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THERE WILL BE BLOOD:

On the dance floor that is. Dnb heads, get ready to get your guts kick out! It’s Friday the 13th and Boomslang Records has “dropith” a flaming ball of thunder upon us. The second release from this new Stateside label comes from the Canadian neck breaker NC-17. Plain and simple. These cuts are absolutely filthy, and re-define the art of shredding. Honestly speaking. I don’t know if we’re even ready for this.

This combo dives into two completely different hoods of dnb. Almost as if it was two un-related stories of terror. Clockers feat. Jinx strolls into the room swinging its arms with McGregor esque’ swagger. While Cemetery of Splendor slithers out from the shadows and pulls your soul out from your ears. One as the marching cadence for a white walker battalion. The other a ritualistic hymn used to celebrate a blood letting.

LET’S DIVE INTO THE JAMS!!!

Clockers feat. Jinx is the A-side kicking this off. Bringing you directly from the back of the room to the middle of the mosh pit. A lethal hoping amen break just screams for the footwork and locking crews to assemble. There’s this sense that you are walking through a filed of locusts and stealth infantry. Waiting to strike. And then it does. Like a Zeppelin crashing to the ground above your head. Air raid sirens and the roar of a Cloverfield monster completely unleashes.

As you franticly search for the “back button” to begin this experience all over again. The disorienting feeling of “What the holy fuck was that” washes over you. You realize that the experience with this one is infinite . Tunes like this do not age or get old. Throughout the rest of human existence this is what will happen whenever we hear this. Jaws will hit the floor. Drinks will be thrown against the wall. Everyone outside will run back inside. The jog wheel on the “cd-whatever” you’re playing on will seize up from endless rewinds. And the blood sausage that is dnb, will stuff and serve itself.

Cemetery of Splendor really ties the room together. If you are going to try to follow the first side tune of this release. Don’t. Go to another place. To another avenue of creeping tech. Take us to the back alley of the club and open a new dimension. This take on early 2000’s Virus/Vortex styled tech step is exactly the way to flip the script. The stabs come from every direction. Similar to crawling through a shrinking hay bale maze with no clothes on. The ferocity of the synth’s drive the dystopian message straight home.

Keeping the drums fashioned to classic minimal Roland sounds is the bloodline here. All the time put into creating a cinematic experience of B-horror sci-fi films is what is on display. With all of the other elements giving you a gaze into the electric chamber. Where all of the patched in zaps and electric bleeps send pinching shock waves down your spine. This discordant stepper slaps the look off your face. And is the musical interpritation of the phrase ” as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death” .

WHO IS BOOMSLANG? WHAT IS A BOOMSLANG? AM I BOOMSLANG?

I had a second to chop it up with the Boomslang head honcho, Mike “Ragga-Scum” part of Noize Komplaint. I have been familiar with his style dating back to releases all over the world since the mid 2000’s era of heavy dub wise and ragga-jungle movements.

Whats good Ragga-Scum!?
I wanted to catch everyone up on this new label and collective your building right now. You’ve assembled quite the collective of people working on all aspects of the Boomslang imprint. Shout out the homies and their area code!!

We have a great team of superstars who are doing a fantastic job. Couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of work from A&R to the artwork to the marketing.

I know that in the past you and Bad Martian (aka .com/chaosinmotion) leaned hard into the heavier ragga jungle arena back in the early 2000’s. Will we be seeing that style coming back from this label? And do you think there is going to be a resurgence of that style as the newer trends change?

Yeah, our first tune together was back in 2006 I think. Back then we were using crappy samples and making crazy mashed up amens with bad mix downs but people loved it. For Boomslang Recordings, though I don’t see us, at this time, releasing any ragga jungle but that’s not to say we’re opposed to it. Dave and I still love ragga jungle and dubwise and continue to produce it so nothing is off the table. As far as a resurgence, I don’t think it ever really left. Ragga Jungle has always been like the Island of Misfit Toys and overlooked.

I know you’ve got a pretty thicc global lineup together. With a pretty diverse palette. How did that process go down of bringing all those giants over to Boom?

Things just sort of fell into place. I got a hold of Saxxon, who is a great guy and producer, and asked him to be the first release. Then we got Heist locked in and was set to be the 2nd release which we had to push back to BSR004 because he wanted to do a new mixdown being the professional and perfectionist he is. So I out of the blue hit up Peter (NC-17) while sitting on my couch one Sunday, watching football. Initially I was asking for one tune for a compilation LP we have planned for summer of 2021. He sent over Clockers first and a few minutes later Cemetery of Splendor. I took one listen to both and signed them immediately.

You guys seem to have been on the cusp of launching the label in the beginning of the year. And obviously everything got fucked from all angles. What was the new approach to launching a label during a pandemic? Since we couldn’t rely on the dance floors.

We wanted to build the brand first and create a buzz on the label itself. We hired on Matthew Thatcher as our Art Director and he created some great hype graphics for us. We teased the Saxxon release a bit and built awareness then we started promoting the releases heavily and have had a really warm reception of the label so far. Honestly I didn’t give much thought to the pandemic because I knew people would still want music and dj’s would still buy music to play at home or on their mix or show. Granted there’s not 100’s to 1000’s of kids dancing to the tunes on dancefloors but we feel we’re signing music that can stand alone on its own or still be enjoyable to groove to at home, in your car, or wherever you may listening to streams and podcasts.

There seem to be a resurgence of Stateside players getting labels, ramping up production, and making moves in all genres. What advice could you give to people who are thinking about rolling the dice and launching a label?

Plan a head, take your time, and have patience. People still need music while most of the world is in shutdown mode so don’t let that shy you away. Pick a good partner in your distribution. We run through Triple Vision and could not be happier with how well they’ve treated us and the advantages of being with a distro that caters to drum and bass. Stick to your brand and stay true to yourself.

How hard did you go the first time you heard Clockers?? I lost my shit.

I played it on my phone initially and then that first drop hit. I jumped up off the couch and ran into the studio and played it there. I went to message Peter back something like “OMG!!!” when he texted how this was supposed to go to RAM but he pulled it back because he felt it didn’t fit the EP it was to go on and my eye widened ever more. I think I listened to it like 4 times on repeat after that just grinning ear to ear.

Who in Noize Komplaint is most likely to go too hard, clear the floor, and get an actual Noise Complaint?

Definitely Greg (We Bang). He’s a mad man! I don’t know where he finds the energy to function at 110% all the time. Dave would definitely get the noize complaint. His track selection is nothing but pure bangers.

Well my dude. I’m super stoked you’re back at it. I’ve always been a fan. Take this moment to shout to the world and let the people know what moves Boomslang will be making.

Thank you, I appreciate that a lot. We have a ton lined up for the label. NC-17 & Jinx dropping on Friday the 13th. ESKR’s amazing EP just before Christmas. Heist with a Noize Komplaint remix in January, a pair of killer tunes from Todd Buchler & Pish Posh, a massive release by SST and the compilation album with Root for the Villain, Noize Komplaint, Dropset, ESKR, and few more big names that we’re keeping a surprise for now.

THE CONCLUSION:

So I really really really really like this release. I’ve been on a huge Salaryman/Veak/S.P.Y/Dj Hybrid tip for a minute. So the Clockers side hits! it hits so hard that I will definitely have this in my back pocket for those times when I need people to go full on mental cowboys from hell brockout. When you feel that you need everyone’s immediate attention, in any room on the planet. Put this tune on and crank it till the volume knob breaks off.

Cemetery also hits. It’s a more subdued, minimal and sinister tone for me. One of my favorite era’s of dnb was the dark dude tech step era of 98-02. Back when the sheer rumble of the bins in a black room could fill the floor. And the sci-fi inspired hertz that hurt was our fathers daily offering. This tune is produced with the technique and precision of a brain surgeon gone mad with power.