Ahmad - Intaference LP (2015)

After a number of well received remixes and collaborations, Architecture reveals the ace they have quietly been keeping stashed up their sleeve, the debut artist album from Ahmad. Little is known about this mysterious new producer other than the music he puts out. Shrouded in anonymity, social media profile free, Ahmad makes his presence felt where it matters, on the dance floor.

The "Interference" LP marks a statement of intent from Ahmad, putting Drum & Bass on notice that a new, faceless talent has arrived to impose his sparse, echo chambered audio vision on the scene. Channeling the sonic tradition of Photek with the spine tingling brooding darkness of a Space Odyssey, Ahmad turns in 11 cuts of futuristic, 170 bpm cosmic dub, designed to help your conscience drift away to a higher plane

All the tracks feature Ahmad's take on the minimal, kick drum led tribal stomp that has been captivating the drum & Bass realm recently, but peppered with his own distinctively adept sense of percussive texture and tension building atmospherics. Reverberated rim shots, wood blocks, metallic crashes and samurai drums woven throughout the body of work give each track a unique rhythmic variation, making the tracks equally as engaging listening on headphones as they are on a large rig, where their punishing low frequency hum will churn out your belly. Slight nods to Jungle's heritage creep their smoked out heads through the beats as the faintest chops of classic breaks make perfectly timed appearances, while dubbed out vocal snips evoke screwface gun finger signals to the sky, acting as a balance to the constant head nod sway.

The collaborations on this album represent a who's who of Ahmad's influences and contemporaries as Loxy, Gremlinz, Genotype, Kobra and Mental Forces all make multiple appearances, creating a truly all star project for fans of the brand of forward moving Drum & Bass that Architecture Recordings and these artist's all stand at the forefront of. A truly inspiring collection from an artist who is only just beginning to hit his stride. Make sure that you keep the name "Ahmad" right at the top of your list of producers to buy on sight.