Without a doubt, longtime dub heads will remember Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires (1981), a landmark in horror-themed dub. That album pulses with deep, echo-drenched grooves that exemplify Scientist’s mastery of the mixing board, but it’s more than just sonic wizardry, it’s storytelling through sound. Each track title conjures scenes from vintage horror cinema, turning the album into a kind of audio thriller.
Equally unforgettable is the album’s cover art, designed by Tony McDermott. Rendered in bold comic-book style, it depicts Scientist locked in battle with a rogues’ gallery of monsters—vampires, werewolves, mummies, and zombies. The imagery isn’t just playful; it’s symbolic. Scientist is cast as a dub superhero, wielding his mixing desk like a weapon against musical mediocrity, rescuing listeners from the curse of the ordinary.
Forty-four years on, the French label Tabou1 joins forces with talented Detroit-based engineer Dartanyan Winston, better known as Green Lion, to resurrect the horror-dub spirit with Dancehall of Horrors. This latest release channels the eerie energy of Scientist’s iconic legacy, reimagining it through a modern lens with cutting-edge sound design, cinematic themes, and striking visuals that pay homage while pushing the genre forward.
The original tracks were produced by Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes in collaboration with the Roots Radics during the golden era of Rub-a-Dub in the early 1980s. Years later, Junjo passed these recordings to engineer and producer Gaylard Bravo as compensation for studio work. In 2000, Bravo released Dub Fi Junjo, drawing from that same pool of material, many of which now serve as the foundation for Green Lion’s reimagined mixes on this latest release.
Devotees of late ’70s and early ’80s dub will find Dancehall Of Horrors a thrilling return to form. This eight-track collection delivers everything vintage dub lovers crave—thunderous basslines, cavernous echoes, and swirling reverb—all best experienced at full volume. It’s a haunted sound journey that refuses to play nice. Vocals drift in and out like ghostly apparitions, layered with eerie samples and spectral effects that amplify the album’s horror theme. Riddim spotters will have no trouble identifying the foundational backdrops, many of which hail from the golden Rub-a-Dub era. However, tracing the original vocal cuts is another story. Green Lion has masterfully stitched together fragments and vocals, creating fresh sonic hybrids that blur the lines between past and present.
Dancehall Of Horrors is a thrilling ride through the haunted corridors of dub history. A perfect collection for dub aficionados and fans of Rub-a-Dub alike.