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Dubstep is healing: Never Say Die sparks bass music's biggest nostalgia wave in years

Skism is reuniting generations of bass music with a 25-track compilation feat. artists like LAXX, IVORY, Hammerhead, SPAG, Ecraze, Jiqui & more.



Flashback to November 2025.


Skism just made his first post in nearly six years.


He talked about how when COVID hit, he had just moved to Australia with his family. Black Label had been consolidated into Never Say Die, and there was an opportunity to step back.


He was quietly planning to halt releases on NSD. No one knew, not even the staff, until moments before the announcement.


"It was of utmost importance to us that the artists we'd raised from pups went to good homes, places where they could continue to grow and thrive," Skism said.

He said there were offers to sell the label, but none of them felt right.


"I couldn't stomach the thought of watching it be run by people who didn't understand what made it special in the first place," Skism said. "And it would've been even worse if I was obligated to work within the company and witness it happen from the inside."

He shared the story of how he made the decision to walk away at the top of his game, which was met with overwhelmingly positive artist feedback in the comments.



From there, we all just kind of went into the holidays accepting the fact that this was our reality.


We were grateful for the memories this brand had created, while remaining hopeful that one day, something would come around that could meet the bar where it was left so high.


2026 rolled around and Skism made another set of posts


The first one aligned with the "2016 trend," so he cited the Never Say Die Vol. 4 showcase, reminding everyone of that and the NSD Black Label XXL comp that both featured songs from artists like Zomboy, LAXX, Adair, Habstrakt, Franky Nuts, TrollPhace, Tisoki and more.


Skism remained present in the new year. Every few weeks he made posts with nostalgic throwback memories of himself, NSD releases and photos of artists like Space Laces, MUST DIE! and Eptic from years ago.



He did a great job of providing insight into the questions that had been left unanswered for so long.


In April, he addressed the Trampa topic with a series of thoughtful videos explaining his perspective on the situation. It was a decision that received respect from the community and reinforced that his voice remained strong as a leader in our scene.


Moving along, Skism continued his string of photo dumps and jokes that he should've retired from DJing earlier than he did. Meanwhile, fans were still begging in the comments for him to come back.



Little did they know, the foreshadowing was already being done.


The last few posts in May featured narratives that 2017 might have been peak, and a 2018 photo dump had everyone speaking highly of the best NSD artist sets they had ever seen.


The conversations had been started, and most of us were none-the-wiser to what was about to come.




The resurrection


Finally, on Monday, June 1, Skism dropped a mega-bomb on the world that Never Say Die Vol. 7 had finally been released.



The mix quickly lit on fire, gaining thousands of plays within minutes. Chatter online was claiming that the Golden Era of dubstep was back, and that the world was healing.


The mix has reached nearly 75,000 plays and 13,000 likes in less than five days of being online, and the Never Say Die topic has flooded social media. It's generated a sense of excitement that we haven't seen from this community in years.


The secret was very well kept leading up to this moment. The nearly 40 artists who ended up being on the full compilation release hadn't said a peep.


The aftermath


Now that the dust is starting to settle, it's clear that Never Say Die has just executed one of the most iconic comebacks in the history of dubstep.


A week ago, we had no idea what was to come. We simply thought that Skism was just posting throwbacks for the hell of it. But now, there's a sense of hope among us. There are 25 new songs that are uniting generations of bass music.



And this release proves that Never Say Die has still got it. They've still got their unmatched taste for digging up the gold standard of bass music.


What we like most about this release is that there are both old and new artists on it. Core artists like SVDDEN DEATH, Phiso, Space Laces and Zomboy anchor the list, while faces like FutureExit, LYES, Veksyu and Izadi are getting the spotlight they deserve.



Skism said that everything the label has always done has been about the music. But this one, this is about more than just the music. He said it's about doing something for the fans and culture.


"When we reached out to the artists to see if they wanted to be a part of this for one last time, the response was so overwhelmingly positive that it kinda just reaffirmed what I had already been thinking," Skism said.


FULL NEVER SAY DIE VOL. 7 TRACKLIST:

Zomboy – Bromance Is Dead

Eptic – OCTANE

LAXX – Step 666

Izadi – Bounce Protocol

Habstrakt – Old School

IVORY & Hammerhead – CLIQUE

Calcium – Non Stop

Space Laces – AIRTIGHT

Silcrow – THEM CATS

Badklaat & PYKE – Hysteric

SampliFire, Veksyu & XAE – Tear It Up (Ft. XAE)

SPAG – BONK

Axel Boy & Rhiannon Roze – She Goes Like (Tornado)

Aweminus – Capital Enjoyment

Dr. Ozi & Nat James – Anthem Sound (Ft. Nat James)

Automhate – Retro

Kompany, RetroVision & KARRA – Underground (Ft. KARRA)

Future Exit & LYES – BLACKOUT

Ecraze & DYNO – KILL OFF (Ft. DYNO)

MUST DIE! – BREAK MY HEART

Jiqui – Flute Song

Hydraulix & Phosphr – MOVE

Soltan & DR MAD – Nishapur

Oddprophet – GUNS FOR THE UNHOLY


Now that the cat is out of the bag and the world has started healing, it seems like things are looking up again. The community is in an overall better mood and has come together to bond over this music we love so much.


People are even showing off their NSD ink from long ago.



At the end of the day, it's clear that Skism and his team have always been in this for the right reasons. And that's what makes it special, meaningful and emotional for all of us.


Skism said that while bringing NSD back is not going to fix everyone's problems, he wants you to enjoy the music and stay tuned.


"This is very much to close off the first chapter of Never Say Die," Skism said. "What's coming for the next one —you're just going to have to wait and see."


 

Dubstep FBI Co-Founder ccmichelle can be found on socials.



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