- So much drum & bass is obsessed with vaguely sci-fi ideas of future. You know—the regulated churn of machinery, the shine of chrome, the dystopian hell that surely awaits us all. But in practice, such tracks can often come off as stiff and unfriendly. ASC's Auxiliary crew are one of the few who do it with real feeling, as they riff on the melodic sensibilities of the short-lived Autonomic movement. That's as clear as ever on the third Veil/Unveil release, which tempers unusually militant rhythms with gorgeous sound design and melody. And even if the sound of the series hasn't changed since the last installment in 2013, with tracks as strong as this, it's difficult to complain.
ASC's work has recently been creeping towards ambient techno, but "Lose Control" is no-nonsense drum & bass, and one of the heavier tracks he's released in a while. And with hip-hop scratching, rapped vocal samples and synths that shoot across the bars like they're being fired from a laser gun, it's even a little playful. There's nothing so lighthearted on Sam KDC's "The Messenger," which sounds like he's trying to drive the track into the ground.
Method One, one of Auxiliary's secret weapons, offers a typically emotive twist on the formula with "Pyre," but it's Synth Sense, another of the label's underrated acts, that truly nail it. With a vast array of clicks, buzzes and time-stretched sound effects, "Red Skies" is like some crazy IDM track mapped to the more rigid structure of drum & bass. It's exactly the kind of thing Auxiliary is so good at.
TracklistA1 ASC - Lose Control
A2 Synth Sense - Red Skies
B1 Sam KDC - The Messenger
B2 Method One - Pyre