Photophob :: Large Headroom Collider (Self-Released)

Slower atmospheric pieces sit alongside frantic breakcore with proper science applied to the drum programming.

A slightly schizophrenic album from Photophob here. Slower atmospheric pieces sit alongside frantic breakcore with proper science applied to the drum programming. Personally I think the former is where Photophob’s strength is, the large atmospheric soundtrack style, while good seems to somehow be a little anticlimactic.

There is a notable use of orchestral violins in many tracks, adding to the sense of film soundtrack that is definitely all about this album. They are great at building tension and increasing the sense of drama, hence their frequent use in film score, and they serve a similar process here, especially in the first track/album intro “Linear Approximation,” which is a piece that genuinely sounds like it should be in a film. It has a simple motif, atmospheric soundscape and heavy dramatic build up. That particular piece leads into another string heavy track, “Databeast (Unstable Betatest)” that is something like a soundtrack dubstep breakcore crossover. It’s perhaps my favorite of the album with some poetic drum programming going on.

Large Headroom Collider is a very well produced album that gives a nod to dubstep, breakcore, IDM and film score. At times it has a hint of DnB and often has more then a touch of quasi symphonic drama. Pretty easily pigeonholed in your library then, just file under dubcorescape quasi symphonic melodrama.

Large Headroom Collider is available on Bandcamp.