The Pitcher - Smack! | Liveset Database

A-BASS - on 8-11-2010
Cosmic-Events™

The Pitcher his first artist album called Smack!
The first impression of the album shows a neat artwork, combining this with some impressions from his set on Q-Dance presents: Fusion The Next Level really makes me curious for this album. With this thrilled feeling this is my review of this album.

1. Mad Killer
The first track of the album is Mad Killer, I expected something more hands-up than this to start off from the pitcher, mostly because of his latest big hits like I Just Can’t Stop and Serenity, which are way less dark then this track. In my opinion this track is decent, not awesome. The thing I like the most in this track is the change of the melody in the climax, it sounds like there are three climaxes, where the first and third climax have the same melody and the second has another, quite original.

2. Little Bitch
The same atmosphere continues in the second track, the piano plus vocal in the mid really create a nice dark feeling. The melody for the climax is great and typical the pitcher. I think this track will be quite popular on events, especially for the mid part.

3. Release Me
This track is probably one of my favorites, the vocal in the break is touching. The only thing that bothers me on this track, is that the melody reminds me of an older track and I can’t find out which one it is. A nice thing in the second climax is the adding of the vocal, especially the end where it goes higher and higher, this creates a good ending of the main part.

4. Fuck Hardstyle (Ft Zany & DV8)
It’s always nice to hear MC DV8’s voice in a track I think, especially when the lyrics are good. The first time I heard this track at Q-Dance presents Fusion, it didn’t hit me properly. But after listening to the lyrics I think it’s a nice message they bring. Its written like poetry, very defining for this track. You can hear the influence of Zany in this track which makes a nice variation in sound on this album. For me the vocals are the most important for this track, the melody is decent.

5. Savor Time
Nice raw mid again, that screech is awesome, a great Fusion mid. The break and vocal sound like the usual the pitcher style again. Which is great in my opinion, it reminds me a bit of the older hits which I referred to before in this review. I was waiting for a track like this on this album, because this is what defines, or defined The Pitcher I think. A bit more euphoric and happy then the melodies in the previous tracks on this album, quite a diversion to the fourth track.

6. Sky Rocket
The mid sounds a bit techy from what I can hear now. The main melody is nice but not very special in my opinion. The vocal is kind of strange I think. The climax has a nice drive. I like the breakbeat break between the first and second climax. Overall a decent track but not my cup of tea.

7. Smack (Ft. MC Renegade)
Reversed bass! In the mid that is. The screeches are nice and I like the way the vocals are edited in the mid, although I’m not a fan of Renegade’s voice. The main melody is great I think, and the way it builds on in the second climax is great. The climaxes are a bit short, but not too short. This is a great track and a good choice to name the album after this track.

8. This Is Who We Are (ft. Slim Shore)
Another nice vocal, a typical Slim Shore one, the break is great just a plain piano plus vocals and after that the synths. I’m really fond of that melody. The typical part of this track is the second break with the start of the second climax and that melody. It’s hard to describe that part but it’s done before in Reputation Game by Brennan Heart and Wildstylez, not saying it’s the same in here but just to give an indication.

9. Trigger
Again some nice reversed bass in the mid, together with a nice vocal cut, a combination which always works. The end of the mid is original, together with the start of the break, it creates a nice dark atmosphere. The melody is quite dark and the synth has a nice tension in it. I think this is again a decent track, not one of my favorites.

10. Shut up (Ft. Noisecontrollers)
This is one we have heard before, because it was on Hardbass Chapter 20. The melody is quite catchy. The mids are good and the track overall has a good drive in it. The track isn’t spectacularly great but will work fine on the dancefloors.

11. La Nuit Noire
What an atmosphere in the break, the short synths create a dark tension together with the low chorus. And then hits the anti-climax. I was really surprised by it, but then again I expected some kicks with it which are more raw. Luckily there is a climax with this great melody, overall a great track and surely one of my favorites.

12. Noctus Noa (Ft. B-Front)
Well that’s raw, but what else would you expect in a collaboration with B-Front. A good mid with some great rhythm edits in it. Then the synths kick in with a huge tension in it, reminding me a bit of Donkey Rollers – 2010 which is awesome. Some nice dissonances in this track and a nice building of the melody. This track amazed me the first time I heard it, so I bet we will hear it often in the future which isn’t a punishment at all.

13. Burn It
A nice dark mid to start off with and in total very nice track with an unusual melody. The breaks contain another melody then the melody which is used in the climaxes. This track has a slight Donkey Rollers taste in it so it’s quite rough compared to what we are used to from The Pitcher. The short vocal “Burn It” is nice add-on to the track and makes a good transition between the breaks and climaxes.

14. Cherish (Ft. Noisecontrollers)
This track is one of my favorites, with a very catchy melody and a good buildup. You may of heard it before on Hardbass Chapter 20 and Hardstyle Volume 21. I like the first climax the most, with the fast and short synths on the afterbeat, this creates a sort of reversed bass feeling.

15. Start Rocking (D-Block & S-Te-Fan remix)
The Cenoginerz remix of this track is one of my all-time favorites and probably a hardstyle classic. This remix contains a nice mid with the old mid-melody and a new DBSTF reversed bass, the second part of the mid contains a normal bassline with a screech rhythm, it’s nice but I prefer the first part since its more close to the Cenoginerz. The melody in the break is great, the break and climax are written in triplets, which you can hear very good in the new rhythm of the vocal. Concluding this track I can say that this is a good remix, it isn’t as good as the Cenoginerz remix, but its more than just an old track in a new DBSTF jacket. It will be a matter of taste which you like better.

16. Bangrindin’ (Noisecontrollers remix)
This really surprised me, in a good way. I still love the original Grindin’ from The Pitcher especially for the mid and Banging was a nice one too. So combining these and remixing it is a great idea I think. I specially love the mid because it contains so much of the older tracks. The main melody is nice but not very special I think. I love it that the old Grindin’ melody comes through in the middle of the climax. The outro mid is different than the intro mid which is good in my opinion.

17. D-Block & S-Te-Fan – Kingdom (The Pitcher re-amp)
It could be that you’ve heard this track before. I think it’s a nice rework of The Pitcher. The vocal still is one of my favorites in hardstyle. The new melody is very good and I think it’s a good thing that The Pitcher didn’t just edit the melody of D-Block & S-Te-Fan which makes more difference between the two tracks, since the original is just from 2008. A nice thing is that the vocal is also in the second climax and not only in the break, this makes the track more of one piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUHXmWvfM6k&feature=player_embedded

To conclude this review I think this album matched my expectations in quality, in style it is a bit darker than I expected. But it makes sense, because this style suits Fusion more where in the past The Pitcher released on Superplastik, by this I am not saying that there are no tracks which suit The Pitcher previous releases. None of the tracks bored me or where bad, there were some which aren’t my cup of tea but that’s just a matter of taste. The overall variety in this album is good, compared to some older artist albums, but that is also a choice of the artist and matter of taste. I can’t point out one favorite already since some tracks will probably needs some more listens to really grow on me. I think this album can be enjoyed by all hardstyle listeners, and not just by The Pitcher or Fusion fans due the variety in tracks and high quality of producing.

Review by Wessel W.

Eestikaz - on 9-11-2010

Enjoy The Pitchers Smack albums previews here! http://www.youtube.com/user/Eestikaz?feature=mhum#p/c/EFF9DF8256821980

BazzProject - on 20-11-2010
LSDB Finalist!

1. The Pitcher - Mad Killer