A few weeks ago Ministry of Sound UK released their latest Dubstep compilation, focusing on the heavier/grittier side of the genre despite naming it Darker 3. 

I thought the name was incredibly misleading; I had a sudden urge of hope that the legendary label had come to their senses and released real dubstep rather than the generic, MDMA-fuelled noise that’s become far too common in recent times. That’s not to say I don’t like it – I just like the original, bass-driven tip more. If you’re on Stoney often you’d realise I post quite a bit of this!

With artists like Datsik, Bar 9, Xilent, Caspa, Cookie Monsta and Foreign Beggars on this release just to name a few, although being a stellar compilation in terms of genre quality, it is certainly not the ‘dark’ dubstep that various labels are pushing, and personally I find it 1) hilarious that the MOS label doesn’t know this, and 2) infuriating seeing as it’s such an influential imprint, lots of scene newcomers will now assume this music is in fact ‘dark’. The first volume of Darker that came out in November 2011 featured artists like Plastician, Skream, Joker and Subscape – so it’s weird to see Ministry of Sound moving away from this original stuff they once released, yet published under the same compilation. Do you agree?

Nonetheless, it’s out, available now, and if you’re a bass-face this is for you! Big ups.