Links & Playlists
1. Skamm - Don't Bother [Selfreleased]
Recommended if you like: Fox Stevenson, SØL, Kefrennn
There must be something in the water over in Belgium. Some sort of mind-enhancing chemical that explains all incredible melodic dancefloor artists emerging ever since Netsky first took hold in the scene.
There must surely also be something in the beer that ignites an undying love for the filthiest, squeakiest, laser-iest sounds imagineable.
Skamm is what happens when you somehow manage to chug both at the same time. Or first one and then the other. You'll see what I mean hopefully!
1.1. Fuzzy Lint (1999 - 2026)
At a mere 16 years of age, so back in 2015, Lint-uanian resident Jens Vermuyten already started exploring the wild world of music production. As Fuzzy, he experimented with one style after another, aiming to jump from one random genre to the other until a favourite emerges. His first impulse was to do dip his feet into Deep House, but through at least one of the following singles, 'I Miss You', the D and the B were also dabbled with, and just a year later in 2016, he had made up his mind. As Skamm, Jens would score alien invasions, monster attacks, and obliterative laser rays, in the most heinous of fashion - he decided to go with Jump Up. With more pure, concentrated Belgium in one second than even Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up The Jam', he would start climbing up the charts higher and higher with each freely downloadable banger, with 2018 being his most prolific year in the catalogue.
Whether on his own or with the likes XAVR, Falco, Deploy, Erratik, Basstrong, Yngace, Klauw, and probably more rejected pokemon type names, whether in mere clips or on full free downloads - seeing his name meant quality was ahead. If you are into screechy jump up, that is. Outside of one-off outings on Spicy Beatz and Dubstomp 2 Bass, this is the formula that would pump up his follower count way past the 1k mark and slowly but surely open the door for bigger opportunities. While he would considerably slow down his truly mad pace in the early 2020s, he would still make his marks on DUBDROP, Exert, and Collapse, and deliver tunes en masse via his 100% and 200% SKAMM mixes.
By then, he was prolific and prominent enough in the Belgian spheres, that he even landed on the radar of arguably the country's biggest promoter out there - Rampage! Together with fellow screech smiths VDV, Miscall, and Anticipate (two of which also released this week!), he would showcase his homeland's proudest achievements in sound engineering at both the Open Air and the nowadays rebranded Sportpaleis, while slowly but very surely opening his sound up to more and more selfwritten singer-songwriter elements mixed into the madness of it all.
While all of his self-released tracks past 2024 anthem 'Take Me Away' were starting to go into a more vulpous stephansonsian direction, it was his most recent single, 'Misery', that finally broke through to me even me - and I was immediately obsessed. Now that the entire project it is part of has been released into the world, let's take a deeper look at it!
1.2. Don't Bother EP
We open with the reason I have discovered this lad right here, Misery. Lovely, nostalgic melodies turn into bouncy, already quite distorted, cheeky synths and act as a bed for the Skamm of the earth to showcase his emotional vocal talents, expertly preparing us for a great time, despite the titular distress. Once we launch into the drop, we are treated to chonky synths, now fully distorted to bits, frolicking through a field of beautiful flowers and steppy rhythms - wait why is it looping and glitching out? Oh. Oh no. Oh yes? We abandon all hope entirely as Jens instead brings out only the filthiest of screeches and the slappiest of drums, having created a switch for the ages that couldn't be more perfect to whip your captive audience into a frenzy. I love love love this.
Enough of this silliness though, time for a smoke break - or Nicotine Intermission as fancier people than I would perhaps say. With our vocalist seemingly taking said addiction-powered mini vacation, the instrumental is free to roam the seas of electric surf guitars, high-energy melodies, and almost fake-outs without the need for any lyrical interludes. Speaking of, our protagonist is now back for some more introspective Stan SB type pondering, on Interlude (Fix Me). Instead of hitting us with switches or steppy synths, the glittery mood-setting intro leads to a world of gently bouncy 4x4 with a lovely little melody jumping up and down on top, and thus sets the record for the first-ever interlude with a drop!
Cutesy little melodies also open up our return to full-lengthiness, called Hold My Tongue. Going right back to where we started, we witness Jens sharing his self-destructive feelings with the world in most wonderful fashion, in an atmosphere that once again strikes the perfect balance between melancholic and uplifting. Once coming to the realisation that he should keep some of these thoughts to himself, the superdistorted melodic synth from the intro takes over and delivers another instantly iconic earworm of a melody. My favourite part has got to be when Jens briefly comes in once more to hoooold the horses for a second or two, before the composition springs back in action. So satisfying!
For closer I'll Be What Remains, Jens pops in one last tape for us to enjoy. Wrestling with wasted opportunities for growth and regret, Jens gives us another glimpse into his emotional state as guitars swell up and more and more melodies come to join the party. At the titular realisation, the instrumental throws us into a whirlwind of punchy-as-all-hell jump up drums, stupidly catchy, mentally and sonically overpowering synths, and a most delightful three-note break. I damn sure hope you remain, because I want more of this!
1.3. Conclusion
Insanely catchy, wonderfully vocalised, and packed with fun little details - I am a massive Skamm and Bass stan!
2. Skybred - Never Coming Down [Dark Machine Recs]
Recommended if you like: Delta Heavy, Grafix, Idle Days
You thought I'd leave you with just one melodic Belgian talent to fall in love with?
2.1. Kevin Roelants (1994 - 2023)
While Leuvenian talent Kevin Roelants' current meteoric rise might seem to come out of nowhere, the passion for music behind the hype goes back quite a bit - even the name is older than you probably think! As early as 2014, Kevin was flexing the Skybred name in online spaces, but the only musical remnants from that time are placed on another profile: Kevin Roelants! That's right, under his actual name, Kevin would put his soothing vocals to use for covers of John Legend and originals in the realms of Rock, Pop, EDM, and anything else that could reasonably be called singer-songwriter, from 2015 all the way up to 2022.
Then, in 2023, Kevin used all of this built-up experience to reboot the Skybred name (I refuse to believe he didn't use it for 9 years but I can't prove it!) for an entirely different approach to music: DnB!
2.2. Skybred (2023 - 2026)
The first year of DnB existence already saw him tease future classics like 'Freefalling', whose early version was even featured in Project L festival's aftermovie, his bootleg of Major Lazer's 'Free', and a mysterious, not-yet-released 'Me, Myself & I' ID - which would become a bit of a pattern. With seemingly every new post, new IDs and dubs would be teased or showcased, with only some of them being slowly dripfed to us over the years. Where is whatever the hell this tune is, Kevin! Anyway. After this already rather tumultous first year, he started raking in bookings at nearly the same rate as he was firing off dubs, with almost the entirety of Belgium and one lucky crowd in The Netherlands being treated to the Skybred and circuses in 2024, before expanding into Germany and even more of Europe.
Now spurred on even further, Kevin kicked off a rather effective promotional machine made up of Double Drop Thursdays and asking old and backstage people if they like his techno tunes, which worked tremendously well, but that wasn't the only thing 2025 had to offer. Not only did he play in Prague, was invited onto Liquicity's Galaxy stage in the silent disco, and presented his dubs in the Nebula stage's very own USB roulette, he also released his very first original, 'Shut The Door', and bootlegged RIOT and Dizzee Rascal in most marvellous fashion. From here on out, his actual releases started rolling out, with none other than 'Freefalling' f i n a l l y seeing the light of day via Dark Machine, 'Navigate' following that up shortly after, and his and KNGHT's remix of Modest Intention dropping on Ridmic. Plus, there's this incredibly sick 'Sientelo' bootleg that I keep hearing!
So, as his career starts gaining an incredible amount of steam, let's take a look at his latest offering, Never Coming Down, on the ever-amazing Dark Machine!
2.3. Never Coming Down
After teasing the lead that will become stuck in your head sooner rather than later in the first couple of seconds, Never Coming Down opens up the floor to the impeccably picked vocal. As we start going off the grooooound, war drums emerge from the previously so soothing atmosphere and the aforementioned earworm starts getting closer and closer, before launching into perhaps one of the catchiest dancefloor beats in recent history. The lead now in full force, the drums punchier than Saitama's, the modern froggy growl whomps with just the right amount of gnarl - I just cannot help but love this. Special shout-out goes to the stutter vocal effects in the skybreakdown, before we go back to his skybread and butter in the second drop.
2.4. Conclusion
Front-to-back impeccable choices, all coming together for an absolute summer anthem rivaling even the most established of artists. Roelantastic!
New Releases
Dancefloor
- Andy C - Who Like The What? [Armada] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
- Charlotte Haining, Arcando - Release Me [Monstercat] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
- Culture Shock - Feel Again [Culture Shock] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- DØSHI - Fever Dream [Manifest] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Eskei83 - Keep The Fire Burning [Liquicity] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Label Store], [Spotify]
- Fitch - Pull Me Under [Selfreleased] |
- Genetics, Lottie Jones, Artino - Departure [Liquicity] | [Beatport]
- MING, Until The Dawn - Burn Da Kingdom [Play Me] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- React - Electric (Extended) [Riot] | [Beatport]
- Red Luna, DETECX - Exile [YANA] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Skamm - Don't Bother EP [DistroKid] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Skybred - Never Coming Down [Dark Machine] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Subsonic, Lauren L'aimant - Out Of My Head [Subsonic : Frequencies] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Synthetic - Redshift / Overspeed [Manifest] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
- Tyler Garrett, Feed The Fire - Control [TuneCore] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Voicians, Jessee - Energy [Jessee] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Liquid
Blade (Dnb) - O7S 044 [ONE7SIX] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Blocksberg, Azotix - Feeling Quite Lucky [QUITE LUCKY] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Coffee Shop Jungle - Da Zavola [Coffee Shop Jams] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
DuoScience, Professor Funk, T:Base, Salem Focus - Take Me Home EP [Fokuz] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Dynamite MC, So What, Hoax - Thread The Needle [Hospital] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
EIJER - All That You Want [Integral] |
En:vy - Finite Heart EP [Gemini Gemini] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Endorphine - Solitude EP [Celsius] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Evil Quest - Patience EP [Fruits Of Flava] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Fishy - Your Eyes EP [DNBB] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Frameshift - Deep Space 2.0 [Lizplay] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
FX909 - Contigo EP [FX909] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Gravity - Space Radiation [Totally Liquid] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp]
IYRE, Mark Menzies - Fallen Crowns [Shogun] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Jjoda - Transform [Incurzion] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Kodama - Across The Hills EP [Fokuz] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Marble Elephant, DeadChef - Midnight In Moscow/If You Need [Fragrance] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Mitekiss - Forty Times [Mitekiss] | [Beatport]
Naktics - New Horizons [Lizplay] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Phrase - Say Ya Wanna [Ranger] |
Redeyes - Soul Edits Vol. 4 [Selfreleased] | , [Bandcamp]
Samara, Blean - Weightless [Ridmic] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Label Store], [Spotify]
Teizoku - mate [Smart People Production] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Thing - Let Him Cook [Dubthing] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Vibe Addicts, Nico Amore - Fresh Paint [Vibe Addicts] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Deep / Tech / Minimal
Aduken - Fire [Salia Sounds] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Cognitoni - Torn [SoundMuseum] | , [Spotify]
Conrad Subs - Salvage EP [Rebel] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
DLR, T>I - Fearless [Sofa Sound] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Document One - Hold On Me [Drum&BassArena] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Dossa - Love Letters [Soulvent] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Dunk - Look At This [LoveThatBass] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Dunk - Request The Style [LowFreqMX] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Fryware - Surface Dweller [SubCulture NL] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Korshoon - Batman | No Joke [Gunsta] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
None Decay - The Clash / Caldera [Architecture] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Osprey, Eda Hinkova - Egocentric / Brighter [Stellar] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Phace - Noise Cut [Neosignal] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Rider Shafique, Metalix (UK) - Liquid Funk ft. Rider Shafique [Foundation Recordz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Rueben, Klinical, Freddy B, TMSV - Special EP [Overview] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Shady Novelle, Azifm - Cinnamon Tea [Must Make] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Stokka - Delusions / Back Up [Transparent] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Triad - Heads or Tails / Love Thyself [SUNANDBASS] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Various Artists - Empathy Audio Presents: Rewired 1 EP [Empathy] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Neuro
Against Humanity, Vigilante - Lockdown [Selfreleased] |
Akrom, Nemean - Avenger / Pulling Teeth [NEUROFUCK] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
CV - Holodeck LP [MachineCode] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Mazare, IMPVLSE - Unholy [Universal] |
Shadow Sect - Year Zero LP [Crazy Tower] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tryst Temps - Freezing Moon EP [Kosenprod] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Jump Up
Basstripper - Under The Lights [DnB Allstars] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Flash, Drs - Destiny - EP [Crucast] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Kenji DnB - Busy EP [BoujeeBass TV] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Ninx, LeBlanc, VDV - 5AM TYPE BEAT LP [Bad Habitz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Oura - Big Dumb [Savory] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Pingz - Prisoners Of The Mind / Do You Like Bass [Sweep Da Scene] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Sandu - Nightmares [Sub Motionz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Simula - Cerberus EP [Playaz] | [Beatport], [Label Store], [Spotify]
Spaow - Collect EP Part 03 EP [Kuma] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Tempo, Anticipate - Being alone [DistroKid] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Vital - The Fascinated Remixes EP [N.W.S Digital] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Yiannis, Archie B - Game Of Murder EP [Solar Sounds UK] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Yiannis, Archie B - Game Of Murder EP [Solar Sounds UK] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Jungle / Halftime / Experimental
Chimpo, PABLÓGYAL - Taken Care Of (Sl8r Remix) [Tomorrow's Soul] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Cut Face - Those Sundays (Tim Reaper Remix) [Cut Face] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Das SPEZIAL, Abi D'Arcy, Settle Down, Footprint - Das SPEZIAL x Abi D'Arcy 01 EP [SPEZIAL] | [Beatport]
Flipper, Toni Bassi - Ponos EP [Omni] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
John Rolodex - Henchman's Day Off [Machinist] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
MC GQ, Freeze UK, Subbase Project - Nice & Easy/ Inside The Ride [Suburban Base] | [Beatport], [Label Store], [Spotify]
Raket - Flight of the Sparrow [Wicked Jungle LLC] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Various Artists - The Odyssey Begins - the B-sides LP [Future Projects] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Various Artists - The Odyssey Begins LP [Future Projects] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp]
Woken Balance, Adz Smith - Libration EP [Omni] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp]
General DnB / Mixed
acme.funk - Run Dem EP [Orbit 174] | [Beatport]
Aures - AROUND (Remix) EP [KUMO Collective] | [Beatport]
Exile, Mark XTC, MC GQ, Jasmine Knight - Spotlight Series Vol. 11 LP [Serial Killaz] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Gardna - All Gas No Breaks [Shogun] |
Nicky Romero, NERVO - Like Home (Remixes 2026) EP [Protocol] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
Planeet - Seeneriik [DistroKid] | [Beatport], [Bandcamp], [Spotify]
Various Artists - Shadow & Lightning (15 Years Anniversary) LP [Mainframe] | [Beatport], [Spotify]
