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Josh & Wesz – Oblivion E.P. (Hardcopy/HC021)

This time I’ve decided to review the latest Josh & Wesz release called the Oblivion E.P.
I’ve chosen to review this release as Josh & Wesz are my favourite nustyle producers, and I believe they are really underrated. These guys have been producing for a while and have already released some great tracks. They have lots of variations in their productions which is a big advantage, because producers who vary their tracks keep surprising the crowd with fresh, new sounds.

Let’s start with the first track on this release, Oblivion.
Personally I think this is the best track on the release, but opinions can differ! Oblivion is a top quality production, and everyone who likes nustyle will agree with me. Josh & Wesz are known and loved for their great kicks and basslines in their intros, and their wicked uplifting yet pounding melodies.
That’s what Oblivion is all about. For their intro they chose some pure nustyle kicks instead of reversed bass; and thank goodness Josh & Wesz know how to make kicks. It has a deep punch which provides you with the needed low frequencies, so together with the nice intro it’s a great way to begin the track.

Shortly after the intro there are vocals which mention all kinds of feelings: “fear, anger, sadness, joy”. I have no idea what they’re doing in the track, but they aren’t annoying.
Right before the mid-intro kicks in, the female vocal says “Supernova” and I don’t know what it means, but it makes me think about something out of this world, perhaps something better!
The mid-intro also has the same deep kicks as the intro, but the variation in sounds and their structure is what makes the mid-intro attractive.

At the break the same female vocal is speaking about something and I don’t know what it’s about, but some of the words in it give me the same feeling I had when she said ‘Supernova’ earlier. It’s not really important or anything so enough about the break, because the buildup after the break is huge, and the melody which Josh & Wesz provide us with is absolutely outstanding. This is what nustyle is about; it doesn’t matter how long or short a melody is, as long as it has a lot of energy it will get everyone bouncing up and down on the dancefloor. The melody is supported with some nice pounding kicks as always from Josh & Wesz which makes this track a big slamming nustyle hit.

The second track on this release is Rauwe Brok.
As I said before, Josh & Wesz vary a lot in their tracks, so whilst Oblivion was nustyle with a trancey melody, Rauwe Brok is much harder. In the intro, the main element is the bassline; it’s a very low, deep bassline which I personally love, and they don’t use a lot of sounds in the beginning of the intro, so it is kept simple with some low frequencies.
The Mid-Intro is where they start with the real deal, where you can already hear through the use of samples that this track will be harder than usual. The hardness is caused by the kicks instead of the bassline from the intro, which go very well together with the sounds. Again there are some vocals which I have no idea what they’re talking about. I don’t really care about vocals in tracks anyway, unless it’s some sort of Top 40 Hitzone break which destroys a track completely.

The synth they use for their buildup to the melody is strange in my opinion, but the climax is huge! The strange buildup suddenly transforms into a nice sharp, screechy melody with the use of the same kicks of the mid-intro, so this climax is 100% approved by me. However, it’s a shame that the climax is short compared to the length of the track, but it’s strong and hard, so I guess I would rather have a short but extremely wicked part, than a long “My Little Pony” melody. There’s nothing much to say about the outro as it is the same as the intro.

The last but not least track on this release is Let’s Get Durty.
This can be classified as harder as well, and I personally think the intro is the best part of this track. The way they build up the intro is pretty awesome, because they use short and single sounds to get you hyped up and then they give you some sort of ‘melody preview’ followed by an ‘Oh’ vocal. After that all the sounds disappear which leave you with a sick bassline and nice kicks!
The mid-intro is basically the same as the intro with the same sounds; the structure differs a bit and so do the kicks, but there’s nothing special about the mid-intro when you compare it to the intro, but overall it is very nice!

Then there’s a pretty long melody buildup with an interesting sentence saying ‘6 million ways to fly, choose another’. Then the real buildup starts, with a wicked melody as always from Josh & Wesz, and suddenly the melody buildup stops and you get the same single sounds from the intro. The first thing I thought when I heard this was, “this must be an anti-climax track”. And I was right, they announce that “They’re gonna get durty”, and that’s exactly what the anti-climax is for, to make sure you’ll be so surprised that you wet your pants, and get dirty! I know I have a terrible sense of humor, but at least I try to keep it interesting!
After the anti-climax part they do a melody-buildup again, but this time they chose to keep the melody and just add some kicks to it, whereas some choose to do a second anti-climax. I prefer to have it like Josh & Wesz’s style, and bring in a melody in the second climax.

Josh & Wesz have again proven to be a strong nustyle duo, who deserve to get more bookings at the biggest stages, because in my opinion they are one of the few producers who are able to release top quality tracks over and over and over again!
I know that lots of people won’t agree with the score I’ll give this release, but the entire review is just my personal opinion so keep that in mind!

VERDICT : 90/100

Discuss this release on the forums:
http://www.fear.fm/release/josh-wesz-oblivion/108

Out now on Hardcopy Records [Hardcopy 21] purchase at hardstyle.com

1. Josh & Wesz - Oblivon
2. Josh & Wesz – Rauwe Brok
3. Josh & Wesz – Let’s Get Durty