(Ministry of Sound/EMI)

Having firmly cemented its place as the audio bible of Australia’s harder generation (with seven successful releases under its proverbial belt,) the Hard NRG series has ridden a seemingly unending wave of success. While many of its brethren failed and faded into obscurity, this tough customer has gone on to become one of Australia’s most successful dance series. Founding father Jason Midro has moved on to greener pastures, leaving scene stalwart and veteran John Ferris to once again lend his practiced hand and sprinkle some of his magic nrg dust.

Midro’s place has been taken by Claus Terhoeven (Nic Chagall) and Stefan Bossem (DJ Bossi,) collectively known as the German uber-trancers Cosmic Gate. Taking the reigns with great enthusiasm and panache, Bossi and Chagall have delivered a sizzling trance spectacular and their first commercially available Australian mix. As you would expect, the lads have used many of their own productions, and thanks to their fresh and innovative style the tracks all sound polished and engaging. Heavy basslines and uplifting synth arrangements are what fans of Cosmic Gate love and the boys have been only too happy to oblige. Bringing an international onboard is usually a good move and in this instance it has paid off in spades

So how does their mix sound? Well I never managed to catch the TV show 24, but the creepy sample of agent Jack Bauer’s voice is used to great effect in Armin van Buuren’s remix of The Longest Day. The driving bassline, bleeps and spiraling flanges gets things off to a roaring start. Six minutes later Tiesto’s Euphoria appears, delivering exactly what it promises. Jan Johnson’s familiar vocals feature on the boys own I Feel Wonderful (originally a bootleg mix of Bilingual and Skydive,) before the ominous ambience of Johan Gielens Dreamchild slithers up. Another cracker is Cosmic Gate’s own Ultra Curve, a delicious piece of storming stadium trance. The lads keep stoking the furnace, applying their remixing skills to the relentless and energetic fury of Amun, and following it up with the captivating Tomorrow.

Things take an interesting twist about half way through the disc with the later tracks having an unmistakably funky side to them. The good times begin with the fairytale grooves of Jochen Millers remix of Silent Electra’s For This Moment. This leads into Wippenberg’s even funkier Earth and a track or two later, Bossdrum’s bouncy Noise and Music. Things get even funkier with a track from Belgian trance staple Dark Alliance. Genetic has an infectious vocal hook, relentless kicks and snare rushes that are simply superb. The Cosmic mix concludes with Monotone, an evil little beast a la Umek, and one of Cosmic Gate’s finest. With polished production and an insanely catchy groove, it’s a solid tune and a fantastic closer. Mixed to perfection, the Cosmic Gate disc is one mighty impressive piece of music.

Switching to the second disc finds local hero John Ferris at the controls. Ferris has done a great job of “keeping it street” while also creating an accessible mix that has some mesmeric tunes. Critics have given Ferris a bit of stick in the past regarding his eclectic track selection, however it all seems to fall into place this time. Ferris has also drawn flack for starting his mixes with popular tunes, but whether this bothers you is really personal taste.

As a huge fan of the Chemical Brothers, I was chuffed to see the delicious analogue warbles of Electronic Battle Weapon chosen as the opener. Strutting up next is Gjb3’s Outside In, a seething concotion of breaky elements and agitated hoovers. The hits continue with the Blutonium Floorkilla and the relentless sunrise hardstyle of It’s Killing Me. Add some very creative mixing, a fantastic raw accapella of Peaches’ Rock Show and Ferris’ own Hardstyle and Acid and you have a pretty tidy piece of work!

Those of you old enough to remember Soft Cell’s classic Tainted Love will be thrilled to hear Tainted Schall, a reworked version from German technoist Thomas Schumacher. Equally impressive is the ragga flavour of Outta Space. Outta Space is a refreshing rework of the Prodigy classic, though its one of those tracks people will either love or despise.  Feel good vibes are the flavour of the Drop That Beat which is followed up by Getting High, a scorcher from German hard trancer DJ Wag. Hammering beats, thrashing guitars and old skool keyboards all come together to create a modern classic. Heller & Enkie vs. Gadjo’s happy trancer So Many Times comes as a bit of a surprise, but is a refreshing change from the warzone raging around it. The final tune, Bigger, Better, Louder, storms up and finishes things off with a hardstyle bang! (As an aside, I think enjoyment of Ferris’ mix will benefit from multiple listens. Give it a few tries and see if it grows on you!)

So there you have it. Two upfront mixes of different styles of the ‘ard stuff. Fans of the series will (hopefully) not be disapointed and new recruits will surely find something to tickle their fancy. Hats off to both Cosmic Gate and John Ferris! If the series continues in this vein, may it continue to prosper!