Mad Maxx Return Riddim – Darshan Recordz

Dark and menacing, Mad Maxx Return Riddim rides a tense 2016 dancehall pulse from Darshan Recordz, with the kind of bare-knuckle energy that makes every vocal feel like a warning shot. Bencil’s “Di Return” and Devin Di Dakta’s “Dead Boy” set the tone early, while Shokryme, Ryme Minista and Xx3eme lean hard into the funeral-to-fight-night theme with cuts like “Hard Fi Dead, ” “My War” and “No Survivor. ” Teejay’s “Real Killa” gives the riddim one of its sharpest hooks, and the Jah Vinci-assisted “War Start” pushes the project a little wider without losing the grim edge. Eight tracks in all, it sits right in that mid-2010s dancehall moment when war-chune language, heavy sub and militant swagger were carrying a lot of the heat.