165 - Dark, aggressive, atmospheric.  I can tell this one is going to be a smasher.  Good selection of sounds, with punchy drums and groove.  Cool vocal sample.  The mix is fucking tight, everything placed well.  I can see this one going on vinyl. Those snares really crack off like gunshots....are there vocal clips hidden in those hits?  Whatever, it sounds brutal and heavy. A serious heavyweight contender in this comp.

164 - Another dark monster by the sound of it.  Great intro with a threatening atmospheric vibe.  Good selection of sounds and samples in this track. 

It has an interesting groove and changeups and some cheeky swingbeats too, lol. Plenty going on in this one, it never stands still.  Mix is pretty good so not much to complain about there.  Nice work, one of my top 3 in this compo.

156 - Royalston - Interesting dark and futuristic vibe to this one.   Good dropsout and fills. 

The atmospheres and non-rhythm part would work well in most electronic genres in my opinion...probably more commonly found in trance and house.  Very techy overall, pretty much straddling the tech house/dnb line...its all down to that kick pattern I reckon.

Lots of stuff going on, really well mixed too.  Among my top 3.

154 - shores of the unknown - Starts well, nice atmospheres and vibe and the vocals go well. Good layering of sounds.  When it drops at 1:30 it kicks arse. 

Proper floorsmasher this one, nice power behind it, though slightly thin sounding mix.  The snares really lack weight.  That high-up synth reminds me of the music for Wipeout2097 for some reason.

Good riffage for dnb too, and I like the way it goes from brutal to euphoric at the end.  I love the general vibe in this one, good work, it just needs some phattening up a tad in the mixing and some mastering.

158 - Jossi all over.  Boring intro, too much reverb on those drums too but it kicks off well when it does.  Strong on the trademark upbeat melodies as always and excellent tight punchy drums. 

Maybe very slight bias towards the bass end in the mix but otherwise everything seems to fit nicely.  Arrangement worked okay, not much to complain about really.

155 - A real remix/crossover track this one.  I have to say it surprised me at first, but after a few listens it has grown on me and I even found myself singing this when I was doing my laundry yesterday, lol.

That midrange squelchy synth does tend to get in the way of the vocals...Its quite dry and cutting in the mix.  I'd have put it further back than the vocals with some more reverb, or possibly put it an octave below as there is a bit of space down there where I guess an electric guitar could also sit.  Or maybe make the existing guitar part bigger with some distortion or eq. 

The vocals aren't actually too badly sung, but you'd never get this played in a set because of them.  Still, by style its an original entry and I can respect that...tracks liek this show dnb as a hugely diverse style and should be encouraged.  The groove goes well with it.  Good work.

153 - Anzor - Good riffage in this one, beats are nice and tight too.  The sounds themselves are very polite...It could be mixed a bit phatter and with more edge to really compliment the energy in the music.  The sub could also be more rhythmic I reckon, dropping out in between notes a bit as it sounds quite static. It sounds like there is a bit of space in the low mids for more aggressive bass.

As it is though, the mix is very clean.  Nice work on the melodies and arrangement though, I like the style and the musical content in this one.

163 - Good rough old skool sounds in this one.  The reece is probably a bit too loud compared to the sample in the into.  The sample works, though its probably been around a bit and gives the track a jungle feel, with the amen/reece action.

The riffs and arrangement are the outstanding elements in this track.  The mix is actually okay and this would work on the floor, though is sounds a little dated for my tastes.

159 - In the Morning - Sweet vibe to this.  Well-named too, it has that waking up type of feeling to it.  Nice sounds and samples.  The mix seems quite balanced

The section from just after 2 mins to 2:50 doesn't quite work for me for some reason, maybe the bassline goes up high and I dont like that.  But the other main section works well and the vibe in pretty nice in general. 

After 5min I found slightly excessive though it'd probably work on an album track to carry on the vibe.  It thought it lost direction from that point though I guess on this chilled style of track its not totally out of place.

161 - Nice and loud, but there is some melodic clashing in the intro which really brings it down.  The pads are a bit mushy and discordant as a result.  Sounds like too many conflicting layers. 

It kicks off around 2 mins and gets into it proper and this section works better, until the little changeup before the break at 3:15 where there is more clashing.

The drums are tight and punchy in this track and its got a good rhythm section with cheeky fills.  It would work on the dancefloor I reckon.  Decent mixing on this one...my only problem is with those mashing melodies in a couple of places.

162 - the intro seems quite basic just drums and pads, but it picks up.  The drums seem quite loud in the intro.  Nice sample, maybe a touch too much reverb on it.  The bass is phat and throbbing when it comes in.

The melody the bass is playing is cool, likewise the drum pattern, but more could be going on this tune and generally more variation.  Its just drums, bass and pads, which aren't changing too much over the course of the track, with the odd sample to break things up.  Decent enough vibe, but the track leaves room for improvement.

157 - Chilled and funky.  The mixing seems okay with all the parts nice and clear...apart from there is a loop in the later half where one of the kicks comes in a louder and seems to distort a bit too much for my liking.  Maybe I'm being picky.  The ghost snares also kinda get to me after a while when they come in for the louder section and have the same power as the main snare.  In the other section where the snare is cut short and the ghosts are quieter they work better.

The 'creme de la creme' sample really gets on my tits when it repeats. :P  When repeating something like that, I'd suggest chopping it a bit or applying soem effects on later sections.

However, the pads and chords are really nice and definately lend a funky liquid vibe to this, a bit different to all the hard dark brutality in this round. The mix is filled nicely with its the big round gliding bass, which contributes nicely to the smoothness of the track.

160 - demon raising - Slightly surreal intro with weird chromatic echoes.  Not keen on them carrying on through the track, sounds like part of the melody is taking the piss and the other half is trying to be scary.  It does take off at around 2:45 getting more hectic and energetic. 

Sadly, it sounds like it didn't upload fully as it just cuts off. Overall not really too keen on this because of the first 2:45 but the mixing was okay.  Not my favourite track, sorry.