Beneath At Juno Download

Review: Rapidly ripping it up with a mission to bring some proper dread back to the convoluted hinterland around what used to be dubstep, Beneath has been showing some deadly skill on No Symbols and Keysound, and now he gets snapped up by Pinch to bring it on home to the perfect label for such deadly accuracy, Tectonic. "Duty" wastes no time in whipping into a low slung 4/4 roll defined by a gut-wrenching bottom end while all manner of panic-inducing industrial textures come slamming in around it. Far from the monochrome results so many achieve with such a sound palette, there is a serious dynamism in the rhythm Beneath creates, only built upon with "Texers" as dystopian whiffs of melody try to enter the fray in a more whip-cracking broken beat template.

Review: Beneath arrived on the scene earlier this year with two self-released white labels showcasing his unique strain of dark UK funky, and quickly won a number of high profile admirers. One was Keysound's Martin Clark, who has tapped him up for this superb six track EP. Traces of early Horsepower Productions can be heard in its combination of late garage and early dubstep rhythms, as can the early productions of Youngsta, creating a sub-heavy set of percussive rollers taking as much from the current strain of techno & grime fusions as UKF. "Prangin" goes in with a deeply tribal vibe, "Wonz" is filled with angular rhythms and Shackleton style atmospherics, and "Tribulation" even has the subtle Eastern tones of Pinch's "Qawwali", but the most striking track has to be Beneath's remix of Ballistiq Beats' "Concrete Jungle", proving that his productions absolutely shine with some classic grime flow.