Monday, September 21, 2015

Virtual Riot | Machinery EP

More bass music, woot.


Background

Following in the same vein as his "Nightmare EP," Virtual Riot, a heavy-hitter on Disciple Recordings and a maker of "dreamy wubwub music," just today released his latest compilation, "Machinery EP."  The German DJ, in addition to releasing music, is also studying production in university.

Review

Listen to "Machinery EP"

Once again, Virtual Riot proves his mastery of production with "Machinery EP," blending wobble basses with beautiful melodies that stir the soul.  This EP is just fun to listen to; it's Virtual Riot at his best.  "Rise of the Robots," the first track off the EP, is guitar-driven dubstep with punchy drums and catchy vocals from Messinain.  The song is chock-full of wobble basses and tasty rhythm guitar riffs, but the most notable thing is the breakdown straight from a teenage heartthrob alternative band.  It's fantastic, and I wish it was a little more fleshed out.  Maybe for a VIP?  Next up is "Machinery," and even though it's the EP's title track, it feels a little bland.  There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't do anything to stand out, and it feels a little dull next to the other three tracks.  Luckily, "Running From the Cops," the next track, is immediately interesting.  Featuring hip-hop-esque vocals from Armani Reign, who has also worked with the likes of Eliminate and Zomboy, "Running From the Cops" is a toe-tapping trap-dubstep hybrid that makes you feel like doing just that, running from cops.  It's a high energy track with a clean mixdown, and that's all it has to be.  And, in a similar fashion to his previous "Nightmare EP" and "We're Not Alone EP," Virtual Riot ends his EP with a chilled melodic dubstep track "Time Stops," featuring the dreamy vocals from Danyka Nadeau, a known name in relaxing electronic music.  Tracks like this feel like Virtual Riot's true style, and are always my favorite off of his respective releases.  I liked "We're Not Alone" enough to remix it (I have no shame).  "Time Stops" features huge, stacked supersaws with complimentary bass and, combined with the progressive house plucks, lo-fi drum breaks, and melodic sounds send an inspiring message.  "Time Stops" ends as a clock, or time, winds down to a stop and closes out "Machinery EP" with a peaceful, uplifting note.

"Machinery EP" cannot be said to be Virtual Riot's best work, but the tracks are undeniably fantastic in their own right, each being a poster-child for fantastic production work and mastery of the genre in general, and "Time Stops" is downright beautiful.  Interestingly enough, and a testament to Virtual Riot's creativity, each track is labelled dubstep but missing the 140 bpm (beats per minute, or how fast a song is) that literally defines a dubstep track, dancing around that number enough to give each song a dubstep feel but leave room for individuality and uniqueness.  Overall, a very solid EP.  7/10

Notable Remixes

This EP just came out today.  There are no notable remixes.  Be the first!

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