The Darkestral imprint has moved steadily into the drum & bass consciousness over the past eighteen months. With prominent releases from renegade duo Instra:Mental gaining serious notoriety both within and beyond the scene, their profile continues to grow.

 

Darkestral exists to satisfy the long-term vision of its director Rico. 'I wanted to hear music at 170bpm and for it to be emotive,' he states. 'A move away from the competitive 'brick walling' of sound and back into a time when the artistry or more leftfield nature of what could be done with the music could come forward once more.'

 

Emotion is the key to their output. Whether raw and angry on tunes such as 'The Chamber' or smoothed out and spacious on tracks like 'Pacific Heights', the Darkestral ethos pushes through.

 

Rico details his original concept of direction as a pliable mix of Photek, dubstep and filmic composition with splices of N.E.R.D for beats and space. 'Space and texture allied to atmospheres and individuality of expression. Uplifting melancholy delves deeper in Darkestral world,' Rico explains.

 

Allied with the huge success of the recent 'Sepia Tones EP', the Darkestral catalogue looks set to grow. The transference of the music from lounge to dancefloor appears to be the biggest achievement of the label's releases so far, the emotional content of the sound damaging fans across the electronic music spectrum.

 

Perhaps the current state of the world in which we reside, coupled with the tiresome drum & bass yield of recent years is why Darkestral has experienced early success. 

 

Drum & bass is continually evolving and the need to create more elaborate sub genres appears pointless when considering an imprint such as this. The tendency for labels to become pigeonholed and generalised is something Darkestral is keen to avoid.

 

'There is no direction,' says Rico. 'There is not a great similarity across the releases and I am happy to have cut a niche to operate in regardless of interest.'

 

Interest however there has been and Darkestral now finds itself at the forefront of the leftfield drum & bass fraternity whether it likes it or not.

 

To understand Darkestral fully, recognition of the symbolic "stealth mothership" logo is key.  Interpretation of the vessel also allows for an insight into what is in store for the label and what we can look forward to. Sister labels Darkestral Ice and Darkestral Excursions are all a direct associate of one another and Rico becomes animated when considering the amalgamation of these elements:

 

'Ice had formed on the underside and was the first thing that came into general view, the music of Fanu reflecting the brittle and crystal clear sound of that form. The full 'mothership' then came into view as Darkestral Recordings and carries the Instra:Mental stream of widely variant stylistic explorations, followed by the jettisoning of the 'Probe' for deeper space and anti-gravity-beat Excursions which is the phase we are about to enter with Sabre and Consequence. More and other elements of the 'mothership' will come into view in future.'

 

It is perhaps the attention to detail of the Darkestral releases, the refreshing link between artwork and sound and the all round feel the label exudes that has really captured the scene's imagination. Interaction is perceived as important and this is exemplified by the active involvement fans of the label can enjoy. The website contains a forum and blogged updates while the MySpace contains access to a 'Sound Cloud Drop Box' and the videos made by fans to some of the label's most popular releases.

 

Rico admits to being taken aback by the depth of love for the project so far, but modestly realises the fact that perhaps the success was merely down to his personal desire to hear something new. 'It's a very personal trip. History will dictate where it is perceived in the great scheme of things. It was experimentation at a time when there wasn't a huge amount actively happening.'

 

Involved in the scene for many years and witness to fads of direction forward, back and side, the leader of Darkestral is keen not to over bear the importance of the current sound. Indeed, a forward-looking perspective concentrating on the quashing of stereotypes and progression of artistry to achieve full aural pleasure is the driver. True to its conception and its ideology, Darkestral looks to the future and emotion for creativity.

 

www.darkestral.com

www.myspace.com/darkestralrecordings

www.myspace.com/darkestralexcursions

 

Words by Owen Goldser

• Darkestral

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• Cue Recordings Label Profile

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