Random Circuits

Shackleton - “Soundboy’s Suicide Note” [Skull Disco] (buy)

Skull Disco celebrate their 10th release with four killer cuts of dark, cold, atmospheric & ultra deep dubstep/… tracks from label boss Sam Shackleton. “Soundboy’s Suicide Note” is Shackleton’s darkest & finest EP to date to come from this ground breaking label where once again we have the pleasure of Vengeance Tenfold on vocals who some of you will remember from Shackleton’s earlier release this year which was also released on Skull Disco - ”Death Is Not Final”.

The Rope Tightens is a dark & mysterious trip into Shackleton’s wonderfully fucked up world. Coming straight in with Tenfold’s claustrophobic monologue and Shackleton’s dark uneasy textures, which set the tone perfectly, there is something very empty & void about “The Rope Tightens” but at the same time this is what makes it so special. Mysterious loose snaking percussion and the eerie, atmospheric bass is heavy the synths are cold & unforgiving and the vocals are utterly trippy & bound to fuck with your mind. Shackleton’s intricate & signature middle eastern percussion is rhythmic, clicky, cold & fantastic the sub bass has so much strength and depth to it, every time you play it you will get lost in a world of fine rattling middle eastern percussion and uneasy textures. The monologue itself which is credited to (N. Banner) is a dark poem like piece of writing (told by Vengeance Tenfold) which eventually distorts & breaks up through Shackleton’s expertly crafted sub -bass bassline & unforgiving pure evil whisping synths.

But The Branch Is Weak is a follow up to “The Rope Tightens” & is equally as dark & cold. Packed with a warping synthline so scary & mysterious it would fit a horror movie down to a T. Again the percussion is precise and on line the bassline is nasty & full of depth and the tin drums are loose yet intricate with the rest of the track. “Under the water there are traps, hidden depths” he says … There’s certainly some hidden depths here, the synthline reminds me of classic Plastikman combined with an early Villalobos style percussion all of which Shackleton has down perfectly. Evil.

In The Void is a dark percussive piece of experimental music. Tight middle eastern percussion and an unforgiving howling wind like synthline play out next to tight shaker percussion and an eerie vocal. Disturbingly good.

Shortwave is a tight atmospheric piece full of rolling percussion and a killer deep atmospheric synth which reminds me of the dead of night and a howling gale rushing though the trees outside.

Listen with caution.

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