Review:
Dilate's back with more of his nutty designs. Once again, like his previous Dubz Audio release late last year, it's grottier than a night out with a bunch of weightlifters on white cider. Twisted, heavy, face screwing but madly addictive; both cuts here blaze with strong singalong riffs that will rattle around your brain for days with all their metallic swampy charm. "Velocity" hits more of a rasping laser lick while "Takeoff" is all about the soggy wet riff. Both absolutely annihilate.
Review:
Manchester based Dub Phizix says his OhmGrown series is focused purely on the music and less about industry, releasing his music directly for download from the likes of yours truly - not very long after they've been finished. An addiction to the entire process means the sound design, writing, mixing, mastering and any visuals are done in-house by him - impressive! Part 1 features moments of moody deep dubstep like "Engage", woozy off-kilter drum 'n' bass experienced on "The Waterboy" and of course "Get Fresh" with its truly obese bounce and wobble.
Review:
Get your air lasers, air daggers and air horns ready and prepare to fire/stab/blast them into the sky at these new next level textures from the fast rising UK artist Dub Sense. At moments it's pure face melting grot (such as the raw fire of "Extortion" and the gutter chomping grease of "Kev Thompson"), at others it suddenly flips into peaceful, rush caked bliss such as "Resurrect" and the mad switch flip of lasers / soulful jazz textures of "Involved"... Best get your air saxophone ready for that one. Murderation.
Review:
Manchester's Dom Utley, better known as Dutta to his peers, is up next on Serum's Souped Up with a new bunch of personal dubs that follow up great releases on Faceless Audio, Dubz Audio and Liondub International. Featuring the fierce tech-stepper that is "Dominos", he then goes deeper into the morning hours on the moody "One Round" (feat T>I) reminiscent of classic DJ Krust and "Cookie Monster" - a true roller with relentless junglist style breaks throughout. Follows up some great releases on the label by Bou, Bladerunner and Current Value.
Review:
American bass label Digital Terror is back, after impressive releases by Pish Posh, Sub Killaz and Dutta. 2018 has proven to be a landmark year for the NYC/LA joint venture - pushing a slew of hard hitting tunes from the drum'n'bass landscape, while supporting both new and established artists alike. Always one to combine forces and create its own identity beyond the average, the collaborative projects in DTR's back catalogue sport some heavyweight combinations and the latest pairing of Eazy and Bou leaves no warning. From the wonky "The Shimada Clan" which is reminiscent of classic DJ Zinc, the gnarly techstep shenanigans of "Snakes & Blaggers" or "Karate" (Eazy Remix) featuring the most razor sharp sub-bass we've heard all year - all killer, no filler.
Review:
Chest thumping badness from the man like Ed Solo on his and Deekline's fast rising heavyweight D&B imprint Gorilla Warfare. "Min Wob" is all about the infectious riff where a clipped mid range one note glitch goes toe to toe against a lavish groaning sheet metal bassline while "Super Subs" lives up to its name to the very last detail with some exceptional bottom end work, blissful rave pads on the breakdown and a rolling sense of foundation funk that fellow OG Zinc used to be known for. Super and indeed sharp.
Review:
Previously of Northbase, Exile continues to smash things solo with his first full EP. Five track of total demolition, there are too many guns for our feeble humanoid fingers right here: the urgent turbine groan of "Murk It", the staccato drama of "Devil's Belief", the tuned percussion, junglised fills and tubular basses of "ESP", the absolute stank of the swampy, flabby bass riff of "The Victim". Flipping the switch for the finale, Exile gets conscious on the thoughtful narrative stepper with wisdom from MCs Stubb Z and Midas proving he's not totally evil (just evil most the time...)
