Review Summary: A classic slice of pre-bro dubstep
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Millennials freshly dispossessed of their illusions of financial security flocked to abandoned urban warehouses and remote renegade ragers. They filled their noses with all kinds of sketchy drugs and most of them survived reasonably unharmed. It’s hard now to view this groundswell of interest in raves as something separate from the economic conditions of the time, even if we were too young to realize it. As one horizon closed, and things previous generations had taken for granted like housing, cars or good jobs felt further away than ever, what was attainable were experience and community. For many, including myself, that was found in the rave. And at these raves there were healthy doses of hardstyle, dnb and house, of course, but the new kid on the block was dubstep. And what a bully he was.
Years before the screeching mid-range synths and plodding kick drums of brostep were shoehorned into everything from car commercials to football games, the young genre – born in the grimy south London underground – had migrated to North American raves by the late 00s. At any proper function you’d find at least one dubstep stage, and on that stage, you would hear at least one DJ throughout the night who would play a little Rusko.
By the summer of 2010, when I attended my first rave as a fresh-faced 19-year-old kid, there were already plenty of Rusko tracks to pick from, but his first installation of
Babylon was a real standout and remains so to this day. While you can point to any number of stellar releases from this era of just pre-bro dubstep as being perfect examples of what the genre once was, what’s really special about
Babylon: Vol. 1 is how it spans dubstep’s early influences and hints at where the mainstream would go in just four classic tracks. Of course, one of the main criticisms of Rusko and his class of dubstep producers was that they
were creating brostep. Which I suppose is fair, but at the time I think it retained enough of the genre's early fixation on sub-bass worship and dub atmosphere to separate itself.
Regardless, it's hard not to move right from the needle drop with this EP. Featuring hornlike plodding synths, a busy percussion section and an absolutely iconic sample, “Cockney Thug” never failed to destroy dancefloors. The second track, “Love Is Real,” showcases the clear garage and two-step influences from which early dubstep sprung. My personal favorite track though is “Jahova.” It’s a certified banger that manages to sound nostalgic and strangely modern to my ears with its timeless dub and reggae influences and absolutely massive synths. The EP is rounded out by the pounding dubby cut “Lions Paw.”
Built into this EP really are many of the different directions that dubstep would take in future years. You have the proto-brostep in the more aggressive tracks that would go on to become fodder for so many massive festivals in the 2010s. There's also a prime example of the more refined sound that would be carried on by labels like Innamind Recordings or Chord Marauders and you have the dubby stompers that labels like Deep Medi or ZamZam Sounds continue to push to this day. It contained the DNA of dubstep’s frenetic rise and long, slow demise. It's also a perfect, bite-sized capsule of nostalgia that goes down easy and marks a crucial time in what would go on to become one of the most divisive genres amongst and outside of electronic music circles. But back in 2010, all of that history remained unwritten. It was the sound of summer nights with friends served up with an edge of danger, staving off the collapse in polychromatic spotlights.
