Review: Wales national BMotion has upped his game with "Bear Hug". Tearing things up from the off, it's a brutal assault from all directions, from the onwards push of the relentless bassline to the retro synths coming in equal measures melodic and murderous. And if that wasn't enough, "Vice City" doesn't disappoint those with visions of '80s hat-tips, thanks to the neon bass and snug level of warmth in the mix. Consider the gap in the market for danceable tracks officially filled.
Review: Since being exclusively signed to Futurebound's label the lad hailing from sunny South Wales has been showing us what he's made of. 'Passenger' is a track designed purely to set the dance alight. The drums are tough and heavy enough to get the floors pumping, but the catchy melodic main body of the track paired with the repetitive vocal gives it some crossover appeal for festival and freshers sets, keeping that delicate balance of authenticity.
Review: After his ridiculously massive "Bearhug", Welsh bass wizard Bmotion continues his Viper assault offensive with two more superlative shredders. "Arabia" has a really bouncy, squelchy groove before dropping into an evocative Moroccan string and vocal hook that builds into another one of his trademark drops. "Ignition" is much more base in its intentions as a spiked-out bassline chews itself inside out with tech-like menace before leaning forward and trying to munch you own face off. Comparisons to Culture Shock's "Troglodyte" aren't to be thrown around lightly but in this case it's legit.
Review: Viper collide with one of America's biggest bass champions Bassrush for a third year. A full album is en route, here's the first sampler and fittingly it's nationally balanced as UK (Wales to be precise) goes tune for tune with US. Bmotion takes the lead with "Something So", a genuinely unique track that takes a big disco lick and subverts the life out of it in a really cool dynamic and refreshingly different way. Meanwhile EDC champions Consouls and fellow US champs Kronology kick up enough dust to cover the entirety of Las Vegas with "Like That", a jet engine bass turbine that hammers in a way that could easily be compared to the levels of TC or The Prototypes. Bring on the full album... We can feel another rush coming on.
Review: Twenty eight tracks, 12 exclusives, one mix... Viper smash down the doors of 2016 with an all-encompassing document that portrays D&B broadest, baddest landscape in great detail. Among the out-and-out classics of last year ("Dead Limit", "City Of Gold") you'll find some of Viper's most exciting smashes of the last few years ("One's Own", "What R U Doing?" "Universes") and, most importantly, 12 tracks that have yet to be releases before... Ranging from J Majik's muscular, monster-stomping return ("Drop It") to Toronto Is Broken's savage, skippy tech funker "Zero One", Viper aren't messing around at all on this one.
Review: 48 tracks, six exclusives, two mixes: Viper have already developed a strong-armed reputation for compilations over the years but this is taking things to a whole new ridiculous level. Investigating bass music's widest corners, the heady concoction of tracks ranges from premier league bangers (Wilko's remix of The Prodigy, Noisia & The Upbeats "Dead Limit", Andy C's "New Era VIP") to fresh-baked underground rollers (Dossa, Locuzzed and NC-17's drone-jump buzz-cut "Ninja", Dub Elements' deep space neuro-edged shredder "Metaverse") to lower tempo tear-ups from the likes of Pex L, Au5, Flux Pavilion and Doctor P and Specimen A. With heaps more in between, this accurately reflects just how exciting and closely linked all bass-laced genres are right now. Venomously immense.
Review: New Year doesn't officially kick off until Viper smack you silly with their yearly "Drum & Bass Annual". 2017's edition smacks even harder than usual with no less than 10 exclusives including a Culture Shock/Dimension style roll out from Misfit, Halflight's "Communication Failure" that has enough power to cause a civil war and North Base's "Woman" that has so much seductive soul power to cause a mess in your trousers. Elsewhere The Voss & NC-17 pay respect to the Book Of The Bad on "Mojave" and Blaine Stranger sends you off to cosmoses unknown on "By Your Side". And that's just a handful of the unreleased cuts amid some of the label's biggest releases in recent times.
