Juno Recommends Drum & Bass March 2020

Review: The Metalheadz train shows no signs of slowing down despite being well into its third decade. This tasty four tracker comes from the combined creative minds of Zero T and Beta 2 and they come through in style with a modern-day reproduction of the vintage Metalheadz sound we all know and love. Tough drums, sprinkled with plenty of future soul and devastating bass, "Misdemeanour" in particular is prickly yet emotional stuff while "In My Head" brings a dose of joyful soul and "Dead Cert" ends on a more angsty tip.

Review: Symmetry bossman and all-round don Break barges into 2020 with his first fresh produce of the decade and it's not a moment too soon. "Got A Feelin'" weighs in on the groany sewer sounds that are still characterising the genre right now, but done in a subversive, gritty funk way that's unique to him. Flip for some serious sample schooling. Returning to the source of one of jungle's most well-favoured breaks (the clue's in the title) and making new edits using different parts of the record, it's a true breakbeat odyssey with all the subs and detuned stabs a classic jungle hat-tip could ever wish for. Break it down.

Review: Metalheadz may be in its 26th year of operation, but are still turning out high grade weaponry as innovative as any label out there. The London label's busy schedule continues apace with a blistering new one that finds Adred collaborate with four distinctive talents. First up is Commix with the dense and drilling "Interface 01", while a second effort "Recall" goes deeper and more mysterious. Dave Owen co-pilots on "2 Times", another restless banger with fizzing synths and flurries of drums, and elsewhere solo cut "Amenity" from Adred makes the most intense moment of the whole 2 discs. This is no nonsense stuff from start to finish.

Review: Since 2017, Steve "BCee" Jeffery and Andrew "Villem" Wilson have been operating as The Vanguard Project, in the process delivering a swathe of EPs for Spearhead and Fokuz that explore the more soulful, sun-drenched end of the drum & bass spectrum. This long-awaited debut album expands a little on their core sound - think nods to dub and reggae, occasional gnarly basslines and even a rush-inducing rave workout or two - whilst remaining rooted in what would have once been called liquid drum & bass. As a result, it's a set that manages to cram in a lot of high-class dancefloor moments while working well as an album you'll repeatedly want to listen to from start to finish.

Review: Felix K, Dylan Brownsword and Joe Baker's LEVL strikes again! Previously spotted on Warp outpost Arcola, these four excursions land on Felix's own Nullpunkt and they're every bit as trippy and beguiling as we hoped they'd be. Sitting in a strange tempo-melting, boundary-smashing hinterland, "#4" is all bounces and strange time-signatures, "#2" is the type of halftime jungle you'd expect to be made in the upside down realm of Stranger Things while "#3" raises the pressure and intensity even more with a technoid 170 stampede that wouldn't go amiss on Samurai Horo. Last but not least, "#4" closes the EP on a tribal note. Slower and moodier with percussion layered in a cannon-like way, it leaves you with more questions than answers... Like every Nullpunkt release so far. LEVL up!

Review: He's back! Having slapped us silly on "Diamond Life 05", Necrotype returns to the MYOR sister label Diamond Life with two more specials. "Fever" heats up the dance from the off with a vibesome 92 flavour where speedy staccato rave synths sit sweetly behind the typewriter breaks hammering the message home like Morse code. "So Fine (VIP)" adds a little soul sugar to the mix with its dreamy extended intro and loose, flighty breaks. Absolute bliss; close your eyes and this could easily be early Moving Shadow material.

Review: Berlin soldier Felix Krone continues his fractured beat assault into the 2020s with another powerful slap of technoid D&B excursions. "Deconstructor" sets the scene with a pneumatic beat drill before we dip low into the foggy sonics and halftime swamp of the contemptuous title track. Flip for more singular sounds; "Reverberator" is a woozy game of echo location as sounds fold in from all sides, creating this immense sinking sand sensation while the soft-padded kicks and oceanic pads of "Dub Version" do their best to keep us sunk. Deliciously heavy.

Review: Shogun unleash another cheeky "Shuriken" surprise with four more modern day classics blessing wax for the first time. The A-side takes a distinct liquid approach as GLXY's "Changed Forever" plays with shades deftly, skipping between light and dark while Pola & Bryson's "Running In The Dark" will have you singing along within seconds. Meanwhile on the B Technimatic and Ed:it get busy on a dark rolling tip with "Slate Grey" while Monrroe closes the fourth edition of the series on a sweet soul tip with "You Got Me".

Review: Already big weapons in Dead Man's Chest sets, Bluematter unleash their second EP together following last year's powerful emergence on E-Beamz. The joined forces of Jozef K and Thomas Ragsdale, Bluematter sees the two experimental artists join forces to make some seriously interesting contemporary jungle from ominous heavy pressure rave dynamics ("Bunker") to meditative ambience ("Crystal") by way of deep dreaming Good Looking-flavoured tackle ("Zeus") Nothing to be blue about here, no sir.

Review: Following epic slabs on Western Lore and Circadian Rhythms late last year, hyper-prolific north Welshman Thugwidow slams into 2020 with this stately five tracker on Warehouse Rave. As ever, expect the full menu to be thrown at you. From the deep space jams such as "Romanticized" and "Black Panther" to the pacier, more tense jungle explorations like "Prospective Sub-Class" and the absolutely stinking, melted bass breakbeat slapper "Dwyran", Thugwidow's murderation mission continues...

Review: Samurai slice into 2020 with all the precision and energy their name promises. This time the man holding the blade is Manchester's Antagonist who follows up his appearance on the label's 10th anniversary album in 2018 with this deadly debut 12". Title track "Shui" is a militant beast with thundering drums doing all the negotiating while "Escapism" is more of a layered affair with heavy atmospheres and lighting breakbeat flurries. Both hit the spot in the best way possible. Welcome to a new decade.

Review: The usually prolific Matt Gresham has been a little quiet since the release of his eighth album, "Hologram", in 2018. We suspect a new album is on the way, because this new EP comes hot on the heels of the long-serving producer's sole single of 2019. Whether or not that is the case, "Headspace" is superb, with Gresham flitting between snappy and soulful vocal drum and bass ("Stay True"), sweet, synth-laden intergalactic rollers ("Rebuild"), rapper-sporting liquid goodness (the festival-friendly positivity of "Brand New Beginning") and nasty deep space intensity (the appropriately titled "Headspace").

Review: This is how you kick off a new decade. Skeleton have been consistent with their brutalist dispatches since re-rising in 2014 and this new V/A levels things up once again. Jem One lights the fire with darkcore grit as layers of distorted breaks and strange alien rave textures twist in and out of the mix. Section follows with nasty rave stabs and a two-step so well chiselled you could trim your whiskers on it before Future flips things for an entirely different vibe on the minimal, subby and loose-limbed "Daffy's Secret Project". Finally Sicknote, Sweetpea and Dissect bring the funk on "Jahlocia". Once again the breaks are the focus but there's more than enough groove in the bassline to put on meat on everyone's table. Bad to the bones!

Review: Aussie dub-melder Consulate returns with another melting pot adventure that covers all corners. "In The Throne Room" sets the scene with ghettofunk claps and kicks and a crisp mystic switch on the drop before "Heraldry" switches things once again and hurls us down a deep dub rabbit hole where the bass devours you whole. Tensions raise on the flip as "Serpentrising" ups the charm to deep jungle pace before "RZ Canin" brings us back down to some form of a reality on a classic El-B-style dark garage flex. What a trip.

Review: Weaponry return with more heavy artillery as Russian techno/drum & bass fusionist Roho makes his label debut with four ridiculous dark designs. All laced with dense techno focus, the pressure rises from the opening drones of the heavy drum rolls of "Alter Ego" right through the last amen stutter of the tense and furious "Lost Relicts". In between, "Anubis" is an immense lesson in building tension while "Akuma" contains industrial strength levels of tribal funk. Handle with caution.