(11.25.06) Patrick Stevens’ musical metamorphosis began with Dark Skies Over Planet E., proceeded with G.O.D. and finally has been completed on Panik Mekanik, described by many (including me) as his best work.
The main flavor here is pure breakcore jungle, intricate and harsh, mastered so skillfully that every single drum weighs a ton and still you won’t hear a noisy mess of clipping sounds. Some typical Hypnoskull features are recognizable, like samples of cinematic speeches and especially the use of layers and layers of drums and breaks rattling and shattering at an insane speed. Just forget all the ole technoid post-industrial machinery from the past, and enjoy the hyper kinetic drum’n’bass of “Turbodozer” and “The Sekret (Hardstep remix),” before approaching tougher stuff such as “In Thee Air” and “The Sekret (Breakcore edit),” it’s literally inflammable material, play ’em during a party and you’ll set the crowd on fire. My personal choice is “Kingston Hard As Steel (Very Hard Ragga Edit),” the title itself is quite self-explanatory, it’s like an accelerated six-decks mix of chipmunk ragga, hardcore jungle and breakcore packed in three tiny minutes, breathtaking and mental. I must mention also “Dark Klub,” it’s absolutely amazing how blurred shadows of drums in the background can actually convince the listener they’re hearing a storming rave tune. In this record you’ll also find some downbeat tracks, that Hypnoskull himself labels as darkhop, but in the end they work mainly as interludes, because the rest is too much fun, really.
It’s just criminal that a vinyl version of Panik Mekanik is not even scheduled (yet), there’s enough killer tunes to fill at least a double 12″ ready to be rinsed in breakcore nights all over the globe. Also remarkable is the cinematic weirdness of “James B. Goldfuck’r (Epic Drama Edit)” where Patrick Stevens screws up the Goldfinger’s Theme, a bit cheesy maybe, but well executed: it would have been interesting if some Hollywood producer asked him for a 007 soundtrack instead of Moby. Now I’m really curious to know what will be the next step in Hypnoskull sounds, he’s just getting better and better.
Panik Mekanik is out now on Ant-Zen.
