Picks Of The Week (29.08.20

1. MUZZ - The Promised Land LP [Monstercat]

Recommended if you like: Pendulum, Knife Party, Delta Heavy, Pendulum again

A few months ago I shared my thoughts about the first single of MUZZ's debut album. I said if he keeps the quality of Nemesis up for the whole runtime of the album, it was going to be an absolutely huge one. You know what? He did it.

Over the course of the last few months he released single after single, every two weeks, like clockwork. With each new single I was waiting for the inevitable bad single or just any kind of dip in quality, because I usually just don't expect perfect albums. My "this has to become worse at some point" expectations were not met though. He just kept smashing out banger after banger. It was actually really hard to not pick his single releases for the Picks Of The Week every time a new one was dropped. Somehow that wasn't perfect enough for him though, he took the whole thing up another notch. Last Tuesday, two days before the full album release, he premiered the full album with a full live band rendition of all the songs on it. My mind was blown the whole way through, every single song sounded even better with the live band. But let's just not get too far ahead of ourselves, let's talk about the album.

As expected, the album starts off with a bang and that bang's name is Nemesis. With the intro track Valhalla setting the mood just before, the first single's incredible intro becomes even better. It's the perfect mix between Pendulum and Knife Party, with more aggressive guitars. The computer generated voice, the dubstep-y pewpew's, the whole rock dnb aesthetic. It's so so good. The followup Start Again, featuring uncredited singer Richard Hutchinson, who you might recognize from MUZZ's Lost Forever, switches gears to a more half-time vibe. Not drum and bass (won't be the last time either), but still very enjoyable, especially that beautiful ending.

Back to drum and bass. Next we have another one of those tracks I desperately wanted to talk about here, but held back because I didn't want to seem like too much of a MUZZ fanboi. Of course I'm talking about Out There, featuring MVE, who delivered one of my top 5 favorite vocals of this year on this track. Out There somehow strikes the perfect balance between happy-funky melodies and high-energy filthy bass, at some points reminiscent of Mat Zo's Vice. That part during the drop when MVE sings I WONT TURN MY BACK ON YOU though. Chills every time man. This song also features my favorite nod to Knife Party on the album. Just before the second drop hits, it sounds like it's into a filthy dubstep-y drop before a quick record scratch brings us back to the funkville. For someone who used to listen to Knife Party all day, that part instantly threw me back to their track EDM Trend Machine in 2014, where they did the same thing.

Speaking of Knife Party. Prepare for madness. The next track Born For This is another genre switchup, this time MUZZ went for a Electro/Techno hybrid. If you didn't hear the Rob and Gareth influences before, you will certainly hear them now. That ACCESS DENIED sample combined with the big hitting drop just hits me in the same spots that Internet Friends did years ago.

The album keeps up the back and forth between dnb and other electronic genres with Star Glide, an uplifting dancefloor track with a melody so catchy it regularly gets stuck in my head for days. As is customary on this album, the vocals by Cammie Robinson are perfect for the track. The Sanctuary brings us back to non-dnb, once again. Or is it dnb, but with a half-time drop? Who knows at this point. All I know is that it's a banger. Salvation is another one of those. Way closer to dnb than Sanctuary, but it still kind of blurs the genre lines throughout. It's also the song MUZZ embraces his love for rock the most on, thanks to the vocals and guitars by actual rock band Bloodhounds.

It's time for the biggest grower on the album, for me at least. The Warehouse, featuring legendary vocalists Miss Trouble and PAV4N (most known from his work on Foreign Beggars), is probably the most unique dnb track on the whole album. Both vocalists work in perfect tandem with each other and the incredible production, creating an atmosphere throughout the track that could be cut with a knife. Close your eyes during this track and you can actually taste the Warehouse. Or so I heard.

At this point in the album the atmosphericity (yes that's definitely a word) begins to reach its peak. Whether it's The Warehouse, Somewhere Else's 3 minute buildup, vibey vocals by Danyka Nadeau and incredible guitar solo ending or the ending track Catharsis, the monumental half-time collab with Koven, all of it is just incredible.

Man. All throughout the album you just have this amazing atmosphere. The unbelievable attention to small details, the wonderful production. The melodies, the drums, the vocals. Everything. Every track flows from one into another. Even though the singles are all very enjoyable by themselves, I actually recommend listening to the whole thing in one sitting. Also, don't forget to watch the live band version, it's somehow even better.

This is just gonna be my go-to "new Pendulum album" if we don't get an "actual" Pendulum album this year (which we probably won't, who are we kidding here). Just incredible.

P.S. This has become way longer than I expected. Nearly 1000 words. Oops.

2. Phaction - Ubiquitous EP [Metalheadz]

Recommended if you like: Data 3, Grey Code, Zero T

Going from Monstercat to Metalheadz. Oof, what a vibe change.

Phaction has always released quite a bit of quality music these past few years. And this year is no different. After his great Chemistry EP earlier this year, which was also his debut on BCee's Spearhead label, this week the cypriot-turned-bristolian producer returned to the legendary Metalheadz for this second EP. He usually strikes a great balance between aggressive bass and laid-back soulful liquid. This time, the aggressiveness took over.

The first track, which is also the title track, is still more in the soulful territory though. Throughout the track there's this melody whizzing left and right and all through your ears, which makes me appreciate my headphones so much more than usual. Now that I read what I wrote this sounds like the most annoying thing ever, but trust me, it's actually really interesting. Phaction really used the stereo sounds to his advantage in this one.

It's not until the second track, Isiah, that the bass offensive actually kicks off. Compared to the title track, Isiah is way different in its drums and arrangement though. Instead of the fast rolling drums you hear a bunch of hi-hats going all over the place while the other drums slow down considerably. During all this there's this warm bass that just fills the entire room. Boogaloo Shoo goes a similar route drum-wise. However instead of slowly expanding, the bass is way more in your face, forcefully punching your ears in a rhythm that I would absolutely describe as catchy. Lastly, Deus Ex feels like a combination of the previous three tracks. The combination of the constant hi-hats, the drums going crazy and the punching aggressive bass strutting back and forth through my ears is just addicting.

I'm usually not even really a fan of tracks with that kind of broken-up rhythm, and I still love this EP. That's how good it is.

3. Alora - Without You [Rampage Recordings]

Recommended if you like: T & Sugah, NCT, Bensley

Time for some unique vibes. But first, story time.

It's not been a good year for the event industry, to put it mildly. One of the bigger events that has been hit the hardest this year is Rampage, the "biggest drum&bass and dubstep party in the universe". The belgian indoor-festival was supposed to go ahead in mid-March, which is exactly when the restrictions started getting tighter and tighter. In fact, just a few weeks earlier Let It Roll Winter went ahead just fine. However in the span of just one week, the official announcement went from "it's definitely happening" to "please don't even come to Antwerp". I know that because I was supposed to go too and refreshed the Rampage page 24/7 during this time. Since the event organisers were holding out hope until the very last second, a lot of time and money went into it, without anything in return. The losses were (still are, I guess) in the millions apparently. While there are still smaller scale events being organised under the Rampage name, the future is uncertain. Even though losing Rampage would obviously be absolutely tragic for the festival scene, it might also mean losing Rampage Recordings, making this whole thing even more sad than it already is.

Because they have released some great stuff over the years. One of their best singles was just released this week: Without You, by Alora.

The dutch duo consists of Twan, who is responsible for the NOX event series in the Netherlands, and Madster, who some might know from his releases on Differential and Korsakov. Just like ID on ProgRAM and On You on Rampage Recordings, this third release of theirs shows their skill in creating unique dancefloor vibes. A melancholic vocal paired with a production that emphasizes that feeling even more will always make me melt. The way the melody is coming back in halfway through the drop is just lovely. You think the breakdown is coming soon, but nope, more drop. Love it when that happens in a track, not gonna lie. If you want to hear something unique this week, this might be your thing.

Hope we will be able to hear more by both Alora and Rampage Recordings in the future.

4. Nuvertal - Urbanization EP [Celsius Recordings]

Recommended if you like: Hybrid Minds, ChaseR, Humanature

Time to get the spotlight out again. This one is a bit of a repeat candidate, but I just had to feature this release. Correct, this is the Hidden Gem Of The Week™!

Nuvertal's newest Urbanization EP is a perfect blend between liquid and the more darker spheres of drum and bass. Released on Celsius Recordings, the sister label of the mighty Fokuz Recordings, this EP encapsulates the Russian liquid maestro's sound in four incredible tracks.

Right off the bat, he smashes it out the park with the vocal-driven My Shell Erases, a collaboration with Avenax. Vocals and production so dreamy it'll just make you drift away. Wily Willie is not just fun to say, it's also a great follow-up track to the intro. Instead of dreamy, Nuvertal goes into a darker, more aggressive territory. This fast-paced energy is kept up in the title track Urbanization, a roller that deserves the title. Finally, the EP ends on a sombre note with the athmospheric The Earth Forgives, bringing our energy levels down to the ground again.

If you like rolling drums and beautiful liquid, this EP is definitely worth checking out. Nuvertal in general is just a gem.

Other Hidden Gems of this week:

Target Audience - Dimensions
Rubix (BE) - Moonlight
Skuff - Retold Stories
Bold Theory - Zero Approach EP (it's back on Spotify, whoop whoop)