As you have probably realize i’ve been sick and don’t had much time to take care of the blog. But i’m back stronger then ever !
I want to dedicate this post to a not well known part of the darkside nation. The dubstep scene seems obviously to be part of bass music but i’m seeing more and more producers that want to make it darker and harder. Obviously for me it could be part of our scene. The dark part of dubstep goes well with crossbreed, hard drum’n'bass (darkstep and techno-dnb) and industrial hardcore.
This is the point i want to show with this post.As dubstep is a pretty nu genre most of the time in this post will not be that old but good music is good music is good music. And i hope i could give you some ideas for promoting event, making mix and stuff. Just food for thought you know
The Outside Agency – Wait your Turn
Label Killing Sheep KSHEEPV011
Release year 2010
You know i’m a true fan of killing sheep from previously posted article. This is the shizzit. Totally forward thinking. hope more tune of this kind appears so we can make mix that melt dubstep and reallly really hard stuff. this do is hard stuff. for real. this is the real deal. No mistake. killer label. killer artists.
Broken Note – Zound
Label Boka BOKA032
Release year 2010
Broken Note – War in the Making
Label Ruff RUFF 08
Release year 2008
Broken note paved the way for really industrial dubstep. This guy is a genius. he could make hard drum’n'bass, breakcore or dubcore and brings always something new. Just listen to this shit and bang your head. bang your head. BANG ! BANG ! BANG
!
Sinister Souls – In the Filth
Label S.C.U.M SUBSCUM 008EP
Release year 2012
For me they are the most ground breaking stuff in this dubcore thing right now. There production are tight as fuck and really hard industrial bassline, pounding drums. This stuff is soo good. And it brings something really good to the scene i think.
Even the master of the darkside nation are bringing some dubcore tune these days so watch out for something big !!!
Current Value – Burn In
Label the Sect TSM002
Release year 2013
The wooble is something else. No one ever something that wicked. It’s the current value sound design wizardry. The production is tight as hell as always with CV. This could make some serious damage on the dancefloor. Love this tune so much. Hope more tune of this kind appears.
DJ Hidden – Drastic
Label Hidden Tracks HIDTR002
Release year 2011
Like wait your turn it’s more some kind of experimental shit but that will work well on the dancefloor. This tune change all the time. it’s so well executed. the mixdown is so good. the sound design is perfect. When you hear a tune like that you know why DJ hidden is one the king of the industrial rave scene.
EDIT A FREE RELEASE YOU MUST DOWNLOAD
Suicide Silence - Bludgeoned to Death (Mantis Deathstep Remix)
i just realize i wait way too long between the last episode. to be apologies this one will be full of heavy heavy tunages….
Evol Intent – Middle Of the Night
Label Evol Intent Recordings EILP001
Release Year2008
This song is the perfect romantic melodic darkstep. I remember when i heard first on club. it’s was so catchy yet so dark and powerfull. the breakbeat madness and the distorded reece are pure techstep madness. but the vocal is soft, mellow and delicate. As far as i know it’s rawthang who push this style of really dark catchy melodic techstep. I think Evol Intent just nails this style though. There is no much track of this kind now… it’s the shame cause it work well on the dancefloor. Stuff now are pushed to the threshold of madness (wich i really like though) or soft and cheesy as hell.
This kind of track is all about contrast. The vocal hook is soft and romantic, mellow yet dark and the breakbeat and reece are rough hard and industrial but the sum is more then is part because it give a apocalyptic melancholic tune who work so well on the dancefloor.
This tune is legend… just legend !!! so pay attention because it kind of a big part of the history of dark drum’n'bass.
this is the first real crossbreed track. Everything is huge in this tune. the intro is perfectly crafted with dark and delicate dark orchestra. Then the tunage alternate between hardcore kick and reece/breakbeat darkstep madness. Dj Hidden make something demented that is more then the sum of each part. Obviously you would tell breakbeat + Hardcore Kick = breakcore. The strenght of Dj Hidden track is to show a completly new take on this hard break stuff. Because time like this doesn’t sound at all like breakcore… it sound like … well … crossbreed. breakcore is punkish and raw it’s all about chaos. Time like this is hard as nails but also heavy and clean. It’s the deathmetal of electronic dance music. the crossbreed son of the two most demented music of the hardcore rave continuum : hardcore and drum’n'bass.
And take time to listen to the VIP. this is even more tormented and dark then the original. Killing sheep take age to release the VIP but the wait was so much worth it … a huge huge VIP that really hard something to the tune. Killing Sheep is also a really important label in the birth of Crossbreed. They have released lots of heavy tune that couldn’t be everywhere else at that time. There i don’t give a fuck about commerciality attitude has be so important in the creation of dark drum’n'bass as we know it. techstep was hard in fact lots of drum’n'bass at that time was a lot harder but the really hard stuff haven’t got any room…there was no darkstep/crossbreed scene at that time… Killing sheep is also a legendary label!
A legendary tunage on legendary label that make sense !!!
Resonant Evil – Troubleshoot
Label Renegade hardware RH051
Release year 2003
This track is the perfect exemple of techstep before the neurofunk/darkstep switch. techstep was the sound of the underground around 2000 like brostep is today. All the kids were fonds of techstep. I was part of it. It was everywhere : in action movies, in raves, in free parties, in club. It’s was the cutting edge of the hardcore rave continuum. like the kids do screwface on wooble these days we were screwfacing on hard reeces. the birth of techstep is related the label No U-Turn and techstep as the name implies melt elements of techno (in particular the reece bass) and jungle.
Later on Techstep return to the underground when label like Hospital push some kind of popstep sound, LTK bukem create deep liquid drum’n'bass and the popularity of drum’n'bass decline drasticly. Techstep was in fact much more important then just a sub sub genre. It invented something nu in the club. The club has always be an hedonistic way of having fun. But techstep was something else. It’s was some kind of mesmerizing paranoid apocalyptic way of having fun…. because time have changed. there is no age of love for us. We all do know it. hence the bad popularity of drum’n'bass seen as a bad boy music : too rough, too ruff, too dark. Nowadays Dnb has become “good fun” and nothing more…
Techstep wanted more. it wanted to push the limits of what you could dance for. It was serious music to have fun…the bpm increase from 160 to modern 175, the reece become more and more distorted. the drum keep being phatter, distorted and punchier. It’s over the top music. And the kids loved it like they love today the ugliest “dirtiest” wooble.
So techstep returns to the underground and split into two subgenre. the neurofunk who appear with Optical and Ed Rush ‘s work in Wormhole. Neurofunk push the complexity of modulation to new extreme. They also add science fiction sound design and nu level of production. But neurofunk is something totally new. It’s not dark and rough as techstep. As Noisia said it’s dirty but clean.
Darkstep evolve as the son of drumfunk and techstep. It’s keep the harsh reece of techstep and hard break but add the rythmical complexity of drumfunk. It take time to appear only pushed at the beginning by label like Freak or Outbreak. For me it’s the only part of the drum’n'bass that keep the spirit of techstep alive. Of course reece bass or breakbeat are common in dnb but the spirit of techstep to push thing to extreme is only alive in crossbreed/darkstep.
Anyway enough rambling listen to the tune and appreciate how drum’n'bass was good at that time. In the three producer of Resonant Evil only one still produce as far as i know (gareth) as the mighty Audio
Side A Never Look Back Side B The Difference Between
10 years of Killing Sheep Records and still no one can touch us, the definitive Cross over DNB / Hardcore label delivers the definitive DNB / Hardcore release.
Vinyl of the year, no contest.
