Blutonium Boy – Essential Of Hardstyle Vol. 2 (2012)

Released in the same year as Volume 1, Blutonium Boy wanted people to listen to his music to be remembered by. He prepared this, Volume 2 of his series of releases to represent the essence of banging Hardstyle.

Is it any good? Let’s find out.

We kick off with Intro – Essential Of Hardstyle Vol. 2 which has a mind-melting intro to this collection, and a great voiceover by Blutonium Boy. It’s a great intro, and interesting to hear at the start of all this. Excellent.

Next is the tune Acid & Bass (Acid Edit) which has banging beats, hi-hats, and awesome textures galore. Blutonium Boy is back and doing what he does best. The combination of twists, turns, beats, and sound will blow your mind. Totally underrated music, being danceable, and headbanging sort of music. A brilliant effort, and a great way to begin this compilation.

Make It Louder – Radio Mix has a feel of urgency in its pace and tempo. It’s another great Blutonium Boy effort here. Hardstyle is back, and this tune makes you want to go crazy and dance. It’s a great EDM and DJ sort of effort, with many mindblowing changes. Pop those disco biscuits and go nuts here people. It is a really great compilation so far, no question about that. The kick drum and well-made beats will blow your mind, not your ears.

Rockin – Album Cut has some Acid style sounds for this type of Hardstyle. It’s another party based beat banging symphony, to describe it properly. The breakdown is dark and mysterious before the main melody comes in to surprise the listener. “We have to keep it rockin’,” indeed. Another good listen.

Next is Hardstyle Instructor Part 3 – Album Mix which is perfect listening when you are at the gym working out, or in a Hardstyle themed music event. It’s a crazy sort of listening experience, with some awesome bass sounds in the breakdown. It resurges with a great Hardstyle melody, and those banging beats hit you. Great stuff. Another good listen.

After that, we go straight into In Touch With Tomorrow – Radio Mix. It is more suspenseful than the previous track. The vocal sample is great, followed by some truly amazing Acid and breaks samples in the middle of it. Very interesting, and a must-listen for any fan of Hardstyle. It then goes into a banging frenzy towards the end of the track. The past and future meet here, for sure.

Kick This M.F. – Blu Boy Short Mix is somewhat faster to begin with than previous tracks. The music on Volume 2 is a definite step up from Volume 1, being more interesting and varied than some of the tracks there. It builds up pace-wise in the breakdown to something insanely fast, before giving us a gritty sounding melody to listen to. This is great DJ sort of music, very underrated.

Don’t Beat Mike Tyson – Short Mix is rather repetitive with the vocal sample, before going into a groove and an Amen Break sort of meltdown, with great melodies to follow. This tune is yet another solid example of how Blutonium Boy does really well with making Hardstyle. Great stuff. It’s a warp to another sonic realm often not explored in the world of music.

For all Aussies who love EDM, Acid Over Sydney – Blutonium Boy Edit is for you. It’s another good tune from our Hardstyle master. One can only wonder at the experience that they may have with taking LSD to this sort of music. Regardless, it’s an interesting listen. The melody that kicks in during the breakdown is really awesome. Great stuff.

Next is Back – Short Mix which starts off with a familiar bell sound (see if you can recognise it). It goes forward into a rather repetitive tune, despite being interesting in its own way. The breakdown sounds pretty awesome, with an ethereal mood about it. The minor-key melody then arises out of it, making this piece another club based journey in a sonic realm of unknown. Great to hear though.

Hardstyle Rockers – Album Mix begins with pounding kick drums and down pitched cut-up vocals to take you on a sonic trip. It goes into a repetitive sound in the breakdown which then speeds up into a cyber melody in the second half of the track. It’s not very good this one, could have been better thought out.

Supreme – Short Version is pretty ordinary at the start. That is until the awesome melody kicks in and lifts your hearts and minds to the next level of Hardstyle. It’s an imaginative listen, even though most Hardstyle would be deemed otherwise. Not bad.

Next is This Is My Floor – Hardstyle Album Mix. By this point, the music on this compilation is not as impressive as the first few tracks. Still, Blutonium Boy does a decent job here, and there is plenty of suspense on these tracks, which keeps things interesting. Another good effort overall, although this one is more Trance than Hardstyle.

Following up is Blackout – DJ Luna Short Edit. It’s a bit slow to begin with, with intertwining melodies in it. The melodies are carefully maneuvered in this piece around to provide musical suspense. Once again, this is more like Trance than Hardstyle, which is disappointing. It’s good listening though.

Fear – Blutonium Boy Short Sound Essential arrives next. It starts off fairly simply, before going into some racing drum rolls. Some real human screams are followed by Blutonium Boy telling us to release our fear. It’s a great and interesting listen. For those who like their Hardstyle to be scary, this is your track. It builds up with loads of banging beats and Acid textures towards the end.

Dark Angel – Hardstyle Short Mix finishes this compilation off with some random cut-up vocal sampling and an intense listen with some great sounds and mixing. It’s a good way to finish off this interesting compilation, and not a bad effort to hear. The melody towards the end is pretty nice.

This is a good listen for music that obviously follows a simplistic formula. It’s largely underrated, even by today’s EDM scene. If you want to hear your average music go hard and bang right, this is a good place to start after Volume 1 of the series. Good stuff to hear.

Banging beats galore.

8/10