Operative :: King Cannibal
remixers :: Komonazmuk / Stormfield / Blackmass Plastics
release :: Summer 2008
format :: 3 track vinyl / 4 track digital
distro: Veto Music (vinyl) / Kudos Digital (downloads)
“You should know what to expect from Combat nowadays; hard-as-nails beats, apocalyptic bass, terrorising soundscapes, yet always balanced with a degree of sophistication. This is no different, with King Cannibal unleashing mutant dancehall-core in the shape of Near Dark. Of most interest to the 140bpm-fans will be the remixes – Stormfield stutters the drums and muddies the bass, whereas HENCHman Komonazmuk sharpens his tools and introduces spiky drums, war-machine bass and wraith-like synths. Scary stuff.” – DJ ThinKing, iDJ Magazine
“I liked the Komonazmuk mix best. Will give it a spin.” – Surgeon (Downwards Recordings)
“the Stormfield mix is awesome
“ – Strictly Kev DJ Food (Ninja Tune)A > [ Badman Near Dark ] (original) [listen]
B > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Stormfield’s Burning Cities remix) [listen]
C > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Komonazmuk remix) [listen]
D > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Blackmass Plastics remix) [listen]
South London beatsmith Dylan Richards aka. King Cannibal‘s tracks have been punishing soundsystems and causing structural damage around London for some time now. His unique take on dancehall bashment infuses it’s infectious, brutal body-juddering riddims with the ferocious drum programming and dissonant, high-tech filth of late 90’s jungle. With riddims brandishing such a degree of filth, it comes as no surprise that his menacing tearout tracks have long been championed by the likes of Rag and Bone Records, Combat, Mary Anne Hobbs, Amon Tobin, Kid 606 and Bong Ra… just to name a few.
... full press blurb below if you're bored at work...
A > [ Badman Near Dark ] (original) [listen]
Android snarls, a charging, filthy bassline and superbly fierce drumwork make this the bastard crossover between hard electronic dancehall like The Bug and Stereotyp, and late 90’s techy jungle dons of Dillinja, Nico, Ed Rush and Optical. Fierce and heavy on the bass yet rhythmically agile and laced with dissonant atmospherics, Badman Near Dark is mutant tech dancehall for Predator skanking, amid burning cities and the total collapse of civilisation.
B > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Stormfield’s Burning Cities remix) [listen]
The Combat boss mutates the 105bpm original into a 140bpm assault track that sits somewhere between the filthy rolling breaks and beats of Rag’n‘Bone, and the deep electro of Monolake or acid excursions of Skam’s Rob Hall. Caging a militant riddim around the original rolling bassline to give a broken riddim that verges on being 4 to the floor, it kicks into full sprint from the first drop. A sombre mantra permeates the track, providing total stillness amid the frenzy of snarls, slashes and clattering drumwork, much like a samurai who enters with a serene mind into the absolute chaos of battle. Mid track, a scorching syncopated acid line bubbles up into the breakdown, dirty metallic hi hats keeping the tension, before it all kicks back into the 2nd drop.
C > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Komonazmuk remix) [listen]
Funny how some things come full circle: With a tune so heavily influenced by the Cannibal’s heady days of 90's techstep junglist raving, it seemed appropriate to ask Bristolian Kieran Lomax (aka from the legendary Ice Minus of Moving Shadow / Renegade Hardware) to step up in his Komonazmuk guise and rework the track. The result is this colossal dubstep monster, an early version of which was previewed on King Cannibal’s Radio 1 set courtesy of Mary Anne Hobbs, during the Scorn vs. King Cannibal sound-off.
Similar to his co-production with White Boi on COMBAT13 and COMBAT14, he builds an expectedly powerful and menacing soundsytem track, like some snarling alien beast trapped behind an impenetrably solid wall of bass and drumwork. In the track’s early stages, even a test mp3 of this tune managed to out-blast most finished tracks in the club… imagine what damage this final version will do.
D > [ Badman Near Dark ] (Blackmass Plastics remix) [listen]
Long time veteran of dirty bass wars, Blackmass Plastics should need no introduction especially since his recent Do the Mash EP is still burning up soundsystems all over. His remix is expectedly rolling, bass-driven and funky in a way that can only be described as utterly filthy, and laced with toxic industrial atmospheres that call to mind a paranoid chase through deserted nuclear bunker, stumbling in terror through the darkness, hounded by the tortured growls and razor sharp snares of some huge beast you can’t see.
This remix appears as an cheeky exclusive on the digital version of the release
Big things are happening for The Cannibal this year, having been recently signed to Ninja Tune, and with DJ support from right across the board and a load of gigs lined up. Expect a load of amazingly ferocious tracks that no labels have dared to release… until now. Oh, and he's also remixed Scorn's Super Mantis, due on Combat later this year.
Check out his other work via the King Cannibal site and the the Combat site
* for those who wonder what happpened to COMBAT018, it's already released here