My patience for these styles of EDM in 2026: 20%
HorsegiirL's charisma and songwriting: 60%
Mildly disappointed with this one tbqh. Her EP from last year made me really excited for an absolutely off-the-wall listening experience, but all we ended up getting was simply a decently enjoyable 2000s throwback record with pretty solid songwriting behind it. There are thankfully a few moments here and there I do think bring some of that weirdness, but they come so backloaded and feel pretty ... read more
Skrillex's newest album sees the producer settling into much of the same direction which he had gone down with "hit me where it hurts x", while also having a lot of the minimalism that he delivered on the "Kora" EP from earlier this year. I wish I could say such a combination delivered as much as I would like it to, but quite frankly when you open up with a Nitepunk collab that feels like you're neutering his style with your production sensibilities, it's not ... read more
People who have the energy to hate Ironmouse, especially without knowing thing one about her, baffle me.
Even if I personally don't really connect with much of the original music she puts out, I can't really ignore how crazy her journey up to this point has really been: a woman who's been through hell and back several times already, and yet has found it in her to keep smiling and enjoying life, even leading her to become a real inspiration and support for others the world over, ... read more
Isn't this guy friends with Flume? Why are his attempts at EDM fusion here so sloppy? Man, he really took the hate towards the production on Vultures personally and doubled down. Back half is better than the front.
Fave tracks: Meet the Dealers (if it had a good mix), The Ghost of Emmett Till, ¥ (Yen), Mask On, Bridges on Fire
Least fave track: Since I Met Ye
People are going to call me a contrarian but I want you all to look me dead in the eye and sincerely tell me what makes this remix so much worse than the cover that already massacred the original to hell and back. This remix just removes any misguided notion that original cover had at being meaningful or emotionally resonant.
Ig what it comes down to is do you prefer potentially just a simple festival slop remix that resonated enough to migrate off of the hard drives and onto streaming, or one ... read more
Ya know the point of the fake-out is that you still give us the drop, right, Charli?
The best album no one is going to hear this year, "PLANETARY DEVASTATION" feels like a pretty big watershed moment for Bejalvin, delivering one of the most intense digital hardcore records I think I've heard without being grating. Fusing together many EDM elements, particularly riddim and deathstep, Bejalvin crafts a soundscape that is unmistakably them, and is groovy enough to move to even as constant tempo change give it room to really have fun. The samples range from being ... read more
The newest Instinct Selections comp is another winning collection of underground producers, sure to satisfy.
Nohost - Theory: 8.0/10
Very much a Direct-coded track, but moves in a pretty interesting and brighter direction tbqh, love the atmosphere here.
Infowler - Riptide feat. Dash30: 8.1/10
Takes me right back to the soundscapes of 2016, and importantly still feels like it has its own voice despite that! Honestly a really fun track.
Benny Sands - Abasazi: 7.7/10
A nice blend of french ... read more
Didn't think I'd ever be giving such praise to Spag Heddy of all producers in the big 2026, but the first release under the veteran producer's newly-trimmed alias shows him not only carving out a lane for himself, but honestly doing a better job at sounding modern than many of his contemporaries, all while reconnecting with much of the soundscapes he came through with in the mid-2010s.
MESSIAH: 7.8/10
OLDSKOOL: 8.0/10
READY: 8.1/10
TREP: 7.7/10
Kobaryo's latest LP proves yet again hypermaximalist hardcore EDM can be produced while keeping with a slick, controlled soundscape. Weirdly enough, this feels like a relatively tame record for the producer at this point, yet also the one which has resonated with me the most. Kobaryo's melodies are generally in top form here, and besides a couple hiccups, the energy is there to match. Perhaps I'm simply growing more used to this style of music but I felt nowhere near as fatigued ... read more
There are few better ways of writing a love letter to recorded music than tapping into the very history of the art form and building your project almost entirely off the matrerial of your predecessors whilst delivering your own flavour into the project. The trickiest part there, ends up being the arrangement. The Avalanches play maestro to these samples, and do so with all the flawlessness one would hope from that idea of a "love letter". From the very beginning we hear layer upon ... read more
Despite a shaky first leg, "Supraliminal" frequently sees Bensley delivering some extremely solid and distinctive dancefloor dnb
Fave tracks: Its True, 1-800-BEN-SLEY, Flutter, burning_memories, Shining for You, Last online 10 years ago
Least fave track: Samurai
Through this EP you can really see the duo bringing their production up a notch, even after the incredible effort that was "Polychrome". Directing many of these tracks towards a destination which would be fully realized with the soundscapes they'd expertly wield on "Led By Ancient Light". Sound design heaven.
Strident: 9.5/10
Boundless: 9.3/10
Radiant: 9.8/10
Vibrant: 9.6/10
Vivid: 8.9/10
Looking forward to that full original project down the pipeline. This at least gives hope we can expect the A-game from both acts.
Create an account to rate and review albums.
Recent Review Comments
On Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me
"@Seb_ never"
On Habstrakt - SURGE
"@Baylen Corner of My Eye (AGGRESSIVE PHONK REMIX)"
On Marszan's review of Charli xcx - Von dutch remix with skream and benga
"??????????????? This is the Excision (pre2011) type of dubstep, not the Skrillex type though???"
On Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (40th Anniversary)
"@Eruption78 the rougher mixdown helped to sell the desolation for me, also helped with a lot of the grooves which felt a bit spare in those anniversary mixes."
On Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures (40th Anniversary)
"@Eruption78 i mean my intial rating was like a 7"
On OctoMarkus's review of Gammer - Sun Will Rise Again
"It was REVEALED on April Fools so i guess it gets a pass."
On SPAMTON G. SPAMTON's review of Borgore - Switzerland
"The fact this isn't even in the top 20 worst Borgore songs"
On From First to Last - Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count
"Also I literally review EDM why wouldn't I listen to one of Skrillex's other projects as a fan?"
On From First to Last - Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Body Count
"@voicelikehoney i don't hate all emo, some of the best albums I've ever heard are emo. Vocals are what tend to make or break this genre for me. I almost never go into a project expecting to hate it unless it's a project by an artist I follow regularly, And if I ever do I still hold onto the hope that I will still find something of value. Additionally, this was an album I happened to listen to on a stream. My opinion may have even changed on it at this point since it's been so long."
On 🪓lexa ☮️💖☯️🤝🇵🇸's review of Various Artists - Monstercat 007 - Solace
"Also i find it interesting you dislike Animal Instinct but like Breakdown, as I feel like our ratings are probably switched. Idk i think Animal Instinct has one of the most fun drumlines and melodies of any SW track from that era, while Breakdown is a limp, misguided headscratcher of a track for me, and it makes complete sense why the VIP would go on to completely overshadow it later."
On 🪓lexa ☮️💖☯️🤝🇵🇸's review of Various Artists - Monstercat 007 - Solace
"Ampersand actually wasn't on the original comp, instead it was pulled from the edm spotlight collaborative comp which came out the following year to fill in for the track House by OVERWERK, after he pulled that track from the label, you can still hear it on the album mix though. I will say that House is one of the better tracks on this comp as it was originally intended, though pretty aggressively 2012"
On かめりあ [Camellia] - Chimera Dragons
"@svse idk, I feel like music by KAIFU and JoeB (even Figure a few years back) manages to outdo Camellia in terms of intensity for me, it's nowhere near as fast paced usually, but to me they're the ones pushing bass music to its breaking point the most in the current environment (In JoeB's case its more about his odd rhythms). And i would also make the case that, while maybe not as busy, Kobaryo often manages to match Camellia in terms of intensity. I've been meaning to get into Diabarha for a while now, but what I've heard of their music has also come pretty close, albeit less varied."
On Jerkcurb - Night Fishing On A Calm Lake
"@lickeroftables i don't want to hear that from someone who licks tables"
On lilyth's review of Skrillex - hit me where it hurts x
"My journey with listening to music more seriously really started with EDM as well, Approaching Nirvana, Tiesto, and Daft Punk when i was young, before I found Monstercat and followed them religiously from 2015 until about 2022 when I branched back into some of the older hits I just never heard on the radio in my youth before finding Björk and getting hooked onto listening through albums over comps and EPs. After a year of binging through fantano's top 200 LPs of the 2010s, I found new ways to appreciate the music I'd grown up with, as well as a whole new selection of genres to listen to to prevent my experience with that music from ever going stale or myself becoming jaded towards it."
On Skrillex - hit me where it hurts x
"@GabHugo Contra, last year. Sonny Moore from the very start in the 2000s"
On ROSALÍA - LUX
"@davipms Yves Tumor's contribution quite literally ruined the song for me, otherwise a perfect track"
On Danny Brown - Starburst
"@jamalama this is news to me"
On Pinball Gizzard's review of George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
"I will NOT accept this Ringo the 4th Slander !!!1!1 /s"
On H1DD3N_1N_TH3_ST4T1C's review of Ran-D - Zombie
"@UltimateLifeFrm with illenium and wooli like 2 years ago ye"
On Pendulum - Inertia
"@b0realis I'm starting a Panopticon discog dive soon, so I'll probably tackle it then."
On Distorted Vortex's review of Riot Ten - Threats
"There is a blatant production error in the first 20-30 seconds of the track, this is something not even Borgore has done with his deluge of terra-slop.
A bad mix is generally all it takes to tank a riddim track in the present time, a production error is straight up inexcusable when being released on a major label."
On Sleep Token - DYWTYLM
"@Elysian_Wave ??????????"
On Schizoid man's review of Skrillex - F*CK U SKRILLEX YOU THINK UR ANDY WARHOL BUT UR NOT!! <3
"Great review! Though I should add QFF actually featured quite a bit of dubstep on it, he didn't really abandon them!"
Advertisement