Zatox - Fluxland (DWX-423)

Eens! Sterke plaat, zowel de mid als de climax. Kicks zijn wat soft maar in het geheel stoor ik me daar niet aan. Ondanks dat natuurlijk iedereen zijn mening mag hebben (ook ik heb Zatox de laatste jaren ontlopen) wordt Zatox naar mijn idee ook wel door een erg zwarte bril bekeken.

Als je Right Now, Indigo, Open Your Mind, God Complex en Fluxland luistert hoor ik een degelijk, divers repertoire.

I'll explain the hate if you can tell me at which part you can hear a kick in that song.

I don't hate Zatox or his tracks, but this track misses everything that I look for in Hardstyle. This track has no atmosphere, no feeling, no complexity (not talking about complexity in producing technique/quality) and IMO this track isn't unique or original at all.

Sound design might be something producers appreciate the most, but most fans don't give a shit about that. That might sound harsh, but in my experience it's the truth.

Couldn't agree more. Especially the bold part. To me, if a track does not provide any form of innovation or diversity, there is a very high chance of it not being liked. This also has a lot to do with the constant use of the same elements over and over again these past years (of which Zatox is part). For some people, that makes it hard to appreciate sound designs and other aspects that aren't influenced by this form of superfluous overproduction.

Up until 2010 Zatox was one of my favorites. He had great melodies and atmospheres, nice vocal parts to sing along (or shout things like I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, AAAAAAH, always loved that shit), combined with pretty powerful kicks that completely suited his tracks. They were the complete hardstyle package. Musicality, inspiration, feelings, energy, great reverse basses with their drive... Man he was good.

After that, couple of exceptions in 2011 tho, it looks like he's just playing around a bit with his computer and doesn't put any feeling or music into any of his tracks. It's just cheap vocals, either weak or extremely overdriven/overly present kicks and very simple or even absent melodies. Sometimes there's a weak attempt at mimicking a style another producer used in a new track that people liked.
It just looks like a complete lack of inspiration. It's like he had a personal muse back in the days, which decided to abandon him around 2011, never to return. He had a few great tracks in 2011 and 12, in which he reaaaally messed up the kicks by pitching them way to high.

I still miss the old Zatox. But we pretty much buried him in 2012.