87/100

• Soaring, catchy melody
• Intricate, reverberating FX
• Supported by Armin van Buuren + W&W

This review has been written by Stags Music. If you like his work, follow him on Instagram!

Graham Bell (a trio) are newcomers to the bigroom trance scene, but you bet they’ve made their entrance spectacular. This might only be the third release in two years under their name, but you can be rest assured that quality beats quantity. You might have seen this tune on my Upcoming Releases page for a while now, which goes to show exactly how excited I was for this.

In this decade, marketing plays a major role in the entertainment industry, as evidenced by profiles such as Maala and Marshmello. Graham Bell has remained elusive following their previous releases, but in anticipation of their newest single, the members of this trio have finally been revealed. Primarily professionals who offer mixing and mastering services to electronic artists, they’ve fortunately decided to dabble into production too. It seems like they will be focusing increasing amounts of attention on original music this year.

Both of their other two releases have been candidates for the Tune of the Year, and were absolutely massive main-stage destroyers. The first was a remix of the classic Xplode, done together with Yoel Lewis. This was supported by Armin van Buuren in multiple of his sets, and even crowned Tune of the Week in an ASOT episode. Second was his percussion-heavy track with Andrew Rayel titled Tambores (Spanish for ‘drums’), which again got loads of support, being played at Ultra Miami 2018, again by Armin himself.

Now, we get The Night King, their first solo track, which has been supported yet again by Armin, and even by W&W in their sets as both NWYR and W&W. While originally thought that this track would be released via W&W’s Mainstage Music label (now Rave Culture) given the amount of play NWYR has given it, it’s now apparent that they are sticking to Armin’s label Armind.

In fact, this was also originally IDed as a potential NWYR release, which goes to show the quality of the production. The lead is so tight that you would expect that kind of sound design only from W&W. And then there’s the melody, which carries the whole track through. Graham Bell have gone from remixing a classic melody to writing one; twenty years down the line I’m sure this is one I will remember.

The track begins with an orchestral introduction, with some heavy bass stabs, before a bunch of widely space FXs buildup to the introduction of the melody, which you can’t help but hum along to. The drums are so expertly mixed into the soundscape; you’ll hear them thudding and echoing through your ears as you listen. The drop features a monotone bass-line, going for energy over harmony. This is also seen in the use of just one main lead in the first portion of the drop; the second portion introduces some backing supersaws too which creates some harmony.

As we enter the new year of 2019 with such a great trance release, it seems that Graham Bell has big plans as a group for 2019, and you can expect more more music yet to come from these virtuosos. Apart from that, there’s a high likelihood that they’ve been a part of the production of one of your favorite songs this year, given their expertise in mixing and mastering services.