Thelem is at it again with a new label for new sounds, a world apart from his first imprint, Orientis. A first hint of what was to come under Chapters was published on his Soundcloud about a year ago, under the name “We Make The Noise“. A wall of jagged, distorted and cut throat sounds given away as a free download after the project file was corrupted and therefore unable to be finished.
There is a clear evolution in the aesthetics of Thelem’s sound over the last six years, and it is fascinating to witness the progression in his experimentation with sound design, as well as the mix down abilities necessary to really give life to all these new elements he has been introducing to his work. What started out as a dive into the deeper end of bass line engineering in 2011 has now progressed into a fearsome combination of harsh leads and lush soundscapes full elements, where everything has a role and nothing is left to chance; a true testament to Thelem’s talent as a mixdown artist.
The full sonic impact achieved by the attention to detail and the undying desire to express oneself fully unrestrained by genre definitions has lead to a few tracks in differing BPMs – such as the techno vibes present in “Petrichor“, or the faster DnB related adventures of “Forces Of Nature” or the new EP namesake – which I have personally enjoyed immensely, but it is clearly in the 140 bass driven realm that Thelem’s passion for aggressive and heavy sounding party movers really show.
I still miss his thumping adventures with Killawatt and Biome, and the Dualism / Saturn Colours EP released by Osiris was once my go-to for percussive driven madness. But that was also true of his earlier releases when I wanted a deeper mind bending incursion into sci-fi-y mystical experiences and of his latest releases in regards to harder anthems. Chapters’ debut release, the “Ninety 3” EP is a carefully assembled behemoth of sound system stompers.
Ninety 3 EP is out now and available from Beatport and the Chapters Store.
