Dark by Design vs. Rik Steinberg
» Zero Tolerance (Ner0)
Reviewed by Dean Zone
/ Submitted 08-06-08 17:14
Label: Ner0
Format: Digital
Genre: Hard Trance / European Hard Trance
Since bursting onto the scene a couple of months ago with debut release LSD Revolution, those guys over at Ner0 have continued to release quality European Hard Trance, with the latest courtesy of one of the main men himself, Dark By Design.
Using a Harrison Ford sample recently used by Sully in his excellent “Your Turn” track, Dark by Design seems to have returned to his roots almost. Now producing a much harsher sound, this is a more melodic hard trancer of the sort that good old Gaz hasn’t really made for a while now. As you would expect of a DBD track, it’s full of snares, the bass is off beat but strangely seems subdued, and like his older stuff, it’s very, very uplifting. The breakdown relies on some sweet pads for the most part, and anyone who remembers the likes of Visions of Skywalking and Mechanical Fate will know that he hasn’t made anything similar in a while. The pads eventually fade to be replaced by the riff, before dropping the vocal and the rest of the beat. One criticism that I have never levelled at DBD is that of “generic” hard dance producer, but this for me just sounds a bit to like all the other UK hard trance I am hearing at the moment, even if it is better than most of it. I for one know full well that he can do much, much better, and hope than he gets back to his best soon.
6/10
Thank god then for the Sixth Sense remix, as this is the kind of track I would expect DBD to be making himself. The bass fade in this remix is immense, really powerful and loud, dropping perfectly into the beat. The riff sounds so much more euphoric and crisp too, this remix really shows how sub standard the original is when compared. The main break brings in a wicked little break beat sequence with the pads, and although there is definitely an old skool DBD element to the production here, I just can’t help but feel that this is like taking out the old and replacing it with the new. The vocal sample has also been cut out, which whilst needless it certainly doesn’t detract from the track.
An excellent remix, taking the good parts of the original and making the bad parts better; this is what it’s all about.
8/10
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