A skillfully crafted and surreal collision between post-industrial slabs, eerie glitch, and serene atmospheric sound-scraping, Mitoma and Weldroid join forces to deliver a sonic expansion with MXW.
A symphony of next level electronics
A skillfully crafted and surreal collision between post-industrial slabs, eerie glitch, and serene atmospheric sound-scraping, Mitoma and Weldroid join forces to deliver a sonic expansion with MXW—a digital and USB drive release for Soun. And they certainly accomplish this expansion with MXW.
The abrasive rhythms, crunchy beats, and airy/vocodered voices of “The Well” are enough to take you to a whole other dimension with its raw synthesizer extrusions. The artists describe MXW as “…film music, but one that stands alone and works without foley and picture. Or where these elements are also replaced by sounds and melodic textures.” This is clearly evidenced on the opening Kattoo-influenced “After the Siege” where dark soundtrack elements flicker about while bumpy percussive bits find their place surrounded by shaky ambient atmospheres—a symphony of next level electronics, hands down. There are lighter elements strewn throughout this 8-track album, even with its tempered outer shell. Take “Bubbles,” for example, its low-end thump and modular pulse creates a serene landscape as tracks like “Detonator” elicit a mechanical, almost Plaid-like trajectory of delicate melodic snippets. “2V813” and the “Power of Seven” exude a more organic stream of experimental electronics—gravitating towards looped effects and broken rhythms stretched through a cavernous void. While MXW may migrate towards beat-infested passages, “FFufelina” and “Gamma Station” take a whole other approach—textured ambient spheres of light and dark ricochet from the outer recesses of our galaxy only to come back full-circle from its heavy low-pressure swells into a tranquil escape for the senses.
In all, MXW is an all-consuming album that balances mostly harsher industrial tones with fractured melodic lava flows. We’re definitely looking forward to a sophomore follow-up.
MXW is available on Soun. [Bandcamp]
