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

Noisia 'Outer Edges' (Vision)

No collaborations, very few vocals and no radio-friendly top lines in sight – just 18 tracks of super-deluxe hardstepping d’n’b and experimental industrial fury that no-one else can hold a candle to when it comes to expert sound design. Twisted synths that sound like giant squid tentacles dripping in radioactive ooze; jackhammer drums that knife across the soundscape; raw funk riffs that buckle the 170bpm formula into a crushing sub-bass lick: this is production that’s a dimension apart. A microcosm of the sonically intricate and heavyweight sound and brand the Dutch trio have built in the six years since their first LP, ‘Outer Edges’ is your entry point to a group that have transcended d’n’b and created a new sonic wormhole for thousands of voyagers.

9/10

Dom & Roland feat Robert Manos 'Sirens Song' (Metalheadz)

Etherwood and the polished young guns take note: the old masters can still stop the heart like no one else. Take the finest slow-motion piano-and-vocals beauty of a Keeno track, combine deliciously with the rumbling, spacious aesthetic of a Metalheadz classic and add a touch of the rugged live-drum feel Ulterior Motive have nailed so well in recent years – and you’ve got our favourite d’n’b track of the year so far.

10/10

Various 'CIA Kuts Deep Vol 3' (CIA Deepkut)

A show of strength from the CIA family, with Random Movement, Concord Dawn, Need For Mirrors, Chromatic and more featuring on one of the strongest EP line-ups of the year. Random Movement’s unusually rowdy ‘Climbing Out’ grabs the headlines with its rugged squelchy bassline, which suddenly emerges from a bleepy sci-fi soundscape and shares more than a little DNA with Andy C’s VIP mix of ‘Heartbeat Loud’. Elsewhere, Chromatic bring the sunshine with deep-liquid roller ‘Smile’, replete with low-end growls and honks beneath the twinkling soul vibes.

7/10

Lenzman 'All For You EP' (The North Quarter)

Goldie’s hand-picked Jedi knight launches his own brand new label project with six tracks, two interludes and two bonus instrumentals – now that’s an EP! ‘African Dream’ sets the tone, with some classic Lenzman-style dark-light liquid propulsion framed by starry piano winks and a faintly warping bassline jetstream, while ‘Grateful’ feat DRS blends uptempo fluttering liquid percussion with a jazzy aesthetic and glacial key droplets.

9/10

Dawn Wall 'Ember EP' (Integral)

Any other month, and standout track ‘I See U’ would be Tune Of The Month, such is the quality of its elements: golden streams of gunning sub-bass, celestial vocal trills and weighty textured breaks rolling through with all the confidence of a Calibre track. Dawn Wall’s identity remains a mystery, and the A.I. camp are continuing to spread misinformation. We’re hooked, because this is the best deep-end liquid we’ve heard all year.

9/10

Teddy Killerz & Counterstrike 'Horror Story' (RAM)

While the slicing violins that open this humdinger of a dancefloor throwdown are more Scary Movie than scary, there’s no denying the raw power on display here. A savagely rasping, wobbling, threshing tech dust-up courtesy of Teddy Killerz and Counterstrike, the breakneck snares and bullet-tough bass hits are superseded only by the assortment of virulent synth patterns that slug and sluice away at the soundscape. It’s high-octane stuff, and the track heralds a clever ‘Killer Squad’ EP that finds Gridlok, Audio and Icicle joining the boys for even more ear-bleeding mayhem across its six tracks.

7/10

Cirrus 'No Matter' (Terabyte Records)

Terabyte is only 28 releases old but the label is snaking up the echelons with solid cuts from similarly burgeoning artists like Cirrus. This tough, spacious, hypnotic stepper from the Washington DC-based producer is in no hurry to go anywhere, its muscular, loping intro of clattering snares and looming atmospherics dropping almost imperceptibly into a fuller, more luxurious version that takes the listener by surprise. There’s no straining to add to the intensity here: just a cavernous broadside of low-end bass hits, which steadily envelope the moody industrial rumble above.

7/10

Cyantific 'Under The Neon' (Viper Recordings)

The kind of track that deserves to be blasting from the stereo of a souped-up car as it hurtles towards the city, sunset streaming through, ‘Under The Neon’ cements Cyantific’s well-earned reputation as the big-room electro-banger specialist par excellence. Here, you’ll find a mixture of galloping snares, pirouetting vocal glitz and a buccaneering synth line that Konami would have killed for in their 80s arcade games. It might be too cheesy for some, but this is first-rate party material from a producer enjoying a masterful reinvention.

7/10

Need For Mirrors, Digital & Spirit 'Cool Vibration' (Interactive)

The sight of these three names on a release together is enough to turn heads, promising the modern low-end sonics of the excellent Need For Mirrors and the cold, creative steel of the old masters. ‘Cool Vibration’ nails a stop-start dancehall vibe with aplomb: a stepping percussive head-nodder, all springy snare punches and a repeated, one-note synth line that bewitches the senses as myriad drums rattle around behind. This is clever, hypnotic skank-out fare from a seriously experienced collaboration.

8/10

Out Of Fuel 'Harsh Reality' (Translation)

This marks a debut on Translation for this Finnish duo, who plumb the depths of the 85/170 chasm with some rugged, future-industrial wonkiness on ‘Harsh Reality’. Metronomic bass whumps and eerie, cavernous FX form an iron spine that slowly spills over into a more ragged and scattergun affair, as a volley of harum-scarum Amen edits and percussive flurries threaten to overwhelm proceedings. Taken from the pair’s excellent new EP ‘Ghost Notes’, this is future-facing craft that’s definitely worth further investigation.

7/10