- MG77's graphic design aesthetic always seemed a little too RPG for my tastes but, I must say, the Crusades-and-Armor-All motif on the record's A-side label does a pretty good job of preparing you for what's in store: stark, breast-plated bass music advancing through the orient. Maxximus' web page states in no uncertain terms (or lowercase letters), "IT IS ABOUT BASS!" Indeed, "Israhell"'s clapping drums and eastern melodies serve primarily as exotic set dressings in a showcase for the floppy bass bursts. Decidedly a sound system track, it doesn't do too much for me on my own, less imposing speakers. "Neo," however, is another matter. Its rhythm track teems with an array of hand-percussion sounds, while the low end labors under its own hugeness, lumbering forward as though captured in slow motion. Warrior sonics asserting somber restraint, the impression I get is of an otherworldly funeral march.
It's also worth mentioning that "Neo" loosely recalls some of Shackleton's work from a few years ago—"Hamas Rule," for example. Appropriately, the RA favorite blesses the track with a spacious remix that more than doubles the original's brief runtime. Working a formula that's not heard many complaints yet, his remix is as textured and alive as ever, but does feel a bit like a retread. The use of spoken samples, usually so potent in enhancing his productions' enveloping mystique, falls flat this time around, resting atop the mix rather than embedded in its makeup.
The track evolves, completely changing lanes about two minutes in, but I don't get the sense of purposeful, almost narrative direction found in Shack's best work. Instead, this seems to meander, and lacks the take-a-deep-breath epiphanies that he's dependably delivered in the past. Still, nothing this eerie and hypnotic could be called a failure, and certainly not on the lame complaint that it fails to match its creator's past victories. It does, however, leave me longing for his next, inevitable jaw-dropper.
Tracklist A Neo
B1 Israhell
A Neo
B2 Neo (Shackleton's Neo BLN remix)