Who is Matisse & Sadko? Matisse & Sadko Songs, Music, Discography & Artists Like Matisse & Sadko
Matisse & Sadko are a Russian progressive house duo from Sosnovy Bor, Russia. They are brothers Aleksandr and Yury Parkhomenko, and they’ve been making big room festival tracks since the early 2010s. 4D4M has had their records in rotation for years. If you’ve recognizes the EDM world, you probably know them best from their extensive run of collaborations with Martin Garrix. Adam got hooked on their sound during the big room era and never really let go.
Who Is Matisse & Sadko?
Matisse & Sadko are a production and DJ duo made up of brothers from Sosnovy Bor, Russia. The pair started building their name in the Russian electronic music scene before breaking internationally through a collaboration pipeline with Martin Garrix that ended up being one of the most consistent partnerships in the progressive house world.
Their rise to global recognition came when they started releasing joint tracks with Garrix on STMPD RCRDS and Spinnin’ Records. Tracks like “Forever,” “Together,” “Dragon,” “Break Through The Silence,” and “Mistaken” all became staples in big room DJ sets. These weren’t just features or throwaway collabs. The duo contributed heavily to the production on those records, and the quality showed.
What makes Matisse & Sadko interesting is that they didn’t get famous from a viral moment or a single chart smash. They built their reputation through consistent output, strong technical production, and choosing the right partners. The Garrix relationship amplified their reach, but they had the chops to back it up. Their solo and non-Garrix releases hold their own, with tracks like “Higher” and “Into You” (featuring Hanne Mjøen) showing a more personal side of the duo.
The duo has performed at major festivals across Europe and beyond, and they’re respected in the DJ community not just as producers but as live performers who understand how to work a crowd. They have a solid booking history at events throughout the festival circuit, and their Tomorrowland appearances have been highlights in their career trajectory.
Matisse & Sadko’s Sound Explained
The core of Matisse & Sadko’s sound is progressive house built for main stages. Think driving basslines, layered synth builds, and breakdowns that are designed to make a crowd of 50,000 people lose their minds simultaneously. They operate in the same sonic space as classic big room: punchy kicks, wide chord stabs, and melodic leads that stick in your head after one listen.
What separates them from a lot of their contemporaries is the emotional content. Their melodies have a slightly melancholic, Eastern European edge that gives even their most euphoric tracks a bit of weight. “Forever” is a good example. It’s an obvious festival anthem on the surface, but the chord progression carries a nostalgia that makes it hit differently than pure hype-machine tracks.
Their productions are clean. You can hear the craft in the mix. Leads cut through, the low end hits right, and there’s no sonic clutter pulling attention away from the main hook. These are producers who know what they’re doing technically, and it shows every time.
More recent output has followed trends in EDM toward a slightly more mainstream pop-electronic sound, as heard on “Butterflies” with Garrix and BARBZ. But the fundamentals are the same. They make music for big moments, and they’re good at it.
Top Tracks by Matisse & Sadko
1. Butterflies (with Martin Garrix & BARBZ)
One of their most recent big collaborations with Garrix. The vocal hook from BARBZ adds a pop edge that makes this one feel built for crossover moments. It’s polished festival music with a mainstream-ready finish.
2. Higher
A solo Matisse & Sadko release that shows what they do when they’re not sharing the spotlight. The build-up is textbook progressive house, and the drop delivers exactly what the setup promises. Clean, effective, and underrated.
3. Take Me There (with Sick Individuals & Third Party)
A three-way collab that sounds like it was designed specifically for the Tomorrowland mainstage. The combined production power of these three acts creates something that feels larger than any individual contribution.
4. Together (with Martin Garrix)
One of the core Garrix-Matisse & Sadko records. The melodic drop is the kind of moment that makes festival crowds go completely silent before exploding. A genuine classic of the big room era.
5. Forever (with Martin Garrix)
“Forever” is probably the defining track from their partnership with Garrix. The chord sequence has that nostalgic quality that makes you feel like you’re experiencing something important. It has held up since release and still works in any EDM set.
6. Dreamer (Matisse & Sadko Remix of Axwell /\ Ingrosso)
When you get called to remix Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, it means you’ve arrived. Their version of “Dreamer” keeps the energy of the original while adding their own tight production style. A strong showing on a high-pressure assignment.
7. Into You (feat. Hanne Mjøen)
A more intimate track by Matisse & Sadko standards. Hanne Mjøen’s vocal lifts this into pop-electronic territory without losing the production edge. It’s a good example of the duo working outside their comfort zone and pulling it off.
8. Break Through The Silence (with Martin Garrix)
This one leans harder into big room territory than some of their other Garrix collabs. The title fits. The drop has that wall-of-sound quality that was peak EDM festival culture, and it still packs a punch.
9. Mistaken (feat. Alex Aris, with Martin Garrix)
One of the more emotional releases in the Garrix-Matisse & Sadko catalog. Alex Aris brings a strong vocal performance, and the production frames it well. It’s a longer track that earns its runtime.
10. Hold On (feat. Michel Zitron, with Martin Garrix)
Michel Zitron’s vocal sits perfectly over the duo’s production style. This one goes more melodic than most of their big room work, and it shows range. It’s a track that translates outside of the festival context.
11. Dragon (with Martin Garrix)
“Dragon” was one of the earliest Garrix-Matisse & Sadko collaborations and helped put the duo on the international map. Raw big room energy at its most unapologetic. No filler, straight to the point.
12. Good Morning (with Martin Garrix)
A more recent collab with a lighter, uplifting tone. The title gives it away. It’s positive, bright, and cuts through with a main melody that feels instantly familiar after one spin.
13. Won’t Let You Go (with Martin Garrix)
Another entry in the long Garrix-Matisse & Sadko discography. The emotional content is high here, and the production has the cinematic quality that the duo does well when they’re building around a strong vocal.
14. Higher (Extended Mix)
The extended version of “Higher” gives the production room to breathe and builds the journey more deliberately. For mixing in a DJ set, this version is the one to use. It’s a masterclass in how progressive house is supposed to flow.
15. Together (Extended Mix)
The extended version of “Together” makes the full emotional arc of the track clear. What feels like a straight festival anthem in the radio edit reveals more depth here, especially in how the break builds before the final drop lands.
Why 4D4M Vibes With Matisse & Sadko
4D4M connects with Matisse & Sadko for years. It comes down to craft. In a genre where a lot of producers are chasing formulas or riding algorithmic trends, the duo actually cares about how their music is put together. You can hear it. The mixes are clean, the arrangements make sense, and every track has a clear identity.
The Garrix connection helped 4D4M discover them, which is probably the case for a lot of people. “Forever” was a track that showed up in playlist after playlist during a certain period, and for good reason. But going back and digging through their catalog reveals a duo with more to offer than just big room anthems. “Higher” is a legitimately great solo track. The Hanne Mjøen collab is something different entirely.
There’s also something to be said for how they’ve handled collaborations. The EDM world is full of situations where two names get put on a record for marketing reasons and the actual result is a compromise. The Matisse & Sadko partnership with Garrix has always felt genuine. The music sounds like both parties actually contributed, and the output is consistently good across a large number of releases. That kind of consistent collaboration is rare.
From a DJ perspective, their tracks sit well in a set. They work well as openers, they work well as peak-hour moments, and the transitions out of their stuff are clean because the production leaves the right amount of sonic space. That’s not an accident. That’s two producers who understand how DJs actually use music, which probably comes from being DJs themselves.
If you’re exploring EDM and looking for a starting point in the progressive house world, the Matisse & Sadko catalog is a solid entry point. Start with “Forever,” work backward through the Garrix collaborations, then hit the solo stuff. It holds up.
Matisse & Sadko Discography
| Release | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon (with Martin Garrix) | 2014 | Breakthrough international collab; Spinnin’ Records |
| Forever (with Martin Garrix) | 2015 | Defining record of the Garrix partnership |
| Break Through The Silence (with Martin Garrix) | 2015 | Big room festival anthem |
| Higher | 2016 | Solo release; strong progressive house single |
| Together (with Martin Garrix) | 2016 | Mainstage classic; STMPD RCRDS |
| Into You (feat. Hanne Mjøen) | 2017 | Pop-leaning collab; fan favorite |
| Mistaken (feat. Alex Aris, with Martin Garrix) | 2017 | Emotional vocal house; STMPD RCRDS |
| Hold On (feat. Michel Zitron, with Martin Garrix) | 2018 | Melodic progressive house single |
| Won’t Let You Go (with Martin Garrix) | 2019 | Continued strong Garrix partnership |
| Good Morning (with Martin Garrix) | 2020 | Lighter tone; uplifting vibes |
| Take Me There (with Sick Individuals & Third Party) | 2021 | Three-way collab; festival-ready |
| Butterflies (with Martin Garrix & BARBZ) | 2023 | Pop-electronic crossover; recent catalog highlight |
Live & Touring
Matisse & Sadko have been a fixture on the international festival circuit for years. They’ve performed at Tomorrowland multiple times, which is basically the gold standard for where progressive house DJs want to be. Their sets lean hard into their own catalog, which makes sense given how many tracks they have built specifically for big stages.
As a duo, they have an advantage in live settings. Two people behind the decks means more options for how the set unfolds, and they’ve developed a performance style that plays to their strengths as producers. The crowd recognition on tracks like “Forever” and “Together” is immediate, and they know how to sequence those moments within a set for maximum impact.
They’ve toured through Russia and Eastern Europe extensively, maintaining a strong home market presence while also hitting the major Western European and American festival dates. The combination of local legitimacy and international reach has given them a career stability that outlasts a lot of their contemporaries from the same era.
FAQ
Who are Matisse & Sadko?
Matisse & Sadko are a Russian progressive house DJ and production duo. They are brothers from Sosnovy Bor, Russia. The duo is known primarily for their extensive collaboration history with Dutch DJ and producer Martin Garrix, with whom they have released numerous tracks on STMPD RCRDS and Spinnin’ Records. They have been active in the electronic music scene since the early 2010s and have performed at major international festivals including Tomorrowland.
What genre is Matisse & Sadko?
Matisse & Sadko make progressive house music. Their sound sits within the big room EDM tradition, characterized by powerful bass-driven drops, rising synth builds, and melodic leads designed for large festival stages. Over time they’ve incorporated elements of pop-electronic production into their work, particularly in more recent collaborations, but progressive house remains the core of their catalog and sound identity.
What are Matisse & Sadko’s best songs?
The most recognized tracks in the Matisse & Sadko catalog are “Forever,” “Together,” “Dragon,” and “Break Through The Silence,” all released in collaboration with Martin Garrix. Their solo material is also worth checking out, particularly “Higher” and “Into You” featuring Hanne Mjøen. More recent highlights include “Butterflies” with Garrix and BARBZ, which shows the duo adapting their sound to a more current pop-electronic direction.
Are Matisse & Sadko brothers?
Yes. Matisse & Sadko are brothers. They are Aleksandr and Yury Parkhomenko, both from Sosnovy Bor, Russia. This makes them one of several prominent sibling duos in electronic music. Their shared background and close working relationship have contributed to the consistency of their sound across a long catalog, and the fact that they grew up together clearly informs how they work as a unit in the studio and on stage.
Where are Matisse & Sadko from?
Matisse & Sadko are from Sosnovy Bor, Russia. They are one of the most internationally recognized acts to come out of the Russian electronic music scene. Their success on the global festival circuit has helped put Russian electronic music on the map in a way that goes beyond the local scene. They have performed across Europe, North America, and beyond while maintaining strong ties to their Russian fanbase and origins.
What label are Matisse & Sadko on?
Matisse & Sadko have released music on several major electronic music labels. Much of their best-known collaborative work with Martin Garrix appeared on STMPD RCRDS, the label Garrix founded. Earlier work was released through Spinnin’ Records, one of the most prominent EDM labels in the world. They have also put out music on other labels throughout their career, and their discography spans a range of imprints within the dance music industry.
Are Matisse & Sadko still active?
Yes, Matisse & Sadko are still active as of recent years. They have continued to release music and perform at events internationally. While the peak of their mainstream visibility was tied to the big room EDM era of the mid-2010s, they have remained productive and relevant within the progressive house and dance music world. Their recent collaboration “Butterflies” with Martin Garrix and BARBZ shows the duo still working at a high level with major partners in the industry.
Listen to Matisse & Sadko
Matisse & Sadko Online
| Platform | Link |
|---|---|
| Spotify | Listen on Spotify |
| SoundCloud | SoundCloud |
| @matissesadko | |
| Twitter / X | @MatisseSadko |
