Review · SEP 12, 2026
Neuroheadz x EATBRAIN: two promoters' logic applied to a six-track VA
In brief
A 50/50 split release marking fifteen years of EATBRAIN, landing the same day as the Lakota party and carrying Neuroheadz's first production credit.
The collaborative VA Neuroheadz x EATBRAIN is a six-track split between the Bristol crew and Jade's Budapest label, timed to land alongside the Neuroheadz Celebrates 15 Years of Eatbrain event at Lakota in Bristol on Saturday 12 September 2026. Per the DICE listing, the package was always conceived as a set — event, six-track VA and merch together — which is a more honest framing than most anniversary compilations manage.
The running order, as played on the Eatbrain Radio special hosted by 5HA5H on 3 September, runs: Mob Tactics' "Wild Bill", Exult & The Neuroheadz's "Burn The Witch", enta's "Slippery Slope", Overtune's "Bass Vibration" and Symplex's "Microphone Killah". PRDK is also named among the contributors. That special ran under 24 minutes, which tells you the tracks were cut for function rather than for length.
The Neuroheadz production credit
The headline detail is "Burn The Witch", credited as Neuroheadz's first-ever production, co-produced with UK artist Exult. EDM Identity describes it as building a medieval witch-trial narrative out of snappy drum patterns, atmospheric builds and gritty analogue basslines — their words, not a listening report. A promoter stepping across the line into production is a familiar move and usually a vanity one; doing it with a producer who can actually finish a record, and putting it second on the tracklist rather than burying it, suggests the crew know the difference between a milestone and a favour.
The selection itself is unshowy in the right way. Mob Tactics opening is the safest choice available and also the correct one; enta and Overtune are both long-standing Eatbrain-adjacent names, and Overtune's "Bass Vibration" had already been picked up in Eatbrain Radio rotation before the EP landed. Symplex's "Microphone Killah" is the one with a title that declares its intent. The 50/50 structure means neither imprint gets to dominate, and the release reads as a genuine exchange rather than a guest slot.
The event as the release
The Lakota bill is built around a six-deck EATBRAIN Carnage set and a Neuroheadz live performance. Fifteen years is a long run for a label that has never softened its remit — the Eatbrain podcast still bills itself as dark, deep, unfiltered and unrestrained — and the anniversary is being marked in a 1,400-capacity Bristol warehouse rather than with a retrospective box set, which is the more characteristic decision.
What the VA does not attempt is a statement. Six tracks, two labels, one night, no interludes or ambient palate cleansers. It is a functional dancefloor document tied to a specific date and a specific room, and it should be judged as that. It is out now on Spotify and the usual platforms.