Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch

Techstep is a dark, stripped‑down branch of drum and bass that emerged in the UK during the mid‑to‑late 1990s. It favors rigid, two‑step drum patterns, stark sci‑fi atmospheres, and heavily processed "Reese"-style basslines over the funkier break-chopping of earlier jungle. The aesthetic is cold, mechanical, and dystopian: metallic snares, tightly quantized rhythms, and industrial textures combine with minor, dissonant stabs and eerie pads. Typical tempos sit around 170–175 BPM, with emphasis on sub‑bass weight, tension, and precision rather than melodic complexity.

Drum and bass (DnB) is a fast, rhythmically intricate form of electronic dance music centered on breakbeats at roughly 160–180 BPM and powerful, sub‑heavy basslines. It grew out of the UK’s early ’90s rave and jungle scenes, combining chopped funk breaks (most famously the Amen break), dub and reggae sound‑system aesthetics, hip‑hop sampling, and techno’s futurist sound design. Across its many substyles—liquid funk’s soulful harmonies, techstep and neurofunk’s cold, machine‑like bass engineering, jump‑up’s hooky bass riffs, atmospheric DnB’s pads and space—drum and bass remains a DJ‑oriented, dancefloor‑driven genre that prizes tight drum programming, deep low end, and precise arrangement for mixing.