Virus Syndicate are probably Manchesters formost grime crew, and in my humble opinion, are probably the only refreshing grime outfit around. Where the MC is all important in the genre of grime, so many acts these days seem to fall short, with vocals that are almost laughable. Virus Syndicate on the other hand have a vocal delivery that is fierce and focused, obviously drenched in a youth bought up on hip-hop, both from the UK and the US, developing into a distinctive English sound.
Never frightened to experiment, with the eastern influences of Taxman Returns, the often dubstep influences and tempo’s of many of the tracks, but always pushing the bass and vocals to the fore. Be Like Us has that dubstep wobble bass, but with a sharp vocal riding the rhythm, somewhere between grime, hip-hop and r’n’b… M.R.K.1’s production shines through, showcasing his versatility, yet perfectly suiting the vocal delivery of MC’s Goldfinger, JSD and Nika D, even delving into post-rave territory to great effect, looking back for the sounds of a rave long gone, and projecting this way into the future. Included here are the two Various Production remixes previously only released as a limited 7” vinyl release, again pushing the vocal to the fore, but with the Various studio production genius, obviously different from M.R.K.1’s production, but sitting comfortably along side each other, complimenting each producers strengths. Apollo oozes the future r’n’b that Various Production are becoming renowned for, where Neva Argue has the more manic, unhinged production we’ve come to expect from this production powerhouse.
This album gives me hope that there is still life left in grime for 2009.
Wayne Stronell
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