Panopticon Discog Dive Part 6/14
The third of the split albums by Panopticon, and the first with material not found on another project. The songs by Austin here are somewhat of a downgrade for me when comparing to the tracks off of the previous two albums, as the production just feels a little too messy for my liking at several points and the vocals are on the rougher side. I will shout out “The Road to Bergen”, as it features this really lovely dream pop vibe that juxtaposes and ... read more
Panopticon Discog Dive Part 5/14
The second split album from Panopticon, this one containing the remaining songs from "On the Subject of Mortality". The band featured this time, Skagos, thankfully does a lot better with their half of the record than When Bitter Spring Sleeps did. The guitars and drums are far clearer, almost evocative of midwest emo with their progression and tone at points. While I don't think the two tracks we get from the band are perfect, i also think ... read more
Panopticon Discog Dive Part 4/14
The first of three split albums to be released by Panopticon, this one with the efforts of When Bitter Spring Sleeps alongside him. This record made me realise why "...On the Subject of Mortality" is considered a compilation on RYM, as the first three tracks of this record are the same as the first three of that album. This should mean another easy record to recommend, but unfortunately the half by When Bitter Spring Sleeps is a lot harder to ... read more
Panopticon Discog Dive Part 3/14
Following the death of one of his parents in the late 2000s, Austin Lunn took to writing several songs channeling his grief and thoughts surrounding death and religion. The end result was a post-rock and blackgaze influenced atmospheric black metal record which I find to be his most compelling work up to that point. While the vocals are not as well-done as some his later works would be, I think the raw passion and grief he channels through them on this project ... read more
....
Fave tracks: :) love, Kanye West Likes Fingers, Rearrange the Stars, Samsung (washing machine type beat), Scotland Tech House, "this song goes hard, feel free to download", there's a taco bell bong in this ambient track but you have to listen to the whole thing to find it
Least fave track: oh my god guys!
Pretty painful.
Fave tracks: hg duo ontstopper, Listen You Hear That? Sans in the Jungle, thanks shane, SEX SEX, press + to start
Least fave track: poopy finger
Panopticon Discog Dive Part 2/14
The one-man band’s sophomore album is centred around relatively strong anti-war messaging, Austin uses imagery of Norse myth to draw parallels to the mishandling of the USA and the eventual salvation that will come from its collapse. This record showcases a notable increase in production quality over the debut, with the drums in particular sounding much cleaner. The drawn-out guitar drones here are landing quite a bit stronger, though there’s still ... read more
Panopticon Discog Dive Part 1/14
Panopticon’s self-titled debut record certainly feels like an artist’s first attempt: the mix is rough and not in a particularly endearing way; the production outside of that is pretty spotty and depends on the track. That being said, there are glimmers here of future greatness, with some of the instrumental choices coming off as more folk- or country-derived than metal, particularly noticeable on “Flag Burner, Torch Bearer” and ... read more
The legendary dancefloor DnB outfit's first album in nearly a decade and a half, "Inertia" feels like a comeback album in much the same way "From Zero" did for Linkin Park, albeit with generally more positive results; returning back to what works for the group with very slight experimentations thrown in there. Unlike Linkin Park, however, I think Rob Swire and co. did a somewhat alright job on updating their palette for the modern landscape of DnB, though not an amazing ... read more
KAIFU's distinctive, hyperpop and trap influenced take on tearout brostep is back yet again. There's a nice dark, metallic aesthetic to this project that helps to differentiate it from previous works, while still keeping a lot of what made those earlier releases so great. Once again, the brutality of this project will definitely put many people off, but if you can get into it, this is an absolute joyride (cranking the volume a bit definitely helps).
IT'S NOT JUST IGNORANCE: ... read more
Jon Casey delivers us a quick, fun trap EP with some fun fusions of baile in there as well. Sound design on this project is pretty excellent, and helps aid the more sparse soundscapes he went for with this project. It's actually pretty refreshing to hear an EDM trap project that wasn't hybrid trap, and was also quality for once.
DON'T U: 8.2/10
AHORA w/TroyBoi: 7.5/10
GO! w/PEEKABOO: 8.0/10
RUDE! w/KARAN!: 8.4/10
EARTHQUAKE w/PAID!NFULL: 6.5/10
WAITING ROOM w/Marlhy: 7.8/10
Rocketman's debut EP after over 5 years of being the DJ for COTW, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. Despite not being the most striking in sound design or songwriting, it's clear a lot of heart went into the making of the project, with priority on a smooth, seamless listen clearly being high. Looking forward to seeing what more he has in store for us into the future.
Break: 7.6/10
Let Go w/Everheart: 7.8/10
Moonlight: 7.9/10
Waning: 7.6/10
[can't] Sleep: 7.8/10
Slow ... read more
Yet another EDM act goes for the indie sound (for two tracks). Much like Fox Stevenson, I think Chime has enough know-how at this point to go for the switch, though his songwriting could definitely use some work. Besides that though, the colour bass we get on this EP has a decent amount of new ideas being fed into it to keep it somewhat fresh in 2025, even though I would have prefered him to explore the micrological side just a bit more here.
Scary Pretty Paradox: 7.9/10
Between: ... read more
Why do I get the feeling a record like this would never have gotten this kind of love 10 years ago? Perhaps the music community is healing.
Ninajirachi's debut LP is an electro house joyride from start to finish, building off of many of the conventions that were nailed early in the 2010s. Nina does a great job interweaving hooks into these beats that pop more than I initially expected they would. The euphoria carried throughout much of this project really does help to showcase just how ... read more
Eclectic riddim meets glitch pop in this debut album from underground act raiwinnn. Although I may have my gripes with the first few songs, as it feels like they are moreso being showy instead of striving to make genuinely excellent bass music, but that issue is quickly resolved as we get just that: great, experimental riddim and dubstep. Even the elements of dariacore this project sometimes has are done relatively tastefully in a way that doesn't distract from the important aspects of ... read more
Crazy, wacky, hellish psychedelic art. "The Crazy World of Arthur Brown" is a record outshone only by the antics of its insane frontman, a genuine trailblazer in terms of live performances with his audacious make-up and flaming crown pairing with his wild on-stage dancing to produce an experience many others in the rock world would go on to adopt and adapt for hard rock and hair metal. While many acts inspired by Arthur Brown would struggle to make the music match the energy he would ... read more
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