Evil Activities

Evil Activities proved hardcore could hit hearts as hard as eardrums. Kelly van Soest formed the project in 1998 (originally alongside Telly Luyks) and built it into one of the defining acts of the Neophyte Records era. The two also stepped into Masters of Ceremony, joining the veteran hardcore formation behind records like ‘Hardcore Will Survive’, and van Soest runs a whole parallel hardstyle career as Max Enforcer, the alias behind the Hard Bass 2009 anthem.

The album artist of gabber

Van Soest released his debut album ‘Dedicated’ in 2003 on Neophyte’s label, but it was 2008’s ‘Evilution’ that launched him into hardcore’s top tier, a critically acclaimed record that confirmed him as one of the genre’s commanding artists. ‘Extreme Audio’ followed in 2012.

‘Nobody Said It Was Easy’

The 2008 single ‘Nobody Said It Was Easy’ outgrew everything around it: emotional vocals about perseverance over merciless kicks, a formula that made a hardcore track genuinely timeless. Nearly two decades on, it still tops his Spotify catalogue in HDRR’s tracking. Alongside contemporaries Tha Playah and Angerfist, it defined what mainstage hardcore sounded like in its 2000s golden run, a circle that also united as The Supreme Team, the supergroup of Angerfist, Outblast, Tha Playah and Evil Activities.

The act evolves

In 2016 vocalist E-Life joined Evil Activities, formalising a partnership that carried the project’s live shows forward: the emotional register that made ‘Nobody Said It Was Easy’ iconic, delivered by an actual frontman.

Every new Evil Activities release lands on the Hardcore Release Radar the day it hits Spotify. The full tracked catalogue is listed above.