Norwich Darkside - Amen-tal Sampler No. 1

Jungle, Electro and Dub from the Amen-talist soundsystem.

Amen-tal Soundsystem’s first sampler is a showcase of its members and associates, and centres around electro and jungle/dub. There’s a real variety of stuff here, and also a bit of a range of quality. Amen-tal clearly seem to be on safer ground when they stick to their more familiar turf of jungle and dub. Opener “Babalon Boi” by Badman Moriarty gives a real tension to the start of his track which makes it all the more rewarding when it finally drops into its flow. It’s got great vocals and pulsating, unrelenting bass that never get repetitive. On “Bustin Bloodclots” Dr Um layers syncopated rhythms over a sludgy bass, and mixes straight jungle sections with some more industrial sounds. Only complaint is that it’s a bit short. For me the real standout track is “Really R D1” by Ebalist Kulturez. The first half is dominated by Leftfield-style horns and wouldn’t sound out of place on Hospital Records. It later drops down a gear, but there’s never any tension between the sections, which shift seamlessly. Also great is Youth Iwah’s “Uplifta Dub” which is an early Lee Perry style track with parts synching in and out and meandering around the rhythm set by the bass. The more electro-orientated tracks tend to vary in quality a bit more. Badaszewski’s “Largemale” is dirty and minimal, but likes the funk to be a dance tune and the variety to be anything else. “Nose Forward” by Sir Fryzy sounds a little like some of Aphex Twin’s more atmospheric stuff but seems to be torn somewhere between that haunting, stalking sound and something a bit more like straight electro and the two never really resolve. Having said that, when it morphs into a dub track halfway through it flows a lot better and really starts to settle into a groove. “Metal Mickiy” by Troublesome starts off sounds like Venetian Snares, which is a good thing, but spends a lot of time in a bashy house rut, which is a bad thing. The one non-dub track that I will praise unreservedly is Carl Brown’s “2002 – 2007”, which has a great 8-bit sound mixed with drum and bass and although it’s a bit overly short, the entirety of the track seems to be shifting between different rhythms and tunes. Fantastic. Overall then, this compilation is great at jungle and a bit mixed at everything else. Having said that, the only track that I fully disliked was “Largemale”, and the rest at least had good bits.