Soul Grind CD

Under the Switch Technique alias, Dominik Piechocki has emerged as one of the leading figures in Poland's developing drum and bass scene. It's likely that "Soul Grind" - his fourth album and first for four years - will increase his standing internationally, too. It's something of an epic, all told, with 20 tracks - many of them collaborations - stretched across two all-action discs. The title is an apt one, because it sees the long-serving Pole fuse flashes of soulful bliss - a dreamy vocal sample here, a loved-up chord or melody there - with the kind of intense, noisy, razor sharp drums, basslines and electronic riffs more often associated with the grindcore and industrial scenes. The resultant music can be challenging at times, but Piechocki never loses his dancefloor focus or sense of fun.