I have been eagerly awaiting to hear Astral Industries first release, especially when I found out they had Deepchord on board, I knew this was going to be special and I certainly was not disappointed. There has been a lot of talk about this release, a lot to do with how amazing the music is but also quite a lot of views expressed about the pricing of the release. I think it’s a bit of a shame there has been negativity about the price of this release. Personally I think the price is justified and can assure you that Ario (the guy who runs the label) is certainly not in this for the money. He loves this music and also hosts the amazing Astral Industries night in London which cost A LOT to book artists and host believe me.

What you get

• 180 gram clear vinyl with flecks of blue and red on the 12’s.
• Hand drawn artwork by Theo Ellsworth.
• High quality matte finish poster.
• Over an hours worth of music and there will never, ever be any re-presses or a digital release.
• Vinyl packaging is a gatefold release and not just your standard sleeve.

Now you get all that for roughly £35, depending on shipping. I don’t really think that is too much to ask, and you must remember Astral Industries don’t have control over how much the shops mark up the release. Perhaps doing a self released via bandcamp could have saved some cash but really its not going to knock that much off the price. In my vinly buying days I’d happily pay £10-15 for a single 12″ of classic jungle or techno, and that was likely to be in a battered up sleeve with a few scratches on the vinyl. Look at what you are getting for a few quid more!

So ye I was a bit pissed off to see some of the comments on the back of this release. For me, it’s easily one of the best releases of 2014 and has classic Deepchord stamped all over it, which never ceases to make me smile when I listen to tracks like these from him. For a first release from a new label I’d say this was the highest quality, most ambitious label launch I have seen in the dub techno scene, this is a HUGE release and I really can’t wait to see what Astral industries have in store next.

Goes without saying this is an essential purchase and be quick because everywhere is nearly sold out!