Believe it or not, this is the tenth album from Meat Beat Manifesto, and it finds their leader Jack Dangers pushing a sound not a million miles from dubstep. The dark, rumblin bass of ‘I Hold The Mic’ shows exactly where they’re at, a tense stand-off of rapping over dubby bass and a faster breakbeat. When live drums are used, as in ‘(Live) And Direct (Live)’ and ‘Return To Bass’, the musical power is greater – though ‘Spanish Vocoder’ is a bruising collision of breakbeat and piercing bass. They can do subtlety too though, and ‘Guns ‘n’ Lovers’ has a feather-light riff dancing on its surface. This is forward thinking music, darkly tinged and with plenty of attitude. They’re going stronger than ever.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
