“…Darkened has successfully captured the vibe of the spirit of the drums with Flipside. It creates a generally creepy ambience of found sounds and noises, blasts of reverberated and slap-back drums, and some deep subs…”
(March 2010) Flipside is an album that conjures up images of genuine darkness.
Darkened backs up his moniker – but nothing sounds forced. There are no horror film samples or shrieking strings. The drum programming sounds a lot more genuinely dub than most dubstep producers’ work. Massive percussive reverberations are often the backbone of the music; with otherworldly syncopated sounds floating in and out of the mix at the perfect times. The majority of the album maintains an epic feel despite being rather minimal. The title track weaves overdriven sub-bass with expanding, percussive reverberations. Darkened seems to know exactly how to make a good minimal dubstep track; yet I wouldn’t dare call it formulaic.
“Night Crawling” starts out the album with a exquisitely filtered lead bass sound over crunchy beats, alternating with bouts of minimal strings and bit crushed drums. After lifting the CD out of the case, one sees the Legba veve, or a type of Haitian Vodou sigil. “Legba – Dub” alludes to the Vodou entity who acts as a gatekeeper for spirits in transit from this world to others – and the track is appropriately titled. Its tribal drum samples are melded with spooky bass wobbles; all hypnotizing the listener into an altered state of consciousness. While the LFO-based wobble sound is a staple of dubstep – here it feels subtle and increases the dissociative ambience. A beacon of sorts is transmitted into another world with this music. Darkened seems to be going for the the creation of a veve – and yet it is comprised of sounds, rather than images – that are representing these concepts with his music.
“Not Necessary” is an amazing track that is an amalgamation of Darkened’s dissonant ambience, deep deadly subs, echoing claps alternating with an a classically punchy Amen break. The track works its way through with some radio-sounding vocal samples drifting through the mix and the whole result is successful. “Weimar Dream” utilizes what seems to be an old German cabaret sample, with absolutely filthy basslines complementing the horns nicely. A truly epic track. “Legba – Reprise” finishes the album out with fury. The pounding bass drum and tribal percussion goes double-time and gives one the feeling an ancient ritualistic practice is reaching its apex.
Darkened has successfully captured the vibe of the spirit of the drums with Flipside. It creates a generally creepy ambience of found sounds and noises, blasts of reverberated and slap-back drums, and some deep subs. It is an impressive and serious debut that doesn’t attempt to conform to any certain formula. And that, my friends, is something that should always be applauded.
Flipside is out now on Octofoil. [Listen & Purchase]
