Patric C.* – The Horrible Plans Of Flex Busterman

After releasing some of the grimiest and grittiest Hardcore, Gabber and Breakcore records, what was next for DHR?
Of course, doing a vintage chiptune album! Quite rational release schedule, isn't it?
No, all irony asides - DHR always was going against genre conventions and expections, so this release made total sense.

It was sometimes claimed to be the first "neo-chiptune release" after the original era; while this likely is not the case, it definitely was one of the earliest.
And it's worth pointing out that it is a quite unique in its style: It's bona fide Chiptune, *but* unlike most contemporary releases, it makes no pretense of sounding exactly like its commodore 64 or amiga 500 precursors.
There are distorted breakbeats, "realistic" percussion samples, drones, synth pads, voices, and other elements that would have sent a real SID chip into mental overload.
So, in a sense, it's actually a futuristic Chiptune variant, a next step onwards, while today, most releases are merely "retro".

Now, all technical details aside, Patric C absolutely kills it on the release.

1. He is seemingly apt at creating captivating and bittersweet melodies (I wouldn't have guessed so, listening to his earlier eradicator and test tube kid total terror music...!)
2. the use of hardcore / breakcore elements adds a mean punch that "glider rider" or "auf wiedersehen monty" might have lacked.
3. there is enough variation, from beatless cinematic sequences to rushing chip-techno mayhem

and, most importantly, it all feels very *real* - one could really imagine this to be the soundtrack to an imaginary video game of the C64 / NES era.
So, in summary, as one track title on this album goes:

"You Made It Perfect!"

Considering this is one of very first chiptune albums (aside those released regularly in Japan) this album is sounds very dated, but still maintains the digital hardcore ethic. The whole idea and concept is so very clever, i myself wish to make an album like this one day. A definate must buy for amiga mod lovers everywhere.

the cheese factor on these beats are way off the muthafucken richter. made on an amiga 500 and commodore 64, the atmosphere of this album makes you feel like you are in an oldschool video game. it gets pretty intense at times, kind of like on level 8 dungeon of supermario bros with one life left.. its like a buncha different boss level songs -sounds all dramatic and suspenseful. the last track features some hillarious vocal samples by Gina V. along with abuncha spacey sound effects.