Deep Dubstep charts

Review: OM Unit makes his ZamZam Sounds debut with two tracks that flaunt plenty of power, weight and punch.
A-side track 'Armageddon Style' wraps a prodding, full spped steppers-style rhythm in swirling seas of sparkling synths to great effect, while the slow-stepping 'Mystik 808' on the B goes heavier on the bassline and echo chambers, for what feels like a slower offering, if no less intense.

Review: Seven years have passed since Burial first stopped us dead in our tracks with this universally acclaimed second album.. Sounding so different, so removed and far away from anything else, it changed the game entirely - and created a whole school of imitators in its wake. Now repressed by Hyperdub, this is a rare opportunity to grab it on fresh wax. Even if you have this on other formats in your collection, the dusty weight and chasmic crackles sound so much better on vinyl.

Review: Dark dubstep allstar Dayzero first came to out attention with 'Allca', where they pitted themselves alongside contemporaries Gantz or Coki in their unique displays of wonk and lo-fi production techniques. 'Pages' and 'Sen' continue this charge; watery, knocky and psychopathic, both tunes sound like a tank trudging through sludge. Militant and gritty.

Review: After spending eight years showcasing his wares on labels including System Music, Sector 7 Sounds and Coyote Records, deep bass music specialist Drone is ready to unveil his debut album, 'Dance With The Devil'. In keeping with his boundary-blurring approach, the 13-track set presents tracks that variously draw influence from deep dubstep, grime, electro, skwee and d&b. It's a hugely atmospheric and - it should be noted - on-point affair, with Drone being joined by a host of well-regarded collaborators including Snowy, Alix Perez, Hyroglifics, Deft and Elm. Our picks of a strong bunch include the skittish, clandestine 140 business of 'Swamp', the dubby trip-hop/deep soul of 'Ski Mask' and the breathless electro-goes-d&b flex of 'Jugtown'.

Review: Black Acre has always been a home-from-home for Sheffield artist Commodo. He's back on the label now with more of his inter-genre explorations. This time out he brings grime, bass and 90s punk guitar together into something utterly fresh. Think of Fugazi and Mudhoney as reference options and you will be in the right ballpark, but all with this producer's signature sonic structure and hefty bottom ends. These are 140 instrumentals with their own dark energy and they bring a truly different vibe to the dubstep template.

Review: Two certified dubstep donnies collide for 'Ascension', a unique album that explores 140 music from the system roots to the very outer edges. Made remotely during the recent frustrating years, the pair developed a strong creative code and built a body of work that taps into Nomine's 'Blind Man' signature but trembles with that minimal Mondays vibe Youngsta famously pushed. This 12" is a great snapshot of the LP with some of the beguiling features; Breezy Lee brings a Portishead like earnestness on 'Catch Me', there's the disarming violin work and stark bass tones on 'Chasm' and Lelijveld's spelling-binding whispers on 'Hidden' will stop you in your tracks. '528' takes us far east for a final blast of special inspiration. A unique set.

Review: Mystica Tribe's 'Ido' is a rare treat for fans of steppers and dub techno, fusing the two into a neatly synthetic stew. The Japanese producer is known for his unique blend of dub and electronica, which he infuses with traditional Japanese music influences. 'Ido' sounds to morph a reggae staple instrument - the melodica - into something else entirely, perhaps a physically modelled Shakuhachi. The J-dub player brings up the B with a 'Renren version', with the word meaning "flowing like tears, or a river" - the track mirrors this, focusing solely on the on-beat with its rapid delays and cascading hi-hats.

Review: You ever danced with Josi Devil in the pale moon light? Well now is your chance! Making his debut on Innamind Josi (AKA Joe Dreamer) hits hard with three unique system shakers. 'Madnuss 2 Long' creeps out at the front, unhurried but very focused. It's backed up by two more heavyweight flavours - 'Sunk Still' is straight up dub with a clinically obese sub bass melting all over the kicks while 'Horn Switch' hurls in a bucket of warm, squiggly alien funk. Exceptional.

Review: Is there anything Coco Bryce can't do? We're super fan boys of the Dutchman whether he's crafting leftfield electronics and weird downtempo like on a recent album, cooking up pristine drum & bass on any number of 12"s or going deeper into bass territory as he does here on MYOR. Opener 'Canaan' is a deep and cavernous half-time rhythm with curious melodies up top and organic jungle sounds. On the flip he brings his signature breakbeats to the fore on 'Mordechai', a jostling cut with steamy drums and ancient melodies.

Review: .Grubs up groovers! Taiko gets his jig on with White Peach and he's serving up some crumpets. Linking with good friends and able chefs Ed Hodge and Sam Emery, 'Crumpets' is a beautiful funk cut that nods towards the vibes of Silki and Swindle. It's backed up by three more club-focused originals: the harp-plucking 'LM', the creepy, creaky floorboard groaning 'Rise Above' and the graveyard stalking 'We Do' Juicy peaches, each and every.

Review: Dutch rhythm innovator Martyn returns to his own well regarded 3024 label for a collaborative EP with Om Unit that explores plenty of common ground as well as fresh new territory. Om Unit's hometown of Bristol is said to have inspired the sound which take sin tech step, dub infused techno swaggering and 140bpm steppers that any warm blooded human couldn't possible ignore. 'Tracksuit Dub' is as cool and casual as the title suggests, 'Passenger' is a hard hitting, darker more high pressure banger and 'Shapes' gets you on your toes with is prickly beats while 'Skimming' closes at futuristic hyper-speed.

Review: LX One fires up his Vantage machine for another joy ride around the town. As we've come to expect from the MC-turned-premiership producer, it's all about the drama and tension. 'Bloodshot' sees him teaming up with OG Youngsta for a haunted house of a jam. Dusty organs, rusty textures. Meanwhile on the B 'Seeking' goes for the jugular with its fierce symphonic stabs and end-of-the-world swagger. Heavyweight.

Review: After some great releases on Heavy Traffic, Boka Records and Daku, Andrew Howard, better known as AxH, is back with a new one for the ever reliable Artikal Music. Stomping, yet remarkably deep and meditative, 'Monkey Brainz' will hypnotise you into submission with its blunted style of sonar transmissions. Over on the flip, things get much nastier and even abrasive on the pitch black dubstep transgressions of 'Boxknife Chrome' which will leave you feeling like you smoked synthetic cannabinoids.

Review: From cor blimey to core nuclear reactor; Mean Streets continue their Trilogy collection with a second volume of gully comprising two more vibes from the left side. Donnie Kromestar starts the skirmish with his devastating heavyweight bash-about 'Dancehall' while P Jam & Dok flip the experience in the B with 'Funky Nandos'. A springy slice of broken beat with jazzy shimmers and cheery organs, it takes you back to Plastic People even if you didn't get to go there back in the day. Street talk.

Review: Repress alert! Wednesday: Hyperdub announce a new three track release from enigmatic producer Burial - his first solo work in four years. Thursday: Said records arrive on Juno doorstep. How's that for service (and secrecy)! The news came just a matter of days after the producer's collaboration with Radiohead front man Thom Yorke and Four Tet arrived on record shelves across the UK and promptly sold out amidst a frenzy of hype. There are three new tracks on offer here, namely "Street Halo", "NYC" and "Stolen Dog". First up "Street Halo" showcases the classic Burial sound; subterranean bass gurgles, trademark clicking beats and barely-there vocal snatches. A sweet childlike vocal pervades the sonic mist on "NYC" while "Stolen Dog" closes out with ethereal vocal harmonies buried deep beneath vinyl crackle. Stunning.

Review: Climate of Fear follows up Soft Boi's debut LP with a mammoth drop: 12 tapes ripped straight from the first two years of Berlin parties. Released one per month, the series moves from Izabel's shivering chug through Nkisi's deadly anarcho-gabber psychedelia, Polar Inertia's sleek techno throb and DJ Python & Mad Miran's impromptu closing b2b. For the fourth installment in its twelve month tape series, Climate of Fear brings out a scorcher from the one & only Bruce. Recorded in the fall of 2019, the set shows the UK artist in unflinching form, weaving strains of UK club music with the effortless grace and power that has made him a household name. No genre is safe in Bruce's hands. Plug in your sub.

Review: Big city king JSM rings up Sub FM crew Low End Music's new label with a trio of spacious subby trips. 'Dial Tone' takes a familiar sound and twists it into an undulating hook that melts around the swaggering kicks. 'FD2' continues the tonal theme with a dubby harmonic that rattles and ghosts around the stripped back, slouching beats before 'Midnight Heist' takes things even deeper with heavily filtered pads, sleepy horns and the swampiest drums this side of the sewer. Bukkha joins the fray with a bubbly broken beat remix to close. Ding dong.

Review: Of all the artists past and present who claim to let their music do their talking for them, Burial is one of the elite band of whom this truly is the case. In fact, so reluctant is he to engage with the cult-of-personality hoopla that surrounds almost every modern producer and musician of merit, that he remains a genuine recluse; he has never appeared live, only one obliquely-angled publicity photograph is known to exist, and the number of interviews he has given can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet despite this, his music speaks loud and wide, and the world has been listening ever since his 'South London Boroughs' EP debut on Hyperdub in March 2005. His eponymous album, which began life as a low-key release in May 2006, is now widely regarded as the benchmark release of the ever-widening dubstep genre, picking up unanimous critical acclaim along the way, and ending the year heavily featured in many 'best of' polls. Now Burial returns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Vocal lines are blurred, smeared, pitched up pitched down and pitch bent until their content is cast adrift from their original context and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void. The album continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. Kicking off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of 'Archangel', 'Near Dark' and 'Ghost Hardware', before long it descends into a space of radiant divas and ambience. Where 'Burial' first was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, 'Untrue' is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Unlike the overpoweringly melancholic prevailing mood of before, Burial's sound is now better defined as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album's last track 'Raver'. Forget central heating the radioactivity of this album is all that you'll need to keep you warm this winter. 'Untrue' is available as full 13 track digipack CD, including recent underground hit 'Ghost Hardware', and 9 track DJ friendly double vinyl set, from which some of the beatless pieces have been edited.

Review: Encrypted keep the vinyl heat on lock with this precision triptych from Kodama. Hot on the heels of his recent Infernal outing, here the Barcelona badman flexes three special bass treats. Each one laced with strong musical elements and threads, 'Westly' is a dreamy two-step delight, 'Murphy's Song' is a big old jolt of euphoria while 'Glimpse' concludes the EP with a poignant, harp-plucking emotional adieu. Stunning.

Review: Koma returns to the scene of the crime, finishing off what he started in 2018. First there was ENV 018 with massive tracks like 'Uncle Sullivan' and 'Moonlight'. Then came some very cheeky unauthorised versions in 2020 which most definitely weren't on Encrypted (the release was even called NOT-ENV to prove this!) Now he returns with ENV 018.1, another stately slab of wax comprising three smouldering 140 jams... The purring 'Dialtone', the militant march and thundering bumps of 'Flick' and finally the woozy swagger and eerie tension of 'Untitled'. Each one as heavy as the last, rumour has it he'll be back with an album. We can't wait.

Review: Nova is a new signing for the Infernal Sounds crew and the artist has saved some of his best work for the occasion. He opens up with 'Bonafide,' a dark and heavy wobbler with a busy, oscillating low end that is full of menace while some subtle pitched up vocals hint at the rave. 'Single Fuse' is a noter one to loosen the bowels and melt your face with its lumpy, leggy rhythms and tripped out watery effects. It's 'Fivers' which then gets more tight and tense with an edgy synth hustling in the background while jittery snares keep you on edge up front. 'Intricacy' closes with a heavyweight bottom end and plenty of reverb to get lost in.

Review: Following his soundtrack to the Roki game and appearances on the likes of Monstercat, Aether returns to his spiritual home Fent Plates for the first time since 2017. The wait has of course been worth it as 'Fragments' takes us back to the Scottish deepsmith's finest elements; stirring, poignant chords, foggy, disarming textures long lingering-but-tender notes. From the opening airy pads and trembling keys of 'Luna Awaits' to the final slo-mo plod and echo of the finale 'Worlds Apart', it's Aether doing what he does best; conjuring up emotions you didn't even know you were feeling while making you feel like you're in an impenetrable bubble. Beautiful.

Review: Fresh from dropping his remarkable Afterlife album on Street Ritual, Colorado's Dillard makes his debut on eclectic Brighton beat stable Small Print with four more warm, cosy, soft-focus vibes. 'Unfolding' shoots us into space with epic dub echoes and far away, gently trickling breaks before 'Why Do I Feel' takes on more of a wavey, Flumey texture with bends and mutations oozing over the scattered kicks. Flip for more delights: 'Jimmy 57' knocks the other 56 jimmies out of the park with its springy beats and jazzy harmonics and Primate finishes the EP with a dreamy, far-out flip. Go unfold yourself.

Review: London-based label Deep Heads are proud to present the highly anticipated vinyl edition of Deep Heads Dubstep Vol.3, featuring some of the scene's best producers throughout the past decade, and some timeless classics from the imprint's back catalogue. Highlights come from Kromestar with the glassy-eyed and bittersweet bass frequencies of 'Another Day', Biome with the grey area drum and bass experiment of 'Night Flight', Danny Scrilla with the slow motion power version of '#1 Station' and Synpal & Ras Stimulant venturing into dark and murky waters on the meditative riddims of 'Ital Being'.

Review: Bristol boy Khan remains a leading light on the bass heavy end of the city's electronic spectrum and follows up a thrilling three-way collab with Ishan Sound and Rider Shafique from earlier in the year with a new down and dirty ditty. 'Imhotep' (named after an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, who was also an architect responsible for the Djoser's step pyramid and high preset of the sun god Ra) is a mysterious tune with real warmth. The skeletal beats and hits make the groove while sustained pads and distant motifs all draw you in deep. Boofy remixes it into something a little more direct but just as deep.

Review: Roel Funcken is back with another genre-bending, mind melting sonic workout that makes for a perfect soundtrack for your transition from the real world and into an alternate reality. It's a record set in a faraway future, with the title translating as "are you a tourist guide?" in Turkish hinting at that concept further. It's a powerful headspace to be in, with warped bass and pixelated keys racing down on broken beats that lurch forwards into the unknown. This interplanetary exploration comes with a fantastic cover filled with colour and patterns that capture the essence of the music perfectly.

Review: Barely a month has passed since German bass artist Soukah gave the world the powerful 'Deadly Snakebite' but now he returns with his debut on Gnischrew's burgeoning Sub Audio. Two originals, two versions; 'Life Without Meaning' is a sobering, contemplative piece led by a decaying arpeggio and distant, glitchy rhythmic textures while 'You Can Run Much Faster' hits with a lighter note; skippier breaks and a misty but ultimately hopeful piano roll. Meanwhile on the remixes, Kodama adds another four minutes to 'Life Without Meaning', flipping it into an unhurried 10 minute narrative while Ourman dices up the piano and twists the focus on 'You Can Run Much Faster' where things aren't quite as misty but the hope has turned into a much strong emotion. Get up and running 1today.

Review: Last spotted on Strictly 140's Overseas VA LP, Spanish new-gen bass chef serves up his biggest dish to date on Subaltern. Linking up with longstanding baron XL One for the opener, 'Cronauer'. Unhurried, twinkling but laced with a bitter bass bite, it sets the dark dream tone. 'Piranha Plant' and 'Dorsia' see Kodama going solo. The former is a woozy arpeggiated charmer that sits on the hip-hop side of the beat spectrum. The latter hums with similar melancholy but much more of an edge to the drums and that ominous waspy bass tone. Graveyard grooves.

Review: The rise of trap and grime onto the world stage has feedback into the dubstep world and made the once dead scene fertile once more. Proof of that should you need it comes in the form of this powerful new one track offering from Burst. 'Superfly' is all skittish drum hits, wubbing low ends and tripped out melodies that refract like a pin ball machine. Spoken words vocals add the grime element up top and then on the flip comes a remix. This one is built on drilling bass and future chords.

Review: Sleeper man Alex Fox debuted the GRAMZ alias earlier in the year via a two-track 12" on Sentry Records built around paranoid sonic textures, serious bass-weight and rolling 140 BPM beats. For this 10" outing on Crucial, Fox has taken a deeper approach, ratcheting up the smoky atmosphere while retaining sizeable low-end pressure. "Joken" and flipside "Get Them Bags" are hazy, ultra-deep dubstep workouts, with both doffing a cap towards hip-hop and grime (check out the manipulated MC vocal samples on the latter, in particular), as well as the crackling sonic textures of Burial. "Joken" rolls along nicely while remaining pleasingly subdued, while "Get Them Bags" has a little more sonic strut. Both, though, are excellent.

Review: Feeling like there's not enough Francais in your life? You're not alone, Frenchless feel that vibe too. But that's literally all we know about this mystery duo at this minute. All we have are these heavy pressure sounds, but it's more than enough to go on for now... '3C 273' takes us to the stars on a rocket of absurdly dense kicks, a menu of percussive sounds and textures and haunting eastern pipes. 'Grunks' meanwhile takes us much deeper into their anonymous French-dry hearts with a lolloping, woozy system melter where the kicks once again take the lead and every vibey element duly follows. Merci la Frenchless... Qui que vous soyez!

Review: High pressure manoeuvres from Ilian Tapes on this mysterious and highly limited one-off run. 'Pulse' is a Samurai style slab of hybrid dub techno that's layered in grains and textures whole 'Procedure' flips the UK garage two-step vibe into a distorted, crunchy and physical groove that's not dissimilar to Tim Wright's early work on Mute. Once again, a very special release from Ilian... Blink and you'll miss it.

Review: German producer Bhed takes charge of the ninth EP on the vital Trusik label. His mastery of ambient, dub, techno depths and bass weight are all present and correct here, never more so than on the fantastic opener "Eighteenhundred". Taking up the whole of one side of wax, it is more than deserving of that indulgence as it slowly trips through floating pads, icy hi hats and supple rhythms that soothe the mind, body and soul. "Apatheia" is a more edgy track which is just as cavernous but has you looking over your shoulder, and closing cut "East" is a pure and dreamy dub beauty.

Review: While he's offered up the occasional remix, William "Burial" Bevan has been rather quiet of late. In fact, this two-tracker marks his first original material for almost two years. Lead cut "Claustro" is an unexpectedly up-tempo dancefloor affair - a sweet and sticky chunk of future-garage that sees Bevan wrap sugary female vocal snippets, spacey chords and bubbly analogue electronics around snappy two-step beats - drenched in vinyl crackle and tape hiss - and a rock solid bassline. It will raise a few eyebrows given his previous work but nevertheless sounds like a summer anthem in waiting. Bevan returns to familiar territory on flipside cut "State Forest", a ghostly, field recording-laden ambient excursion where pedal steel style motifs slowly rise above opaque electronics.

Review: Following a whole run of releases on labels such as Encrypted, Version Collective and Deep Dark & Dangerous, Dutch darksmith Ramsez makes his debut on Jack Sparrow's Navy Cut. He does so with three stark blueprints; "Big Boi" backs up its badman title with a savage drill-like bassline and some of the wooziest beats he's crafted to date, "Swinger Club" gets a little sweary over deep space beats and a bassline that breathes while "Talk Crime" ends things on a pranged note as dissonant textures whip up deep mists and the bassline warps, melts and eventually combusts before your very ears. The only crime to talk of here would be to sleep on this...