DUB SYNDICATE Schallplatten & CDs

Review: A quarter of a century young and still a masterful slice of 90s dub, Fear Of A Green Planet gets an expanded reissue treatment courtesy of Echo Beach. Dub Syndicate could be considered On-U Sound's centrifugal force, comprised of the players which powered so many of Adrian Sherwood's projects from Style Scott on drums to Errol Holt on bass, Skip McDonald on lead guitar and many more besides. On this particular album Bill Laswell also popped up to lend some low end, and overall the assembled crew laid down one of their strongest statements in a catalogue fit to burst with dubwise perfection. Loaded with unreleased extras, this is the definitive edition for those who want to lose themselves in a deep well of riddims.

Review: The more time that goes on, the more every Dub Syndicate album becomes more appreciated. At the end of the 90s, dub music was at an all-time low popularity wise - the genre was going through changes and vinyl sales were dwindling. In 1997, Style Scott even started his own label Lion And Roots away from On-U Sound which had been the home of Dub Syndicate since they started almost 20 years prior. Mellow & Colly shows the group moving away from the more sample heavy earlier works to a mature dub sound that incorporated more electronics thanks to the Echo Beach label partnership that Style's label worked out. Sadly, Style passed away ten years ago this year but his music is still being felt thanks to reissues like this.