Father

By: Antolini and Montorsi
Label: Red Alrt
Written by: dean zone
Rating: 9/10


Luca Antolini and Andrea Montorsi are without question two of the most overlooked producers when is comes to hard trance within these fair shores. The fact that the leading lights of the legendary Red Alert label have now teamed up made me nearly wet myself when I saw this waiting for me in my inbox, and it is my wholehearted pleasure to review all 3 mixes.
 
The classic original mix is everything fans of Antolini and Montorsi could ever expect – relentless, uplifting and bass heavy European hard trance. A female vocal swirls about from almost the first beat, and whilst it seems a little strange to write a tune about your dad, it never gets in the way. The thunderous bass is just as you would expect. Loud and off-beat, but this one’s only a slight growler and one of the more accessible Euro ones out there. Stabbing synths enter the fray at the 2.5 minute mark, carrying through to the break. Ethereal pads motion in a superb sub bass, complete with intentional slow break beat and full on vocal. Whilst the subject matter may be slightly different, you cannot take away the production values and quality of the vocal. All of this however is before the main riff filters down. It’s an absolute peach of a riff and sits perfectly over the rest of the track. The vocal doesn’t appear again save for short, chopped fills over the riff, which sounds fab. An excellent original, so how do the 2 other mixes stand up?
 
The Hard Trance Mix (which is funny, because if the original isn’t Hard Trance then I really don’t know what is, but anyway) is in fairness a completely different proposition. It’s a bit more laid back, with a more subtle 2 note bass instead of the massive off beat of the original and more of a concentration on the melody. The break is much more about the vocal, as it’s set free and much more of a focal point. The pads support the vocal well, and the low kick running through it gives it more of a hard than uplifting feel. An excellent use of silence give the drop tones of energy, but the main riff doesn’t sound quite so awesome, almost like it has been toned down somewhat. Definitely a mix for the not quite peak time sets, but still very, very good!
 
The final mix of the package is the strangely titled New NRG Mix. Now where I come from NRG is a form of very hard house, but Antolini and Montorsi obviously have a different meaning for it, as this couldn’t be further from what I thought it would be. It’s much more of an electro tinged tough trancer. The percussion and bass have both been changed to fit the idea, with the vocal taking a right good chopping. It’s much more like the recent Tiger/Anthem release on the same label not too long ago. Indeed, the rest of the track is almost unrecognisable from the other mixes, but it still manages to sound pretty good. The break, whilst largely similar to the other, uses a great sounding synth, totally different to the others. Whilst it doesn’t have the uplifting or driving qualities of the other mixes, it’s the most eclectic of the three, and still definitely worth purchase.