Delta 9 – Hate Tank

Legendary release by Delta 9 - more streamlined, but also more powerful than the previous Deep 13 EP. Seven hardcore tracks, with a fairly similar sound, but increasing in tempo and intensity - highlights including "The One & Only", with the vocals from "Dominator" turbocharged into incomprehension, alongside plenty of timestretched breaks, "Hardcore Chicago Rmx", full of guitars pitched up and down, and a classic Euromasters sample, and "Gemini", packed full of comically evil samples and weird noisy effects.

However it's the "B Side Intro" that stands out, mostly because it was a staple of Scottish hardcore DJ Marc Smith (who didn't play anything like the rest of the release either!). But it is a perfect intro track: sinister atmospherics, and a sample of a man explaining how he hears voices telling him to kill on the radio (from the film Rampage), followed the same Exorcist III sample also used in "Gemini". Cheery stuff to kick off any set!

When this came out in May 1995, hardcore had begun to move towards a happier, softer sound - which inspired some producers to push the harder sound even further. I think it would probably be fair to say this is one of the earliest examples of that more extreme hardcore sound.

On that note, there is one curious thing about the fastest tune here, the Buckwild remix of "Hate Tank" - which is 250 bpm, very fast indeed for earl 1995. It starts with a short burst of breakbeats, abruptly cut off with an angry "fuck that shit"...but the source of the intro is a track called "Too Bad For Ya (Is 180 Too Fast For Ya)" by Mixrace, released on Moving Shadow - itself an early experiment with higher tempos, having been released in 1992, when most breakbeat hardcore didn't exceed 150. Maybe this is just coincidence, but I'd like to think it's a nod to the way this release was itself pushing the BPMs even further. Either way, nice touch.

The best ! Hard shit there is classic samples classic fuck You attitude! Yes!

TOUGH GUY samples goodfellas, haha gotta love that NEW YORK influence

Ok, so of course Delta 9 makes some pretty questionable stuff these days, but this record is a classic. Half party tracks and the other half absolutely brutal speedcore. I think there can be little question that this is the best stuff he's ever done. In the same vein as his earlier Deep 13 release for Drop Bass, but the sound quality on this blows Deep 13 out of the water.