Roel Butzen – Violent Wake Up

I'm put off by a lot of old hardcore techno because it's just silly, or cheesy, repetitive or uninspired with a lot of it sounding so similar, but this is different, smart, memorable hardcore with attitude and some intelligence. "Violent Wake Up" is the best track, and although "hoovers" have been used to death and are sometimes annoying, the "hoover" sound in this song is worked and twisted around to great effect, and "This Year's Itch" is a twitchy, itchy little brain shocker. Can't believe it's so cheap to pick up!

Slamming belgian techno of the highest order which does not pull any punches whatsoever, a riot of a tune from start to finish. Tough bassline and dirty, stormin' riffs, psycho stabs, screeching effects, slammin' driving beats getting the heart pumping, and the ominous female vocal "THIS IS YOUR WAKEUP CALL" on the intro and at the end of the track. A "violent wakeup" with an alarm clock? More like a sledgehammer round the face! In a good way of course!

"This Years Itch" is another slammer but this time it's predominantly hoover infested, if a little empty of bass and lacking in depth, production wise. The "get busy" samples can get a bit tiresome aswell, but not so bad in the mix.

West A.C. is a total contrast to the other two bangers featured on this release. Mellow and deep is the order of the day here, with a really sweet & funky bassline, grooving along to a bubbling 303 and soothing strings with a distant chime sound giving it that eerie, chilled effect. Deep acid house come ambient techno is a close enough description of this...Shouldn't be overlooked and is worth a good listen, nice.