Counterstrike - Wardance EP
Counterstrike has played an instrumental role in putting South Africa on the world drum ’n bass map. Justin Scholtemeyer AKA Animal Chin and Eaton Crous AKA 500 Mills, have been active drum ’n bass DJ’s on the club/rave circuit since the mid 90s playing all over South Africa and recently England, Germany, Norway, Poland, Belgium, Holland, Austria and Switzerland. Counterstrike has been producing drum ’n bass as a collective since 1998. When Dieselboy toured South Africa in early 2000 he was so impressed by their production skills that he offered to help with the promotion of their demo. ‘Pressure / Questions’ on Canadian label Allied Recordings was their first 12" vinyl single to see the light. It got excellent reviews and sold out instantly. This lead to a string of successful vinyl 12"s (17 to date) for various international labels and a mix CD, Biogenesis on their own Algorythm Recordings. Their tunes are played out by all the big names in international drum ’n bass such as Andy C, Dieselboy, Pendulum, Dylan, Dom & Roland, Paul B, Kryptic Minds, B-Key, Evol Intent, Future Prophecies, The Mixologists, AK1200, the list goes on… Watch out for the first 12" release on their own Algorythm Recordings distributed worldwide by Nu-Urban.
‘Merciless’ starts with dreamy techno influenced pads then opens up into a high energy metal / industrial / drum ’n bass fusion with double bass drum edits and angry vocals and trademark Counterstrike pitch bend reese…
Loosely based on b-grade horror movies, ‘Phantasm’ has all the right elements that hint at an anthem. It opens with eerie analogue strings only to unleash into a full on drum ’n bass / metal assault.
‘Zaire’ hints at the classic ‘96 tech-step era with a unique ethnic influence. Rough, rolling bass over crisp Paris breaks are completed with a steel pan-pipe… watch out for the dangerous switch on the second drop.
More ethnic influences… this time with the turn of the mighty ‘Zulu Warrior’ building from the depths of the Zulu’s ancestral spirit and explodes into a fierce mash-up of distorted bass lines, tribal drums and real sampled Zulu war-dance chanting.