Heaviness hit hard with the cavernous wave of pulsating bass all across the 3rd floor of Roxanne’s Parlour. Dance, beats and delusions were all heavy and hot, giving off a feeling of enormous space. Strewn across two entire rooms were dancers bashing every beat, here for the treat of State Of Mind’s album release.

State Of Mind topped up the drum n bass big shots after recent Melbourne visits from other legends such as London Elektricity. Stu Maxwell and Patrick Hawkins of State Of Mind appeared alongside MC Lowqui who together were the ultimate creators of chaos. This duo held up an incredible show with professionalism behind the decks. The lyrics of MC Lowqui cascaded from State of Mind’s spiritual rhythms to vibrate through the entire night. His splitting words and generous onstage persona allowed the crowd to immerse themselves into the performance. Here to launch their latest CD, Faster Than Light with its gifts of cinematic sounds matched that of State Of Mind’s previous album, Take Control, and both strike with enchanting rhythms strobed beside typical DnB.

Deadzone opened with an electronic hymn similar to Sunking – taken from an old Bulgarian folksong of their 2007 album. Faster Than Light may even be defined as worldly elaboration on Take Control heavyweight bass.

After their signature euphoric highs and lows, State Of Mind left with a memorable end note. The group’s grand finale then caused a commotion where stage space was invaded by the bopping crowd, and moss-covered jungle netting was almost pulled from the ceiling above.

After State Of Mind’s big bang, many curious wanderers discovered the backroom. Escaping through red velvet curtains into a ballroom featuring dubstep masterminds on a larger stage, the DJ was a definite focal point. Dust was able to extrapolate the ethereal, being one of Melbourne’s most renowned drum n bass/dubstep leaders – Dust has been stalk-worthy playing constantly across the city and alongside international greats.

Meanwhile Kito – who’s been dominating the Western side of the nation – took the stage like a mad scientist. The Double-Date dubstep room had too much talent to account for that night, and what a pleasure it was.

The music of ultra-energetic 3rd Eye began with something quite simple, going deeper beneath the sea into something very meaningful and eclectic. Even underwater scenes of coral emerged behind him on the projector. His progressive, almost vine-like tunes broke down into foliage of warped tangents and occasional synthetic vocals.

As the turntable was handed-down, Same-O’s electro-influence controlled the shadow play beneath the altered stage. A scattier focus from Same-O echoed a bit of jazz, dub and all in between.

The seamless sounds of South Australia’s Patch crossed over three decks, plus Safire’s deep morbid jungling kept the zigzag balance between acts. We were brought back to something more soulful with Kallous’ soothing though pumping mix in the mainroom.

There is something special about the down-to-earth quality of human voice combined with drum n bass. When combined with vocals, drum n bass swears of soul and spirit –something State of Mind are known for. This could be why so many listeners of electronic music are so easily switched over to dnb. The genre’s spectrum of supporters has increased significantly, and Breakbeat Assault’s prized collection of DJs that night lured everyone into the music.

This was not just a select circle of followers, but a mixture of free-thinking listeners of many types. As Roxanne Parlour’s two rooms proved, there’s an incredible depth of drum n bass which could almost be defined by sub-genres; with its range in musical perspectives from hyper-chill to morbid heavyweight – drum n bass reaches right beneath the skin. It injects itself into the blood stream and aims straight toward the heart.