Artist: Bedrock
Title: Forge
Label: Bedrock Breaks
By: Simon Jones | 19 August 2003
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Fretwell Mix

Bedrock "Forge"

Bedrock of course need no introduction. An outfit regarded for such tracks 'Heaven Scent', 'Emerald' and 'For What You Dream Of', many were surprised when 'Forge' moved away from those into the realm of breakbeat. Originally featured on the US version of the Beautiful Strange EP and the Foundations: Granite album. Now they have wisely decided to release the track as a single in it's own right, with a superb new remix to ensure there's plenty of reason to check this out..

The 'Original Mix' is a glorious slice of broken beat action. A throbbing groove shuffles underneath as beats punch into the groove like a pneumatic piston building up momentum. A subtle melody weaves it's way in and out of the beats, as synths rise and fall over the top. Building to a breathtaking climax, the melody swells within the beats and the combined sound will send a shivver of delight down your spine. Even today this track sounds awesome.

Bringing it upto date, 'Fretwell' turns it into a cinematic progressive breaks epic that remains faithful to the original whilst giving it a more devastating effect on the dancefloor. Rumbling bass, atmospheric sweeps and tight break patterns conceal the melody as it slowly teased into the mix, being let loose in the first mini break and merging with the crunching beats during the main section of the mix. All this ends in a sweeping atmospheric break, before the beats trail out in an emotinal finale like only Fretwell can produce. Merging elements of both his 'Ember' track in addition to his remix of Pole Folder & CP's 'Dust', this is explosive stuff.

A return to form for Bedrock Breaks once again, almost on a par with the excellent Momu release not so long ago. Bedrock need to realise that both this and that are the quality that people expect, and with any luck, that is what they will deliver to us over the coming months.