Not content with 2008’s full length Sick Pay, Manchester’s Virus Syndicate return with the first in a trilogy of EPs. The three new tunes are bursting at the seams with hooks, and explore slower tempos than some of Virus Syndicate’s earlier output. The contemplative opener ‘Believe’ is a slow-tempo reflection on supportive relationships, MRK1’s production evoking Immortal Technique’s mellower moments. The slower tempos bring the contrasting flows and styles of the three MCs to the fore, as exemplified on the rapid-fire rapping of ‘Vibrator’. A pilled-up tale of excess set against bubbling bass triplets, I hope for the well-being of the band that the tales of drug intake are ironic. These melodic and low end-heavy moments are combined to great effect on ‘For The Music’, where reggae piano gives way to earth-shattering sub-bass. Both MRK1’s echoed beats and quivering synth lines are put together in an economic and tasteful fashion, and the Syndicate’s lyrics are tighter than ever. Alternating between self-aggrandisement and anti-violence, the lyrics present a refreshing course of topics, and, with all of this being built around a soulful, catchy chorus refrain; their belief that ‘we can’t be stopped’ is right. The future is bright; the future is Virus.
Joe Barton
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