- Davor Bokhari releases music with the enthusiasm of trance and hardstyle, but sometimes there's menace lurking underneath. On Xenotype, his first release in over a year and the first on a new label called Foreverzero, Bokhari lets gloomy vibes swirl and fester. The EP was his way of dealing with "death, discrimination and isolation," channeling his frustration into something creative. The result is his most overwhelming record, staying in the same zone as his past work while turning everything up to 11.
Xenotype has the same soft focus as Bokhari's last EP, Oceana, but it's dark and gritty instead of dreamy. The manic melodies of "Terra Gang," paired with the bucking bassline, make for a stressful atmosphere, like feeling your emotions spinning out of control. "ARENA3" and "Flutter Failure" nail the night-out-gone-wrong vibe of araabMUZIK's Electronic Dream so perfectly they could be outtakes from that album. Therein lies a problem: these songs, and their swaggering trap beats, feel overfamiliar. Only "Qarin," with its billowing ambient intro and its unique rhythm, offers something new. (That, and the house beat that breaks out at the end of "Strip Glo.") The rest is pure catharsis, Dark0 style, with overdriven synths, quaking basslines and thundering snares.
Tracklist01. ARENA3
02. Flutter Failure
03. Qarin
04. Terra Gang
05. StripGlo