This weeks Vault Check takes us back to 1996, a point in time where the frenzy of Jungle producers trying to out drum programme /edit their peers had gently subsided, and a darker, much more sinister sound had crept into the void. Killamanjaro was the fifth release on DJ Grooverider‘s Prototype Recordings, and boy was it a beast.
Set against the backdrop of a repetitive, clattering Paris break, deep sub-bass stabs bubble effortlessly under a haunting two-chord pad refrain, which in turn eventually gives way to an epic high Reece that just begs for a screwface. An echo-laden, be-bop sax sample rides occasionally across the top of the mix and wallop. There you have it.
Possibly one of the best examples of the early techstep sound ever committed to vinyl, and also a perfect example of less is more (though I’m not suggesting for one minute that this track is simple), 25 years on this epic beast still stands strong. Things were never quite the same after 1996, and with tracks like this surfacing, it is plain to see why.