Vinyl Is Better 3- Kniteforce Records

https://kniteforce.bandcamp.com/album/kfcd06-various-artists-vinyl-is-better-3-unmixed

A blast of future past from legendary oldskool hardcore imprint, Kniteforce. It’s ‘Vinyl Is Better Vol 3′ and it’s a heady rush of circa 92-93 inspired brilliance from the likes of Abyss, Nicky Allen, The Doughboy and more…

Abyss kicks off Vinyl Is Better 3 in dark 93/94 Jungle fashion, The Switchblade Digital bossman captures the sense of dread perfectly in Kylo Ren sampling ‘I’ll Show You.’ While Kylo quickly turns into an emo after removing his mask and losing that blood-curdling voice, Abyss maintains a terrifying presence throughout this barrage of thunderous amens and 93 darkcore synth blasts complete with half-time Hip Hop breakdowns.

Alex Jungle surprisingly drops the tempo in comparison to his renowned breakcore productions for a brilliant retroactive slice of Jungle or is it Jungle Tekno? the dubby bass and amens sound like 1994 while the rushy pianos and Alexander O’ Neal vocals are straight from 1992, the best of two defining eras in one brilliant production.

Another new stalwart to Kniteforce, TNO Project  provides musical delight in the form of crisply programmed hyperspeed breaks wrapped around a sparse dystopian landscape of mystery filled keys, enjoy the midnight wonder of ‘Brainscan’

DJ Doughboy smashes up ghetto bass bleeps with authenticly crunchy 92 era rave breaks juxtaposed with a ton of different sounds from a grisly techno bassline, pianos, scratch samples and a whole lot more!!! That’s how DJ Doughboy rolls with ‘Come On’

Cru L T remixes Timespan ‘The Music’ with plenty of classic Hip Hop samples and chopped up amens. Soon enough we get to feel the glorious glow of Ramos & Supreme style 93/94 Happy Hardcore. A cool blend of progressive synth work and all out elation. With eyes closed, while listening to ‘The Music’, you could be back at Dreamscape or Helter Skelter throwing shapes to a Slipmatt or DJ Sy set.

Breakbeat Hardcore’s hardest working producer, Nicky Allen is back with ‘All Your Dreams.’ Frenzied rave at it’s finest and most furious with a touch of Jack Smooth/Basement Jungle Tekno and a slow down-speed up breakdown straight from the North East England/Scotland Bouncey Techno era.

DJ Jedi weighs in with ‘Frenzy’, it doesn’t get more authentic than this. You can feel the super low subs burrowing into your brain while spliced synths go at it to the rhythm of the expertly programmed drums. Think early Formation Records/Ratty & Tango for this one, In fact, I have no doubt they would have played this had it been made back in 92

Next is Gothika Shade with ‘It Really Is.’ Gothika Shade also produced under the name of Karnage and released an amazing EP on Kode 5 a few years back. ‘It Really Is’ deftly switches between bouncing breaks and 4×4 kicks and from ambient sweeps to rushy ‘ardcore riffs in a clever and captivating fashion. One of the best tracks on Vinyl Is Better 3 and that’s a very high bar!!!

Idealz ‘Talk To Me’ finds a pleasing point somewhere between modern DnB and quirky Kniteforce Breakbeat Hardcore utilising the synth style that became a signature of the label back in the late 90s

Paul Bradley supplies a banger straight ‘From The Underground.’ We hop in the time machine set for 92 for this one. The pounding breaks, quick-fire duelling riffs and the all important indispensable pianos are used to their fullest in this ball of musical energy.

Vitality shines through with the musical excellence of ‘Quicker And Dirtier’, a brilliant modern take on ‘Death Of The Prodigy Dancers’ that showcases just how good this guy is at making music. ‘Quicker And Dirtier’ is intricate, epic and wonderful, you have to hear it.

As much as we don’t want to, we come to the end of Vinyl Is Better 3 with Shadowplay ‘A Taste For Silence’, a pure Kniteforce production with a ballad like vocal section, poignant keys, rolling Jungle breaks, trancey pads and bouncing Korg M1 piano. Outta nowhere we get a speaker bursting midsection of 808s and dominator stabs, one last trip to the darkside before the CD stops.

Vinyl Is Better 3 has set the bar incredibly high. This album proves ‘oldskool hardcore’ doesn’t have to be oldskool and all the best tunes weren’t just in the 92-94 era, rather they can be every bit as good today.

Vinyl Is Better 3- Kniteforce Records