May: 10 drum 'n' bass releases you need to hear this month

Dope Skillz 'The Fold' (ElevateAudio)

Friction’s Elevate vehicle has proved a useful outlet for his bashier leanings, but it’s not quite caught alight as yet – so why not douse it in the potent kerosene of the beloved DJ Zinc’s return to 170bpm? Pow! Bagging Zinc’s Dope Skillz alias on wax once more is a serious coup, and his track ‘The Fold’ leads a huge ‘Quadrant’ EP that also features Original Sin and Friction himself (though it’s funny how strange it now feels to hear the great man pushing a moody dancefloor vibe). ‘The Fold’ is an intriguing mix of sizzling bassline goodness with a surprisingly robo-tech tinge, even if those jaunty phasing synths carry the refined whiff of Zinc’s hybrid house voyage.

7/10