Doctor Who’s most infamous foe, Dalek One, makes his DUPLOC debut with a contrasting two-track EP. A major talent in the Deep, Dark and Dangerous (DDD) roster, he’s also recently been signed to the Sub.Mission agency. The killer track, ‘Mumble Dub’, is still doing the rounds since its release on DDD last November. He’s since been releasing tracks across labels like Encrypted Audio, Sub Audio Records and Heavy Traffic Recordings. He may just be one Dalek, but he’s growing more powerful than Davros himself.
Dalek One appears to excel in complex rigid structures. Though the wobbles might stray a little from the beat, the drums and atmospheric noises flickering around the laboratory bleep to the dot. There seem to be a number of influences floating around this EP. One I was surprised to find myself drawing a connection to – Downlink. ‘Tasered’ features the harsh treble production of Downlink’s Ignition EP, specifically tracks like ‘Moonrock Badman’. Is Modern Talking back? Time to dust off ‘Rasputin’s Gold’. Echoes of Bukez Finezt seem to be reaching into the growling bass swoops of ’99 Style’, a far more subdued rhythm for a very different occasion. Though it’s cool to see these two great artists collaborating, it doesn’t show as much of Dalek One’s unique character as ‘Tasered’, or Mr.K for that matter, whose recent Baka EP contained some insanity (check out ‘Baka’ and ‘Dafuq’).
While the dubs available to preview on Dalek One’s SoundCloud are pure fire, it seems as though DUPLOC have been left out of the heat. DUPLOC’s previous release gave Rygby a platform to demonstrate a fresh voice, style and take on dubstep. Instead of trooping forward, we seem to be heading back to a comfortable middle-ground. The sound ’99 Style’ is going for seems to be a little over-saturated right now. So, while it’s a solid track, it takes a lot for something of its ilk to really rise above. Jumping back into the dark and ugly, ‘Tasered’ happily leads the EP forward, bringing some nostalgic synths back into fashion and causing a ruckus while doing it.
DUPLOC023 is released May 7th and available from the DUPLOC Store.
