On the heels of his recent debut self-titled album for Ad Noiseam, this latest 12″ EP from Greek electronic producer Mobthrow collects together three new tracks that lean distinctly towards the doomier edge of dubstep, alongside a reworking from fellow dark maven Hecq. On the A-side, title track ‘Pitch Black’ manages to live up to its name as skipping, steel-plated snares traverse a vast, ominous backdrop of droning textures and murderously creep synthetic bass lines, the entire track wandering out into an ambient void at midpoint, only to suddenly flex back up into rigid action in a manner that calls to mind the likes of Matta or Vex’d. ‘Flashback’ meanwhile takes things even further down into dystopian dubstep atmospheres as brittle-sounding broken rhythms flex and ripple against massive bursts of distorted synth noise and furiously bleeping electronics in what’s easily the most apocalyptic offering here, while Hecq’s reworking of ‘Pitch Black’ winds up the tension levels of the original by devolving the sub-bass into a contorted rattling pulse amidst horror movie synth-stabs and eerie distant strings. Finally, ‘Enter Dubcore’ closes proceedings off by raising the bpms to more danceable levels with a distinctly tech-ier offering that winds urgent bleeping synths through a ferocious backdrop of distorted rave noise and juddering breakbeats, the entire result leaning closer to one of Bassnectar’s more speaker quaking moments. One for those who like their dubstep armoured to the teeth.
Chris Downton
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