With the conclusion of Crissy Criss’s ground-breaking, genre-defining 1Xtra show last year, the obvious question is, what’s next? Well, what’s next is the continuation of his international DJ career, dubstep production and DJing as part of Dead Exit and work with his own label The Zooooo. But what’s next for Crissy Criss the drum and bass producer? Answer: this is.

Go Hard sets out Crissy’s statement of intent. An expansive soundscape of pads and subtle percussive hits is ruptured by a warning of imminent danger provided by siren tones, a layer of jagged bass and a march- time arpeggio. This all sets the mood for a stomping militaristic beat, but then Mr Criss wrong-foots us and switches up the timing to give us some downright funky syncopation instead. These contrasting rhythmical flavours, delivered with typically tough drums and basslines make this one that’s bound to set the dance alight.

Then Monday brings a darker hue. A grinding drill-bit tone in the mid-range instantly penetrates straight through the gloom of the intro, setting up for a stripped-back drop that’s all about the basslines. Interplay between Crissy’s expertly-manipulated low-end sounds and higher-register staccato hits is mirrored by the call and response of chest-vibratingly hard kicks and snares. This is raw, screw-face music for when the ravers want to get grimey.

Finally, we’re treated to a Dead Exit relick of Everybody from Crissy’s More Than Ever EP. They’ve taken the component elements of the original and reworked them into multiple layers of percussion, rebuilding them into a dubstep framework. The slower tempo and more minimalistic form allows some of the savagery of the original to be channelled into more intricately-designed programming without sacrificing any of the pure dancefloor appeal.

So, with Trinity Vol 2, Crissy Criss shows that even alongside his hectic schedule of DJing, dubstep and label- running, he’s still showing no signs of letting his drum and bass production skills slip. He’s still representing for multiple flavours of bass-heavy music, and there’s plenty more where that came from.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll already have been spinning TREi’s first Technique excursion, his remix of Digital’s “Midnight”, which dropped a few months ago. And you certainly won’t have overlooked this New Zealand producer’s prolific output on other top-tier labels like Viper, Commercial Suicide and Shogun over the last few years. And with this EP already having chalked up Radio 1 play it’s clearly time to focus and see what’s up.

What’s up first is Empires. A darkly atmospheric intro draws us in. Then as the low-end sparks into life with gritty sub- troubling textures, combined with an interplanetary siren-song, you know that things are about to get weighty. Then the drop strikes straight to your solar-plexus with the punch of militant drums and raw, serrated bass. This is a call to the soldiers in the dance to mobilise.

Then Masquerade switches things up. Dropping straight in, fully-formed with an almost deep house flavour set to a drum and bass pulse, this looks set to be a laid-back one for spaced-out ravers to make floaty shapes with their glowsticks. But then there’s an edge as TREi brings in some mid-range drive and as the beat kicks back in those ravers are forced to liven up and look sharper. This may be a light-headed and soulful but there’s no doubt you’re meant to move to this.

Next, TREi steps up in collaboration with Fader to weave together the dark and the light for Identity Crisis. If you want to show off your classical music training, you could talk about this as a fugue, the sound of a theme being constantly reinterpreted. For the rest of us, the evil pads which meld into lighter strings and the sharp stabs switching their emphasis from treble to bass simply create a powerful assault of dancefloor energy.

Finally, it’s Born Killer. This is all about the hooks. First, there’s the “He’s a born killer!” dialogue sample to make this instantly recognisable. Then there are the gangsta horns to set the tone. Then there’s an almost jarringly syncopated broken chord which sets this apart. And amidst all this there’s a mighty surge of bassline and drum to pound the rave into submission. This is going to be a staple element of many sets for some time to come.

So TREi has introduced himself properly to the Technique faithful. With this EP he’s shown he can pull in elements from multiple styles, draw upon an array of musical forms and influences and make them all conform to his rave- shaking will. If the title of this release, “Empires” is a statement of ambition, then this is another step on the road to conquest.

Tracklisting

1. TREi – Empires
2. TREi – Masquerade
3. TREi – Identity Crisis ft. Fader
4. TREi – Born Killer