Zombie Cats

Welcome to my third album write-up! I apologize in advance for the wall of text that is about to follow. I know I also said that last time, but this time I actually mean it. Just look at it!

Background

Before we talk about Mutation, I'd like to give a little background to the artist here. The fabulous artist duo we are talking about today consists of Rouven De Fehr from Hanover, Germany and Ross Deschamp from Perth in Australia. Wait, who? How does that help at all? Why would you even know the real names of a producer if you don't know the artist? Well well well, cool your jets, grab a tea or the hot beverage of your choice and make yourself comfortable. Let me tell you all about Zombie Cats.

Rouven Fehr / Dementia

Let's start with Rouven. The teacher from the german city Hanover, sometimes lovingly called "Scheißstadt" by my parents (it means "very beautiful city full of lovely people"), started his electronic music journey as an Oldschool Breakbeat producer under the name of Insanity at the turn of the millenium. After releases on Luna C's legendary Knite Force label and his very own Reanimation label, that he ran with his partner from his work as another production outlet Twilight Dance, and appearances on big events like the One Love festival, Rouven made the switch to Drum and Bass around 2003. In that same year he teamed up with fellow Hanoverian Deadline to form the group Destination Unknown, which was expanded one year later to include the talents of local DJ Bass tikal. Man's done a lot.

Another year later, in 2006, the group drifted apart but Rouven's thirst for drum and bass wasn't quenched yet and so he continued his productions alone under his new name Dementia. Right off the bat, his tracks caught the attention of a certain DJ Trace and soon enough two of his tracks were released on the legendary DJ's label DSCI4. It was during this time that Rouven moved to Austria, where he greatly intensified his collaborations with a fellow DnB producer from the other side of the world, made possible thanks to good old AIM. AIM, man. Nearly forgot about that part of history, but maybe that's just because of my early onset dementia (hehehe). Anyway. That mysterious producer friend of his was none other than Ross Deschamp from Perth, Australia, also known as Rregula! Ross became a rregula (hehehe) collaborator of Rouven after they initially got in contact via their work on the german label .shadybrain, where Ross remixed one of Rouven's Destination Unknown tracks. Wait wait wait, but how did Ross end up in this part of the story?

Ross Deschamp / Rregula

Okay, let's go back a few years again. Ross' venture into the music scene began in 1997, when he started using a sampler to spice up the live show of his hardcore (or "chunk" as some sources would call it) band The Dirty Whittler. What started as Ross (ab-)using the sampler to play random cheesy movie samples in between band tracks, soon began to take a life of its own. Even though the band was quite successful with numerous award nominations and even some radio play on Triple J, Ross had tasted the sweet sweet honey of electronic music and was ready for a change in style. 2001 was the fateful year he started producing drum and bass and slowly becoming a DJ instead of a guitarist. Shortly after the band disbanded in 2003, he began producing under what would become his main alias for a very long time: Rregula.

Rregula's first release came out in 2004 on his very own label kinematic320 that he established with his mate Static. One of his most notable collaborators during his first few years as a producer was fellow local Phetsta, nowadays probably mostly known for his work with ShockOne. They got along so well they even formed a producer duo alias together and became Bad Robot in 2004, which was Ross' main focus for the next few years. After releases on label titans of the scene like Habit Recordings, Technique Recordings and Black Sun Empire Recordings, they were asked to be part of Neurofunk Selection Pt. 3 on the german label .shadybrain, which is where the stories begin to overlap again.

Pre-Zombie Cats / Rregula & Dementia

More and more the focus shifted from the Bad Robot productions to collaborations with Dementia until Bad Robot was essentially disbanded in 2008, bar one release in 2010. In 2010, Rouven moved back to his hometown and the two began to work on their debut album Echoes from the Future, which was released a year later. In between all this there's something absolutely great I need to mention.

Around 2011 both Rouven and later also Ross produced tracks for the german pop duo Die Atzen. Okay, I realise that this means literally nothing to the non-german readers of you so let me explain my hype. Die Atzen is a trashy party hiphop duo with lyrics like "Hey this is awesome, we party the whooole night". Safe to say, they were hugely successful. Subsequently, they were also everywhere in that time. I've lost count on how often I heard Disco Pogo by them in a club. In 2009 during my favorite football club's best season ever there was even a chant that used a melody from one of the Atzen songs. And you tell me that one of my favorite drum and bass artists had a hand in their albums? Get out of here! Honestly, I still can't get over this random connection.

Okay, back to drum and bass.

After their debut album that featured the likes of Optiv, Smooth and TREi, they continued on their path as a duo for a while. Right after the release of their second album in 2014, the Turning Point LP, they decided it's time for a change. A fresh slate. Something that combines their love for cats (don't listen to Rouven when he tells you he's a dog person) with their horror-esque neurofunk sound. Enter Zombie Cats.

The first release of our beloved undead felines came in 2014 on Eatbrain's Tales From The Undead compilation album, which the two quickly followed up with a full-length EP of their own. Especially Must Eat, their collaboration with Austrian neurofunk magician Mefjus, caught the attention of the scene, even landing them an UKF upload.

Their originally very much oldschool neurofunk sound during their time as Rregula & Dementia rapidly mutated into something more modern without losing the darkness of it all. Releases on Major League, Mainframe, Ignescent (fun fact: they are the only non-russian artist to ever release on Ignescent last time I checked) and of course Eatbrain followed. However after a few years of smashing the neurofunk scene to bits left and right, they searched for something new again. In 2019 they decided they don't want to be restricted to just one genre anymore and started pursuing drum and bass more generally. Ross and Rouven announced this change through their Last Day announcement, which got a lot of people (i.e. mostly me) thinking they're splitting up, but the opposite was the case. Come on, me from the past, they won't just die like that, they're already undead!

Post-Neurofunk era of Zombie Cats

With the aforementioned Last Day single the duo ushered in a new era of Zombie Cats, one of subgenre experiments and unexpected label appearances. Instead of "just" a neurofunk banger, Last Day was more of a hybrid of multiple styles and thus nicely set the expectations for what's to come. It apparently started out as a neurofunk banger but gradually got lighter during production, which means the track nicely represents the changes the duo were about to go through. They didn't just change their style and that's it though, they also prepared a new shiny masked look for their live appearances and did a big interview with UKF, going full-circle on the "pure neurofunk" chapter of Zombie Cats.

Since then they have ventured off into all kinds of drum and bass territories, from Dancefloor to Liquid to Techy minimal stuff. They've truly transformed from a primarily neurofunk artist to a drum and bass artist. This is evidenced by the sheer plethora of different labels they have released on since that fateful day. Or as a great YouTube comment has put it: The label carusel is spinning hard this year. ProgRAM, Viper, Bad Taste, Major League, Dispatch, Critical, Trust Audio, Drum Army and even Galacy! Not just those, they also created their own Zombie Cats label to release their own tunes (and maybe even more?) on. That might sound like they're just spamming tunes everywhere, but even with all that quantity they still somehow manage to keep their quality high and the ideas unique. The way they are able to adapt their sound to suit all kinds of different subgenres and labels, I'm pretty sure we'll see them on even more unexpected labels next year.

Okay one more thing before we get to the album. I promise. The Zombie Cats are not just producers/DJs, they are also the first DnB artist to have their own DnB step team! Team Zombie Cats, as they are fittingly called, was founded in 2019 by Ross and Rouven and the german stepper Liv. After Liv participated and won third place in the yearly DnB Step World Championship at Let It Roll in that very same year, the team quickly grew to a fully formed group. The team was completed by Nice from Russia, also known as the DnB Step World Champion, Wanbu from the Czech Republic, who finished second in the championship, and Geenie, the founder of the DnB Step Contest Germany. There's also been quite a few DnB Step workshop events where the Zombie Cats did an afterparty session to support the scene. It's nice to see an established producer shining a spotlight on a more niche part of the scene we all love.

Okay, album now.

Hehehehe I lied, here's some fun facts I found during research:

Zombie Cats have two tracks called Fallin(g) with Sarah Pelicano
I regret calling this fun factS when I actually only found one

Track Breakdown

1. Did You Know

Did You Know that the intro track to Mutation was also the release the Zombie Cats started their self-titled label and thus the album journey with? Also, Did You Know that none other than recently resurfaced Neurofunk legend Kemal remixed the album's opener a few months ago? Did you? No? Well, that's all the fun facts I know about Did You Know, but hey, at least I got a pun out of it.

Enough meta information and jokes about the track name, let's talk about the music! Did You Know is a journey through all the styles the Zombie Cats have acquired and have become known for over the years. It starts off very atmospheric and relaxed, with a neat little voice sample asking us whether we knew. Even when the drums actually come in, they're the chillest of the chill drums imagineable and only the heavily distorted synth plucks give you a hint of what's to come. After the first two minutes, the drums start getting a bit more hectic and you slowly get the feeling that there's something heavy coming soon.

Soon enough, there actually does come something. For a few seconds it slows down to a drumless dreamy instrumental, but then a suckerpunch of a second drop hits you like a ton of bricks. The previous elements like the distorted synth are still there but both those and the drums and bass (hey that's the name of the genre!) go absolutely bonkers. If the whole track was like that bonkers part I would probably love it too, but the slow buildup made this payoff all the sweeter.

I can't quite make out what the sample is actually saying after the "Did you know", but I'd like to think that it says "(that) I lost control". From there it would be easy to let the imagination run wild. Maybe it is about someone who harbors resentment and has a lot of bottled up negative emotions throughout their life. They build up an intense anger, but still kind of keep it together. But then, one particular event drove them over the edge and caused them to explode into a blind rage, unleashing what was buried beneath the facade. Or maybe it's just a plain old banger, who knows.

Probably one of my favorite Zombie Cats tunes ever and a perfect way to start off this album.

2. Dreamer

We continue on with Dreamer. As the name suggests, this is more of a dreamy one. If I had to classify it I would put it into a similar category as Away or Before My Eyes: An uniquely techy, chillaxed vibe with lots of variations throughout. One big similarity between them is the use of a simple, yet really effective vocal sample that is processed in a multiple different ways. In this one they lightly manipulated a "I dream of you" voice sample into saying "A Dreamer", which really only becomes noticeable when they actually play out the "of you" part in the later stages of the song.

One of the standout parts of the tracks are the interesting drums in my opinion. I'm not good at describing drums, because I just don't know anything about them, but I can tell you they definitely don't sound like any other drums I've heard, and I've heard a lot of them. Just like Did You Know, the track features a substantially heavier second drop than the first. Dreamer doesn't go quite as heavy as the album opener, but the last 30 seconds of the second drop absolutely pack a punch, especially that large bass that hits you out of nowhere towards the end.

3. Drift

While we're already talking about dreamy vibes, let's close our eyes and drift away a bit, with Drift. This third album track is another reminder that Zombie Cats really know how to choose and work with their vocal samples. This time the vocal is not as "chopped up" as it is in Dreamer, but it has the same dreamy reverb-heavy editing to it.

If you would track heaviness over time on a line chart, you would see that Drift takes the opposite approach to the first two tracks. It starts with a deep vibe that at times lets a heavy stab burst through the wall of low sub bass and changes into an atmosphere that is even more chill than before. In the second drop it even slows down the bpm of the track. In other words, the track is drifting away from the heaviness more and more over time. The fact that the transitions between Dreamer and Drift are seamless really emphasizes this ebb and flow of energy.

4. Alien

While we were busy drifting away, an Alien has arrived! Most people might think of big explosions and spaceships attacking the earth's cities when thinking of an Alien invasion, but Ross and Rouven had different plans. Their take on aliens is more subtle, like they are infiltrating our society by mimicking our behaviour and looks and overtaking our lives by overthrowing the government from the inside. Or maybe create a social network. Like you might have imagined from the description already, Alien is a techy roller with gnarly bass and some heavy drums keeping us company during all of it. That plus the main melody's unique sound makes it easy to let the imagination run wild. Maybe it's just about an outcast who lurks in the background because he was never accepted by society? Or maybe even about an alien Cyberpunk-esque city? Who knows? That's the whole fun of the track though. Unique atmospheres, unique sounds, just interesting all around.

5. Always

Let's do like Limp Bizkit and keep rollin' rollin' rollin', yeah! Always is the second single of the album and was originally released back in February. It quickly became one of my favorites and was one of the first tracks I added to my "Best of 2020" playlist. It was featured as the first track in my "techy" playlist for months. I'm not trying to promote my playlists here (not right now at least), I'm just trying to convey how much I always (hehehe) liked the rolling techy vibe of it.

Because this isn't just any plain old kind of techy. This is advanced techy. Whether its the slowly back-and-forth growling bassline, the unique heavily distorted main melody or the huge amounts of bleeps and bloops and bells and whistles sprinkled across the track, there's a lot to love here. My favorite part is probably the way the Zombie Cats used all those little vocal samples to create new additional melodies or emphasize certain parts of the distorted melody. It's one of those tracks where the more you listen to it, the more there is to unpack and the more little details you can spot.

6. Outset

We are at the Outset of the jungle-inspired part of the album now. Outset starts out very minimally, but don't get too comfortable. Soon enough that ambient sound turns very dutty very fast. The atmospheric echoey background noises are cranked up to 11, the bass gets heavier and most obviously: the drums go into a break-heavy jungle frenzy. Anyone who knows my music taste will know that too jungle-y stuff will never quite catch me, but I still had a fun time listening to this track. As always, the duo has put their own unique spin on the used elements and I'm sure there are people who appreciate this more than I do.

7. Selva

If we weren't in the jungle phase before, we would definitely be there now. Depending on where you come from, Selva might mean either "jungle" (Spanish) or "clear" (Finnish). One could argue that together it would be "clearly jungle" though, so the title still works. While I wouldn't call the track itself jungle, it is clear where the name comes from. The once again returning techy heavy-hitting distortions are presented in a heavily broken up rhythm reminiscent of older jungle tracks, merging two very different worlds together. Or as the Zombie Cats themselves would describe it: "classic broken elements bathed in future tech vibes". Yeah, that sounds about right. As with Outset, this broken-up rhythm is not really my thing, but don't let that discourage you from listening to it. The unique combination of different flavors of drum and bass make for an interesting listen, even if you share my distaste for very broken-up rhythms.

8. Flava

You have managed to get out of the jungle, but something is off. Do you hear that? Rustling leaves, sirens in distance and not a single soul in sight, you are on your own here. You hear movement. You try to get further away, but it's catching up to you. You look behind you and see it leaping forward towards you letting out its battle cry:

YEAHHHHH BOIIIII.

The neuro storm has caught up to us! Flava is the first "classic" Zombie Cats (not Rregula & Dementia mind you) Neurofunk track of the album and it's a belter. The duo is flexing the diversity of their productions again, this time showing us what a Gydra-inspired Zombie Cats tune would sound like. Turns out: Smashingly good.

Not only did they nail that signature feeling of dread in the intro, that typical rolling forward-pushing "dudududu" bass is also spot on. But it's not just a homage, they clearly also injected their own style into it. Most notably through the legendary voice sample, something you would probably never ever hear in a Gydra tune. However, the more you pay attention to all the little bass stabs and background sounds, the more you recognize the Zombie Cats in it. Another highlight of the track is all the different melodies and calls & responses throughout the drop. It feels like there's something new coming in every 20 seconds, which might sound hectic but actually all works together super well. Great track.

Fun fact: Flava apparently means golden in Spanish. Fitting, huh?

9. Rock It

Time for stop number 9 on our journey through the weird and lurid landscape of Mutation: Rock It. This time we are presented with a beautiful intro that evokes images of a space crew's first arrival at an unknown planet, just as the crew's rocket (Rock It hehehe) turns the corner and sees the stunning illuminated side of the celestial body for the first time. In the 80s. Maybe even 70s. As usual in these stories, something goes wrong though. Or right, for us watching the scenery.

Translated back into music words that means: The track then descends into a techy neuro drop. While the main rhythm might be interesting to listen to, it is all the different "side melodies" breaking through the barrier left and right that make this track for me. Also, those drums that lead you from section to section are simply sick.

10. Keepalive

According to my intensive research, Keepalive is "a short message sent by one device to another to check that the link between the two is operating". More importantly, it's also the tenth track of the album! One could argue that this track's stripped-down stepper rhythm is a sort of Keepalive signal to the audience. Giving us a breather, but still keeping the connection between the performance and the listeners alive. Or maybe the protagonist of this track is unconscious from the high-energy assault on their senses and the big techy sounds coming in and stopping sharply are a paramedic applying his defibrillator on their chest.

Or maybe it's just called that because that's what the voice sample says, your guess is as good as mine. Interesting track though.

11. I Want

If Keepalive was the breather of the album, I Want surely has to be the punch in the face that brings you right back on your feet. It is somehow the BRRRest track of Mutation by far and at the same time has one of my favorite melodies in the whole album during its BRR pauses. Or should I say BRRRReaks?. It is a beautiful combination of two different extremes that I each love a lot. On the one hand the main distorted BASS is making my chair move through sheer power alone and would absolutely destroy me on a soundsystem, on the other the breakdown melody is so catchy I will probably still have it in my head a few days later. The way that melodic pause grows louder and louder is very very pleasing to my ear. So pleasing in fact that I would love a VIP that focuses on just that part. It would lose its unique combination of extremes that way though, which is also what makes the track stand out.

12. Mutation

Hey, that's the title of the album! Released as the first of the official album singles and as the fourth album track overall, Mutation had some big shoes to fill. Safe to say, Ross and Rouven managed to meet and even exceed the expectations at times just fine. Like its name and its I can feel the mutation voice sample suggests, this is a track that might start out harmless but grows and mutates into something more hard-hitting faster than you can say "wow that was fast".

The main element that everything is structured around is this bouncy funk bass looping up and down the ladder that is catchier than it was any right to be. At the beginning of the first drop, there's not much more going on other than this bouncy loop and a voice emphasizing the high notes of the ladder. It then goes through a pitched down voice phase, in which you can already feel the track going into darker territories. Shortly after it hits you with the first pure BASS wobble. After a short break, the loop comes back with even more in your face wobbles that hit you one after the other. Only after this crescendo does the track begin to slow down a bit.

Overall a very creative and fittingly titled track!

13. GRRRRR

Usually I would say something like "wow we're already at the end, this went by fast", but judging by the amount of characters my editor is showing me, reading this probably took nearly as long as listening to the album itself. Sorry about that.

But hey, we did it, we're at the last track: GRRRRR. And man, what a track it is. I'm getting ahead of myself here though.

Right from the start you hear gasps and other atmospheric sounds that convey to the listener that it's gonna go down. It sounds like you are going through a jungle and hear various creaks and animals rumbling in the bushes all around you, your anxiety levels skyrocketing. You swear you saw something move right there. This time it's not another yeahboi though, this one sounded more like a tiger! Before you know it, it jumps right at you. And that's exactly when the track shifts into overdrive. You manage to evade the first attack and try to run away, but the tiger is right behind you and gaining ground fast. You jump over tree branches and try to throw things behind you to slow it down, but those measly attacks don't stop the tiger. The second part of the drop is the part where the dread really kicks in, where the protagonist, you in this case, is in pure panic mode. You regain your confidence and for a moment it's a back and forth between the tiger and you. Somehow you manage to escape its claws and find a hiding spot.

The hiding spot doesn't hold out for long though. You hear it's paws tapping around near you, circling around you. If you don't run now, it will eat you alive, so you bolt out of your hiding place. The tiger chases after you and the cat and mouse game begins anew. Unlike the first time, you are now wounded from the fight though so the defenses are getting more desparate with each passing second. At this point you just want to get away as fast as possible, no matter the cost. The adrenaline kicks in and you manage to fight it off and flee just enough to get to safety. It's over.

All of this is conveyed through this cinematic masterpiece of a techy/newschool neurofunk track. Or, if you prefer clear terms instead of stories: It's an amazing tune. They really went out with a bang here. It's kind of a message to the world: This isn't even close to the last you'll here from us, this is just the beginning. Which makes sense, considering they are planning another album already!

What a GRRRRReat way to end this album journey!

Summary

Whan can I even say that I haven't said during those thousands of words? Zombie Cats' first of hopefully many albums Mutation is pure techy, vibey, neurofunky goodness neatly packaged in 13 tracks. It is unique in so many aspects, from the combinations of sounds used to the variety in their productions. No matter what they tried their hand in on this record, the end result was always worth checking out. Even though they have an insanely high output, the duo's production quality remains high throughout and the same can be said about this album. Like honestly, they had their hands in more than 10 releases this year, from compilation album contributions to EPs to now a full-length self-released album. Even if you are not a fan of their music, you have to admire their productivity and production skill.

Highlights of the album for me are Did You Know, which is just all around a masterful track that I won't get tired of anytime soon and that will continue to be my go-to reference track when I want to show Zombie Cats to someone, Flava, because I just love that rolling "pure Neurofunk" sound, and GRRRRR, a track so cinematic, diverse and straight-up banging that it would be a crime to not mention it here.

All in all, one of the biggest albums of this year for me! If you like your drum and bass techy, this album should satisfy your cravings. Listen to this one with your headphones or on a good sound system, the tracks deserve it.