Netherlands · rawstyle · hardstyle

Sub Zero Project

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Dutch duo who dragged rawstyle somewhere darker and more cinematic — kicks like a pile driver, melodies built to match them.

Sub Zero Project is a Dutch hardstyle duo made up of Nigel Coppen and Thomas Velderman. Coppen had produced under the name Sub Zero before meeting Velderman through YouTube, after which the two began working together and added "Project" to signal the switch to a duo. They signed to the Belgian label Dirty Workz in December 2013, when they were sixteen and seventeen, and released their first EPs, Scream and Let's Fight, the following year.

They work primarily in raw hardstyle, using distorted, heavily processed kick drums as the main melodic and rhythmic element, often paired with darker, cinematic build-ups and screeches. Their 2017 release "The Project" introduced what they call "psy-style" kicks, an aggressive, psytrance-influenced attack that has since become their signature, referenced explicitly in tracks such as "Psychopath" and "Sweet But Psycho."

The pair are associated with the Dutch hard dance circuit and the Q-dance ecosystem of events, releasing through Dirty Workz since signing with the label in 2013. Their productions favor a theatrical, concept-driven presentation: debut album Contagion, from 2019, built its imagery around a "virus" theme, while 2022's Renaissance of Rave took its cover art from Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

Tracks including "Our Church," "Darkest Hour (The Clock)," "Trip to Mars (Astronauts)" and "It Will Be Ok" remain their best-known work; "Trip to Mars" and "HALO" placed first and second in Q-dance's annual hardstyle chart in 2021, with two more of their tracks placing in the top ten the same year. They have collaborated with artists including Timmy Trumpet, Hardwell, Vini Vici, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Headhunterz.

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