Pre-Lucky Lotus it was tough to find quality sets of newer freeform, making Hedonistik Rutual’s FutureProof set a very welcome one. It’s a beautifully put together hour or so with a very strong theme, managing to represent a few sides of the scene without things getting disjointed.

The opening is the real standout of the set to my ears – Hedonistik coming up with a lovely live edit of Byrgius that flows perfectly into Hyphen’s NEXUS. This excellent start leads into some more thoughtful melodic tracks (including Sentimental Pain, of course), with Transcend’s remix of Isn’t it all a little strange proving to be a nice bridge into the more UK-centric sounds.

Some might not float my boat, but both the mixing and selection are solid and really well considered – that use of Artifical Reality as another bridge to switch things up again is a nice touch. Finishing with Iron Sky and Hyphen’s Dryad Machine remix nails the energetic melancholy that always works for a finale, taking things back to the Alek-esque atmosphere of the opening.

Kudos to FutureProof for promoting a variety of sounds in their mix series, and to Hedonistik for showing how a skilled DJ can travel the middle ground between the UK and Finland in fine style.

01. Alek Szahala vs Aryx – Byrgius (Ritual Intro Edit)
02. Hyphen – NEXUS
03. Grimsoul – Sentimental Pain
04. Exemia – Aeroduel (Hyphen Remix)
05. Shokk – Isn’t it all a little strange (Transcend Bootleg)
06. Transcend & Hedonistik Ritual – Scorched
07. Aeon – Games with God
08. Ace Ventura – Neurochemistry
09. Transcend & Cyrax – I’ll show you the Darkside
10. Arkitech & Cyrax – Destroyer of Worlds
11. Transcend & Hedonistik Ritual- Mercator de Mortem
12. Substanced – Artifical Reality
13. Kokomochi – Iron Sky
14. Alek Szahala – Dryad Machine (Hyphen Remix)