Scorn has weathered the ages by constantly updating his sound with the latest technology and techniques, while still remaining unmistakably the same dark pit of abrasion it ever was. Submerged takes every different dialect of hardcore and expresses it through his own personal emotional lense.
Scorn :: Feather EP
Has Scorn existed forever? It seems like it sometimes. Originating decades ago as a member of Napalm Death, he has weathered the ages by constantly updating his sound with the latest technology and techniques, while still remaining unmistakably the same dark pit of abrasion it ever was. Maybe the closest comparison is Justin Broadrick who has a similar sonic history and range of output, but Scorn always seems to be a little slower, a little more empty and nihilistic in place of Broadrick’s rage and misery. And the bass—always the omnipresent bass in everything but rarely a sharp, commercial-sounding trendy dubstep/neurofunk riff. No, more like dying pulses of collapsing stars, pulverizing classic industrial bass waves here. Maybe if you time stretched Technical Itch tracks out to a hundred times their original length? Some sort of ancient ritual during which a factory full of machines the size of oil tankers slowly destroys itself? A flock of huge stone birds circling above a black hole? This is a stupidly low-end heavy series of tracks topped with drifting ambient spaces of dark voids. It works really well as a intro to what Scorn has been up to, and might even make you want to check out his other vast catalog of delights.
Submerged :: The Eradication of Untruth EP
Long time veteran DNB producer Submerged returns with an extended player after a bit of a quiet period. First off, let me say, this was not what I was expecting from Submerged. My experience of Submerged has always been of dark, classically styled breaks and tight programmed beats with excellent mind-altering sub-destroying bass. So, I was at first, very disappointed when this turned out to be, on my first listen, kind of one of those tragic comeback-as-the-next-daft-punk type thing. But I thought, nah, not Submerged, he co-op’ed with all these different guys, I’ve loved stacks of his tunes, I’ll go back and listen to this from another angle. And I get it now, what Submerged is trying to do here is to take every different dialect of hardcore and express it through his own personal emotional lense. He pulls it off, I’d say, over the course of four intense and wildly different tracks. “Transformation” (with Ajamari) is a trance-induced nu-school influenced track with vocals, not normally my taste at all, but managing to stay ruff enough to satisfy me nonetheless. “Cell” (with Savage) a homage to hardcore and gabber but with much too much variation to be comparable to anything but maybe Hellfish. “Surrealistic Dystopian Nightmares” (with Masamune) is a personal favorite—dystopian neurofunk from somewhere between 90’s electro and the latest Russian neurofunk hit. “Abyss” (with Molecular) is a classic old-school techstep track, loved it, what else is there to say? All in all, a solid comeback for a longtime vet, always good to see an artist trying on new styles and collaborations, and it really pays off here!
