DJ Nosferatu* – Enemy Of The State

Quite surprised there's no reviews for this! This album was a key early release in the revival of hardcore in the early 2000s, following a decline at the end of the 90s. Whereas most of the previous releases on Gangsta were mostly a continuation of the Ruffneck "artcore" sound - this release was closer to the slower hardcore on sister label Supreme Intelligence, but with a lighter, more accessible melodic touch. In many ways this release is a prequel to Gangsta's successor label Enzyme, who would successfully explore this style more in the coming years - a style often called millennium hardcore.

A1 track "The Prayer" follows the trend set by "Thrillseeka" a couple of years earlier, with a sound that many other hardcore artists were following at the time - namely screetchy detuned synths in triplets. Not my favourite on here, but a solid party tune. "Bitstream" is a bit different - like an early prototype of the industrial tunes seen later on Enzyme.

"Up The Drums" is another industrial-ish tune, with some crunchy kicks in triplets and lots of well used hip hop samples - with little melody except for a nice mellow break in the middle. Then there's the Endymion remix of Unacceptable (originally released as DJ Myztic). I love the original of this, but the remix is a bit forgettable, not Endymion's best work and my least favourite on this.

But then we have one of the big hits from this LP, "Human Experiments", a massive party track with a big main-room melody and even bigger kickdrums. This is the sound in particular that would go on to dominate early 00s hardcore. And then is my favourite on this album, "Language of Rhythm". Starting with a very distorted, crunchy kickdrum, it sounds like another industrial tune...but then introduces a glorious, almost trancey melody over the top. And then just to round it off, in the middle is another epic string break. This track almost feels like a mix of all the different ideas in the album all combined in one, which is why it's my favourite.

Finally, maybe the biggest hit on here is the Desolate One. Around this time, hardcore producers were taking advantage of new technology to create much heavier kicks than 90s hardcore...but even for the time the kickdrum on this was exceptional, very ahead of its time. Added to another big melody makes for another massive tune. And then finally, the JDA remix of "Pop Goes The Pistol". The original of this was a big hit a few years before, and this switches up the hoover from the original for another typically early 2000s screetchy triplet riff. it's OK, but pales next to the original.

Overall, this album was a great sign of where hardcore was headed in the next few years, and a perfect showcase for Nosferatu's talent (it's notable that the two weakest moments are the remixes by other artists). And holds up a lot better today than many other hardcore releases from the same time.