Ed Rush and Optical are one of the most heavyweight production teams in drum and bass. Back after a lengthy silence, they are back to reclaim their status as ground-breaking, genre-defining producers. Veterans Ed Rush and Optical are returning to promote their new album, “Chameleon” and have been joined by Matrix, MC Ryme Tyme, Louis Smith & MC Darrison to create this hybrid monster of an album.

Partly inspired by Optical’s recent venture in rock production for his friend, vocalist Louis Smith – “Chameleon” is a brilliant mixture of punishing rhythms, heavy guitars and raw vocals that will widen their musical horizons dramatically.

The Virus producers might not be the first drum and bass heads to incorporate rock elements in their music, but they have achieved over 12 tracks a true Chameleon of an album, where drum and bass anthems mutate into heavy rock grooves.

Being a Labour Day long weekend, and held on the Sunday with the Monday public holiday – the Deen packed up fairly early. With 3 Zones, incorporated with Drum & Bass, Breaks and Reggae – this party was going to be a large one on the cards for the punters of Perth.

We got there fairly early and checked out Perth’s own Tarquin (and fellow ITM gig Reviewer) who played a superb breaks set in the Zone 5 opener. Nice flows to get the party started and tight mixing, Tarquin showed why he should be booked for more future gigs in Perth as a versatile Breaks or Drum & Bass Dj.

After Tarquin’s set we ventured to the main room where Bastian had just finished what seemed to be a very tight early set and Dj Morry then stepped up to the decks. This was one of the 1st times I had heard the Loaded Dice resident and he played a fairly decent set with some nice anthems and popular tunes. Dj Mesh from interstate then stepped up and played an extremely good set and also added in some signature scratching over the top of his mixing which got the crowd pumped. By this time the Deen was nearly packed and the heat in the club was at a fairly high temperature.

By the time Mesh had finished the dance floor was one sweaty pile of punters – still going nuts of course, and Dub Alley stepped up and brought on the ruckus with their signature range of wobbly beats. Crowd regulars went hard at it on the dance floor and the club just kept getting hotter and hotter. Dub Alley played a great set – which they always have been since they started out. Kash then stepped up to the heated dance floor and dropped some heavy tunes as everyone anticipated the main act – Ed Rush and Optical.

Ed Rush and Optical got on the decks and started playing some heavy stuff which got the dance floor even more pumping. By this time the heat in the club was almost unbearable, but the dedicated punters still kept going on and on. In contrast to other sets I’ve heard from the duo – it was an average set, still hard and energetic as usual but seemed to lack something in regards especially to their new album. I didn’t hear two of their new tracks called “Perfect Drug” and “DNA” in their set at all which I had been waiting to hear them drop all night, but that’s up to the artist to play their own track list.

All in all a great Labour Day Long weekend event and many thanks to Loaded Dice once again for bringing in the goods. The only gripe of the night was the incredible heat that was generated in the club and maybe review the ventilation for future events as everyone seemed to be mentioning the heat.