as in their remix for Mr. Sam's 'Lyteo'. Deep, full basslines and thick percussion are the main ingredients here, giving pace to chopped up vocal bits and techy synth popups on their way to the break, which is quite similar to the one in the original. This time around though, the Rank 1 boys have implemented a vengeful, industrial stabbing riff, playing a simple yet effective melody. While this is the mix that's being played by most of the jocks out there, I personally think it's not much of an addition to the original. The tech-flavour that's being emitted should work well on the floors, but doesn't bring anything new and surely isn't something you'd remember in a while. All in all, this is a rather typical remix which just doesn't do it for me. Rating: 6,5/10
Conclusion:
Ronald's original is quite the banging tune with it's mean basses and raw overall sound, plus the vocals are quite cool. Rank 1 deliver a rather uninspirational remix in their contemporary techy sound which will work well on the floor but for the rest doesn't really add much to the original.
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