Rise nightclub was shaken to its core last Friday night, with one of the founding fathers of the hardstyle genre, DJ Zany, taking the time to come and test out the Rise sound system for us while on the Australian leg of the Defqon.1 tour.

As I walked up the stairs towards to dancefloor, the walls were vibrating with kickdrums and bass, a chaotic yet comforting sound, as I walked through to get wrapped up in the blanket of beats, put up by Steven Tranzor. I hadn’t seen Steve spin for a while, and was pleased with the hard techy trance that he’s known for.

Raoul van Grinsven, better known as Zany, seemed to like it too. He was waiting by the DJ booth, happily taking snaps and signing records for his fans. That’s one thing I love about Rise nightclub, you can sit and have a beer with superstar international DJs who are used to playing to tens of thousands of people at a time. Once he stepped up to the decks though, it was no holds barred, as Zany presented his world famous fusion of sound.

Hardstyle is one of those genres that needs to be heard on a loud system to understand its true appeal. The room was soaked in anthemic, brooding melodies and drenched in warm subbass which, when combined, create an unrelenting sound that drives the dancefloor to a pool of flailing bodies stomping madly to the beat. At some points I thought the Rise system might give in, though, as the sound just got deeper and louder with every tune. It held up well, however, as Zany grinned and controlled the crowd with the hardstyle flavour.

People who are lucky enough to be going over for the massive Defqon.1 event in Sydney, I envy you sincerely. With all those big name DJ’s, if they put up even half the intensity that Zany did at Rise, you are in store for a surefire, nosebleed guaranteed beat bangin’ hardstyle-fest of epic proportions!