Operative :: Scorn
release :: aurtumn 2008
format :: vinyl / digital

(Click on PLAY button to listen)

A: Super Mantis – Elemental remix

B: Super Mantis – Threnody remix

As autumn creeps over us and darkness falls, the mighty Scorn raises his head once again out of the Combat battlefields with part 2 of the Super Mantis series, featuring remixes by deep, menacing beatsmith Elemental and exciting new blood producer Threnody.

A > [ Super Mantis ] (Elemental remix)

Side A sees the North London beats’n‘bass don Elemental on remix duties The mysterious studio genius started producing in the early 90’s with just a Roland D5, Atari ST, moving on to Akai S2000 sampler and a PC. Focusing on DnB and experimental electronics, he music. Releasing his own DnB 12” at the age of 18, he shortly afterward formed one half of breakbeat garage duo ‘Elemental + 3D’, releasing on their own label Runtime Recordings in 2002. A couple of years later after some time abroad, he caught the likes of Search & Destroy on Rinse FM and found the sound he had been looking for – dark, heavy syncopated beats and bass.

Since finding Dubstep and it’s peripheral mutant forms, Elemental has been focused on bringing his unique sound to the masses, undeniably hard yet dubbed out, dirty bass and hypnotising rhythms. He has had many releases from Destructive, Hotflush, Pitch Black and Halo Beats, and more recently, his seminal track Soulfire featured on Tayo’s Fabric mix cd. His live sets (so rare in the world of dubstep) are nothing short of astounding, deep, textured and considered; a fluid block of sound with spooky old Photek overtones, with interlocking rhythms and surging dark subs.

B > [ Super Mantis] (Threnody remix)

Side B is the result of Super Mantis parts being handed to exciting new-blood producer Threnody . Based in Stafford, the Sub FM resident pilots the late night sessions representing experimental beats on the station, fuelled partly by his own prolific studio output.

Occupying the uncertain space between dubstep, breakstep and electronica, these works of deep, brooding sounds, broken breaks, fragmented vocals and low-end destructive bass have ended up in the hands of DJs like Mary Anne Hobbs, Rob Surgeon, Stormfield and have found their way onto various labels such as Creative Space, Urban Graffiti, Red Volume and Combat.

Keeping in line with the other Scorn remixes in this series, Threnody’s rework certainly doesn’t disappoint: this version is a sludgy, tracky monster armed with razor sharp beats and furious rhythms that will batter you senseless while a gigantic sub rises and falls like a huge undersea kraken. Unstoppable.

In contrast to the unstoppable beats and bass, Threnody plays light, almost wistful keystrokes of melody atop the roiling landscape of destruction below, like snow falling over a burning city. Dark, bleak and beautiful at the same time.

The Threnody remix was featured by Rob Surgeon on the excellent Electronic Explorations podcast in Oct 2008… big up! Click here for the download.

Check the video of the mastering session here

Large up Mary Anne Hobs for playing this in her October show here