Musicians tend to be somewhat prophetic in their works quite often, and as if on cue, fans can expect a rash of war-inspired offerings from their favourite artists in the coming months. Due to its bombastic basslines and bullet-like snares, D&B tends to lend itself well to the sounds of combat anyway, so is it prophecy or just what the artist is feeling at the minute? It’s impossible to tell, but the current state of affairs certainly makes releases like the recently dropped War Room EP on Tytanium Armour Recordings feel more poignant; even the label name is apropos.
Based in Wales and Glasgow respectively, Shodan and Hex each have their own storied career. Shodan began his working with Phantasy over two decades ago, producing the classic dancefloor tune ‘Gimme Da Gal’ before returning in 2017 with his new take on classic darkstep. Hex, meanwhile, has been releasing his own brand of dark rollers since 2012. The air came together recently, releasing the two-track single ‘Nothingess/Capitalism Dub’ on DIRTY KITCHEN RAVE in 2025. They clearly had more in them, and it’s likely War Room is a product of the same collab.
In addition to being a strong social commentary, War Room is an unapologetically gritty combined history of hard and dark D&B, combining classic elements such as groovy drums and loads of distortion with modern techniques and crips synths. It’s useless to try to pick apart who did what on each track; the duo have created a completely new sound that reflects each of theis styles but doesn’t mimic either one. This is what a good collab project should do, and the effect is seamless.
Like War Room and likely any forthcoming releases from Hex & Slodan, the pair’s playlist tracks the timeline of dark D&B from Slodan’s early Dillinja and Cause4Concern picks to Hex’s Neonlight and Phace deep cuts. Anyone who loves darkstep, techstep or neuro or who’s looking for a histroy lesson on these subgenres should be all over this playlist as well as War Room.
Shodan
Fierce & Cause4Concern – Carrier
The rollingest of all the techy rollers. Just keeps rolling. Rumour has it, it never actually ends.
Dillinja – Thugs
For me, Dillinja has always been one of the top producers in D&B. I could have named any one of about 20 Dillinja tracks but went for the slightly less obvious ‘Thugs’, which is still a stone cold classic. Stompy drums for days.
Johnny L – Piper (Grooverider remix)
Johnny L is one of the most underrated producers to grace our scene. ‘Piper’ has one of the coldest drops and is instantly recognisable. The Grooverider remix turned the amp up to 11.
Special Forces – Sidewinder
Special Forces is one of Photek’s many aliases. There wasn’t much that he touched that didn’t turn to gold and ‘Sidewinder’ is no exception. Another track that just keeps on rolling.
Hive & Keaton – Bring It On
‘Bring It On’ is dancefloor chaos. Both Keaton and Hive produced a ton of good music during the late 90s and 2000s and this was one of my favourites.
Hex
Spor – Dreadnought
One of my personal faves from the Renegade Hardware library. An absolute dancefloor weapon – so much kinetic energy in the bassline and the drum switches are precision tooled for maximum impact.
Audio – Power of Fear
An overlooked gem in the Audio back catalogue – subtler than some of his other bits for releases for Virus or RAM, but loaded with bassline groove and tension. His work is also a big influence for me in terms of sampling from sci-fi.
Optiv & Rymetyme – Run It Red (Neonlight Remix)
Neonlight smashed this remix – the unmistakeable vocal delivery of Ryme Tyme combines with an upfront, rolling groove that is guaranteed to shake up the dancefloor.
Black Sun Empire & Dkay – Bullet In The Head (Gridlok Remix)
Another deadly remix, this time with Gridlok at the controls. The level of funk in the drums keeps me coming back to this one time and time again.
Phace – Cold Champagne
Often known for face-melting futuristic destruction, Cold Champagne finds Phace in slightly mellower mood, carving out a track that still sounds futuristic nearly 20 years on. 100% groove.
War Room is out now on Tytanium Armour Recordings and can be streamed or purchased on Bandcamp, Beatport or Spotify. Stream the full YouTube playlist below.