Basstardz

Basstardz may be delightfully-titled, but it’s not quite as manically dark as the name might suggest. Instead, there’s a pretty decent selection of intelligent, almost easy-listening, dark-tinged psytrance – and as such it’s a pretty individual proposal. Hyper Frequencies is back and sounding better than ever with Smokerz Paradise, complete with the sounds of bongs being hit and Frenchmen laughing (the two are possibly interconnected) over a spacious, hectic backbone. The pace is energetic and frenzied, but without being ‘ard as nails – saving you the psychosis until later in the album. Zebra-N’s Gloobala is an interesting one but it seems to lose its direction a little bit. The sounds are all tight, firmly in that dark-ish sort of vibe; but without being really free to go hell for leather it sounds like the track’s been cooped up, although the changes it is allowed to go through are tasty enough.

Xatrix’s Frankie Five Of Diamonds is a tasty little critter. The energy slowly bubbles up and over, and it puts a funkier, spunkier spin on the whole darkpsy subgenre. Hypno’s Rampage is pretty tasty as well, the vibe here is shifting, morphing semi-dark psytrance that refuses to sit still and changes its patterns almost continuously. Blisargon Demogoron’s delightfully-named Wrong Murder plods a bit and doesn’t really hold the attention too much, likewise 3PLT’s Boogieman: some nice moments, but not quite cohesive enough to really stand out as a classy track. Bon’s Mental Swing is streets ahead.

You’ve got a threatening, exciting vibe that keeps on building and building, even though the track itself changes paces and flavours at pretty much every turn. Better still is Wizard Lizard’s Mechanic Vibration: it does everything you want it to. Moody, but somehow uplifting with its sheer shit-kicking attitude and deft use of effects. Nice. Seroxat’s Fire Zone isn’t one of his best, it’s got a stuttered, semi-infected backbone to it and as such loses some of the power he usually pulls out.

Finally Toxic does some good stuff with Sos Tasis, an utter belter complete with a hilarious jazzy breakdown, soaring layers of properly psychedelic sounds, and equal amounts of humour and fullpower nighttime trance. All in all this is a pretty interesting compilation. As we’ve said before, the whole darkpsy subgenre has got a bit bogged down and directionless lately, and albums need that little something extra to stand out from the pack. Basstardz doesn’t quite have everything, but it deserves commendation for trying something different and, for the most part, succeeding admirably.