Another tune to recently get the re-issue treatment is this darkside jungle classic from Brainkillers. It was first repressed in 2018 but the sound quality wasn't great so Kemet re-did the mastering this year and priced the 12" at just £6.50 by way of apology. The Border Line EP was a split release between 3rd Party and Kemet with 'Screwface' appearing alongside 'Jungle Love' on the 3rd Party side and Family of Intelligence's 'Champion of Champions' and 'Bonus Beat #1' on the Kemet side. The two imprints were closely affiliated, both being off-shoots of Ibiza Records and with 3rd Party being run by James Stephens AKA Family of Intelligence (and a member of Noise Factory).
Brainkillers were DJ Apache and DJ Unknown (not the same as the one in Hardcore duo Sy & Unknown) and they also appeared on Weekend Rush FM alongside MC Fearless. Julian Flowers of the duo is now known as dRamatic / Drama1 and has had releases on Liquid V, Soul Deep and the newly revived Kemet amongst many others. 'Screwface' was the Brainkillers' best known tune back in the day and has appeared on multiple compilations. I first heard it on Drum & Bass Selection 2.
It takes its title from the head of a gang of Jamaican drug dealers in the film Marked For Death who use Obeah, a Jamaican spiritual practice similar to Haitian Voodoo, to instil fear and increase their power. Appropriately it opens with suspense heightening strings and horror movie atmospherics as wolves howl in the distance, before some rough Amen enters the fray along with an 808 bassline. For me what really makes the tune memorable is the "tappy" drums that come in over the top of the Amen and the two vocal samples. The first is a female "Ohhhh" from the beginning of Love & Laughter's 'I Surrender' while the second is some Jamaican patois from Winston Scotland's 'Buttercup' which says something along the lines of "Look here say yout man, wah screw up ya face an you gwan like. Play back the music from the top Mr. T".
The 2020 remaster has sold out on vinyl but is available digitally over at Kemet's Bandcamp page. Check out the set below from the Brainkillers on Weekend Rush FM from 9th May 1993 courtesy of Obsession Records: