Artist: White Rock Angel
Title: Death By Jupiter
Label: Vinyl Vice
By: Simon Jones | 18 August 2004
Tracklist:

• A: King Of Cool Mix
• B: Original Mix

White Rock Angel "Death By Jupiter"

The White Rock Angel makes his debut via this latest release on Birmingham, England's new label Vinyl Vice, but the angel is by no means a stranger to us as its an alter ego of Andrew Byrne, Mr Hellpass himself! 'Death By Jupiter' is the first of several new tracks he has lined up, with the White Rock Angel project being an outlet for his tougher dancefloor sounds.

On the a-side is a remix by 'King Of Cool'. Some of you may recognise the name from the recent remix of Fluke's 'Slid' that have been doing the rounds. The man behind the name is Hugh Bryder of the Fluke DJs, and here he delivers a dark bass-led mix of 'Death By Jupiter'. Chunky house rhythms and rippling hooks slide over the grinding bassline that drives this beast of a remix, with some excellent analogue sounds and synths keeping things interesting. The vocal hook is kept to a minimum, and the breakdown sees the bassline tighten it's grip, leading in a solid and satisfying outro that will set you up nicely for your next 12" bomb.

The 'Original Mix' stars with a spacey intro, but soon rockets into a full on funky breakbeat groove. A devastating sub bassline works its way through the low end of the track, heavy beats drilling down into the groove from above, with a nice stutter effected vocal cutting through the breaks as they swing back and forth. There's a slight resemblance to Tsunami One & BT's 'Hip Hop Phenomenon' but that's by no means a bad thing, and this is a satisfying, well produced track that should sit well with both progressive and breaks purists.

This Vinyl Vice label seems to be carving itself a nice little niche for rolling out secret weapons for your record box, calling upon established names to offer something different to the norm. So far this formula has proved to be a winner, and this third release from the label is quite possibly it's finest yet.