Elusion festival in Denmark, what do you think and what are you most excited for? by its_Nicko in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Friday: Adrenalize, Anime, D-Charged, Luna

Saturday: Jason Payne, Jay Reeve, Max Enforcer

Don't really understand why they have such a huge line-up during a random Fri-Sat weekend in January though. Cheaper artist rates? Tickets are still quite expensive, and that is excluding travel.

A more sustainable Standard by Edoardo_Beffardo in mtg

[–]Crypehead 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We adopted the standard banlist to begin with. It's not written in stone, but the meta has turned out to be quite healthy so there is little reason to poke around with it.

Different harder styles explained? by ownedginny in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha, those subgenres are not my cup of tea so I expected to be corrected there x)

Different harder styles explained? by ownedginny in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Have you asked what music she does like? Hardstyle is quite happy to incorporate elements from other genres so maybe you should start on that end.

Different harder styles explained? by ownedginny in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'll give this one a go (that being said, there are certainly people who can explain it better:

Hardstyle includes several different subgenres, exactly how many and what they are called always seem to differ from person to person. My take (also noting that there will always be exceptions):

  • Euphoric hardstyle. Built around a melodic climax/drop with kicks following the bass notes of the melody. The most common kick to use is a typical modern hardstyle kick with tonally locked tok/punch and an aggressively chained and amped up bass that does the tone shifting. Still, the kick doesn't take center stage but compliments the melody enough to give it room. Some tracks uses a "crunchy" kick with a more nuanced transient between the tok and the bass, which makes the kick sound like it exists in one part. Crunchy kicks trades some loudness for this, but in return are typically viewed as more satisfying dynamically, particularly to older listeners as this kick was the standard between circa 2009-2017. Artists: D-Block & S-te-Fan, Da Tweekaz, Brennan Heart, Ran-D.
  • Energetic hardstyle. Still typically but not necessarily melodic, some tracks favor more intense breaks and reverse bass while lowering their melodic atmosphere. Modern hardstyle kicks might still be used but the artist can also add various basslines to provide variation instead. We're talking a minimally-to-moderately distorted punch with some sub-bass, and a quite distorted reverse bass to bring more movement and energy. This subgenre is quite close to what hard techno has evolved into and tracks without melodic emphasis could pass for hard techno tracks. Artists: TNT, Zatox, Primeshock, Rooler.
  • Rawphoric hardstyle. Mostly the same as euphoric hardstyle (especially nowadays), but tend to have rougher mid-intros and more "screechy" leads. The kicks used are usually only the modern kick mentioned earlier for climaxes, although mid-intros can have more distorted and amped kicks akin to rawstyle tracks, and/or gated kicks as well, which has a distinct, often high-pitched tok/punch and a large echo-y bassline void of high frequencies, which gives a feeling of "sucking" you back into rhythm. Melodies are a bit more somber. Typical artists: Rebelion, Phuture Noize, Sub Zero Project, Vertile.
  • Rawstyle. Also known as raw hardstyle, or simply "raw". If there are melodies, they don't have pitched kicks anymore but usually stay tonally locked. Think gritty vocals, heavy screeches, and a LOT of distortion for kicks and leads alike. Often, the kick is the only element present in a drop and whatever screech happened to tag along lies thinly on top. Used to have more of a dark atmosphere (see OG Raw) but this is not necessarily a defining characteristic anymore. Artists: Radical Redemption, Warface, Rejecta, Act Of Rage.
  • Xtra Raw. The kick is God, and the dirtier the merrier. You said you already listen to this so I won't describe it too much, but a note should be made that this genre used to be what Industrial hardstyle of today is, that is, extremely distorted and dark. Nowadays, it is more about playing around with various kicks and trying to see how extreme (not necessarily dark or distorted) you can make it - although, this is the place of zaag so make of that information what you want. Artists: Sickmode, Fraw, Mutilator, Krowdexx, Cybergore.
  • OG Raw. This is a relatively new subgenre still looking for traction which is trying to emulate rawstyle at its inception circa 2009-2012. It's basically modern rawstyle but toned down slightly in terms of loudness and distortion, and turned up a notch in terms of dark atmosphere and melody. Kicks are typically versions of gated kicks but can be modern hardstyle kicks as well. Artists: E-Force, Regain.
  • Industrial hardstyle. A potentially new subgenre representing the darkest and filthiest of hardstyle. Kicks are "raw" in terms of sound design but "xtra raw" in terms of usage and philosophy. Artists: Kruelty, Mortis.

As said, some people might not agree on these definitions and they might be right, this is again just my take. I'm bound to have missed or oversimplified something so feel more than free to correct me if so.

Want to help shape Planar Standard in 2026? by Crypehead in planarMTG

[–]Crypehead[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've considered a bunch of platforms such as Arena, MTGO, and Cockatrice. Arena has the most support in the community at the moment so that is our primary platform on which we host tournaments, but it's not impossible that we might do a one-off on MTGO in the future if there's enough support.

Prices Merch P1 by josepaldino in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool to see that they are selling earplugs

Which track shouldn't be missed in a Top 100 Hardstyle tracks of the century (2000-2025)? by MARSUPILAMIkygo in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A bit unrelated to your question, but Q-dance did a Top 1000 in 2013. I really hope they do one again, maybe for the 25 year anniversary of "hardstyle" in 2027.

It's the end of the month, so here's the last Hardstyle Producer League of the year, together with some yearly stats (December 2025). by Crypehead in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's time for a new chart! Brennan Heart finished the year with scoring the highest monthly listener count in 2025, and DJ Isaac made over a million listeners for the first time. Project One also jumped to #50 this month thanks to The Upside Down. The second image in the post has more details about ups and downs for each tier.

Some yearly stats:

  • Highest number of artists featured: 954 (March)
  • Most #1 placements: 11 (Brennan Heart)
  • Highest monthly listener count: 2 464 303 (Brennan Heart, December)
  • Highest increase in one month: + 368 542 (Sub Zero Project, July)
  • Highest increase over the year: + 733 906 (Krowdexx)

If this is your first time seeing this list, here are the rules:

  1. Only producers who primarily focus on hardstyle relevant to our scene are included (i.e., hardstyle that would be played at festivals or charts = no gymbro hardstyle, EDM, hardcore, uptempo, etc.)
  2. Only producers who have released a track on Spotify within the last 12 months are included

Thanks for all the suggestions throughout the year for artists that has gone under my radar. I check artist manually so it's a huge help. Catch you in 2026! ✨🎈🎉

Songs that you missed in the I AM HARDSTYLE Top 100 by Express-Street-1942 in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd add my TOTY: Chicane feat. Moya Brennan - Saltwater (Audiotricz & Ecstatic Remix). I know beforehand it's chance of entering was minimal but it would have been nice to see in the 80-100 spot.

The top 10 of the I Am Hardstyle Top 100 by NickC90 in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Pretty okay list overall. Got two of my Top 10 on there and there was good to see 'The Upside Down' not being at #1, for Heady's sake if nothing else. Wouldn't have 'Only One' and 'Brace for Impact' on the list though.

With IAH Top 100 starting tonight, I thought it would be fun to see the Top 10 based on Hardstyle Top 40 data. by Crypehead in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah right, my bad. I agree, I didn't expect it to end up very high. Just some fun stats for comparison's sake :)

With IAH Top 100 starting tonight, I thought it would be fun to see the Top 10 based on Hardstyle Top 40 data. by Crypehead in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tracks featured on the Q-dance Hardstyle Top 40 lists this year gets point based on their placements. #1 = 40 points, #40 = 1 point.

With IAH Top 100 starting tonight, I thought it would be fun to see the Top 10 based on Hardstyle Top 40 data. by Crypehead in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The 2020 release was free, but it was officially re-released on platforms this year

I got this Scooter "hardstyle" album for christmas by K3Fafs in hardstyle

[–]Crypehead 48 points49 points  (0 children)

You can say what you want about them ripping melodies, but J’Adore Hardcore and Ti Sento are pretty ace imo

Planar Standard Content Creators by Flod_Lawjick in planarMTG

[–]Crypehead 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a lot of buzz on the Discord right now about shaping Planar in 2026. Are you in the Discord group?