Penetration Records

I always thought of Penetration as something of a VIP outlet for Tech Itch, given that there was no shortage of output at the time (Moving Shadow, Tech Itch Recordings, Freak and all related labels). The hentai full art covers not only gave it that little extra, it also fit with the overall attitude of the music: close to crossing the borders to break-core, hardcore or whatever rough edged genre it was leaning to.
With only 24 releases the 'elitist' characteristics show with the high density of genre defining classics. For producers it was a badge of honor to be releasing on Penetration and to be on there, you had to bring your a-game.
This catalogue is a bit of a time capsule and shows you some of the most influential tunes at the rougher end of the D&B spectrum in the zeroes.

Truly a shame that nothing of this label is available digitally.

who the fuck approved the artwork?

This is definitely one of the strongest labels in drum & bass. Every single release has been brilliant, and it has produced countless influential classics, standout examples being 'The Rukus', 'Pressure Drop', 'Life of Sin' and 'Soldiers'.
This is the best outlet for the pure Technical itch sound, the back catalogue is flawless and includes some of my favourite tunes of all time. The releases on this label capture all of the different aspects of Mark's sound and the progression of his style can be seen throughout each 12".
Plus the artwork for the sleeves is pure quality!

Definately one of the better if not the best DnB labels out there. If you're looking for Mark Caro's (Tech Itch's)far more complex, harder, darker stuff, then this is "where to go". Every release is high-quality, and the remixes always do justice to the originals. Highlight tracks include "Soldiers", "The Rukus", "Pressure Drop","Telekenetic", "Life of Sin", "Retribution", "The Ring", "Haunted", and "The Hand (Dungeonmaster's version) plus all remixes of the aformentioned tracks. A must for any serious DnB fan.

Definitely one of the labels of the year 2002. The first two releases were weaker than the rest, but that's probably because they were already rather old when they finally come out.

But beginning with Fear (Penetration 3) things just got better and better. Rukus is my favourite (and i also rate the remix pretty high), but Nitron, Contaminate and the Ring are also pretty wicked tracks. Definitely better than the average drum'n'bass release.