*"This is a whole new level of weird", intones a disembodied voice on Proxima’s ‘Thermal Vision’ the lead track of his new 12″ for Tempa. It’s a perfect summary of its disorienting appeal: winding upwards through a tense opening, it abruptly explodes into a turbulent salvo of percussion. Its monstrous chunks of sound chop violently back and forth from speaker to speaker, assaulting dancers from all sides and broadsiding the senses, while sub-bass blasts upward from beneath. It’s both alien and astonishingly intense, poised to detonate on dancefloors without ever resorting to stereotypical ‘club banger’ tricks. It’s easy to hear why Proxima’s tracks have become regulars in dubstep scene figurehead Youngsta’s record bag. *Based in Holland, Proxima, who released his first Tempa 12″ Formal Junction in 2012 - originally started out making rough-edged, percussive drum & bass tracks. His move into dubstep has retained the latter’s restless momentum, but slowing the tempo has allowed him more space to establish an angular, compulsive sense of groove. *’Valve Wars’ on the flip is harsher, all battery acid bass textures paired with woody percussive clicks and metallic snare taps. But there’s a subtle, dubby ear for melody running through the whole track, discovering moments of unexpected beauty within the fray.