- Beat science on an exciting dubstep label.
- Piezo is a dubstep-leaning producer who's been releasing music since 2013. He's had a handful of releases on labels like Idle Hands and 81, and plenty more for headsy crews like Subaltern and Artikal Music UK. Most of those are English labels, though, and Piezo is not British. (He's Italian.) His latest record lands on Version, continental Europe's top outpost for dubstep, which feels like a strong match. He delivers two cuts that outline his dynamic style of dubstep, which pairs the sound's UK roots with an international array of influences.
Detailed and powerful, the drums on "The Mandrake" swing in an addictive, elastic arc. Some kicks are engineered like a heavy stomp on pavement, while others are tuned to a melody and matched to a descending bassline that hints at the explosive glee of big-room trap. Around all that is a detailed and wiggly soundscape of ringing glass sounds, exaggerated swoops and hard-panned rustles. It sounds like a serious dungeon dubstep track turned inside-out into a celebratory banger.
Although they're stylistically different, the longer flipside, "Tinned," reminds me of Version founder Orson's "12:09" from his last EP—essentially dubstep at house tempo. Piezo flattens his drums down to a Baltimore-style pattern, attacking them with a flanger in the opening section and later washing them in a rich synth. You could call The Mandrake dubstep. You could also call it beat science.
TracklistA The Mandrake
B Tinned