darkside

Darkside is a shadowy, experimental strain of jungle and drum and bass that emerged in the early-to-mid 1990s. It is defined less by sheer aggression than by oppressive atmosphere: cavernous sub-bass, sparse or heavily manipulated breakbeats, dissonant samples, dubwise space, and an often unsettling, nocturnal mood. Drawing on hardcore, dub, horror soundtracks, industrial music, and ambient experimentation, darkside tracks frequently feel fragmented and unpredictable rather than conventionally dancefloor-oriented.

Unlike the later, more overtly forceful attack of darkstep, or the polished, machine-like funk of neurofunk and techstep, darkside places atmosphere, tension, and psychological unease at the center of its music. Its relationship to jungle is especially evident in its breakbeat vocabulary, although those rhythms may be buried, distorted, or stretched into abstract forms. Source Direct, DJ Hidden, Christoph De Babalon, and parts of Technical Itch’s catalog illustrate the style’s murky, boundary-testing character. Darkside is essential listening for anyone drawn to drum and bass at its most enigmatic: music that turns the rave’s energy into an atmosphere of suspense and disorientation.