February: 10 dubstep & grime releases you need to hear this month

Kelly Dean 'Bloodline' EP (Silent Motion Recordings)

Kelly Dean turns in four new tracks for US label Silent Motion with some help from lyricists Armanni Reign and iLL Chill, as well as Chestplate signee Leon Switch. Opener ‘Bloodline’ is all grinding pressure and very little else, with Armanni Reign’s lyrics reminding us of Eminem’s ‘Mom’s Spaghetti’ verse from ‘Lose Yourself’; second track ‘Toecutter’, featuring Leon Switch, pulls off snarling pressure and cranking, mechanical fuzz far better. ‘Wasteland’ continues along a similar theme, only eerier and with more neatly-utilised space on the beat that lends itself well to creating atmosphere, before iLL Chill takes us on an unnecessary trip back to 2008 on ‘Binary Flow’. Flashes of promise, but dated.

6/10