- It seems like drum & bass's tendency for frequent and indiscriminate collaboration is infecting dubstep, as innumerable combinations of producers work on releases that fail to set themselves apart. Attribute it to the city's junglist past if you must, but Bristol especially seems fertile ground for dual-headed tracks. It becomes problematic when it's not clear who is contributing what—an issue amplified when it involves newcomers who are still honing their sound. Bristolian upstart Arkist's debut release comes on the profoundly weird If Symptoms Persist label, complete (predictably?) with a collaboration with Komonazmuk, a producer whose own sound hasn't exactly congealed yet.
Fortunately, "Outbreak" is too interesting to furrow brows over its collaborative nature. The entire track is a decisive climb, padded by an 8-bit synth riff that's half old-school-arcade and half trance. Finding progress in perpetuity, almost everything about the glassy textures of "Outbreak" are circular to nausea-inducing extremes; even the breakdown spirals. Extremity is always more interesting than playing it safe, and in their odd collaboration, Komonazmuk & Arkist have risen above what either of them have ever given us on their own. The other side presents Arkist all on his lonesome, and there's something very Bristol about it all, tapping into the endless well of garage-indebted rhythm of 2010. "Until Next Time" is laden with viscous vocoder that adds a hint of Italo, with thumping halfstep kicks and handclaps providing an almost hip-hop feel. Debuts don't really come more purposeful than this.
TracklistA Arkist & Komonazmuk - Outbreak
AA Arkist - Until Next Time