Substak - No Harmonics

 

Released: January 6

As the name suggests, this album eschews any form of harmony, almost to the point of being anti-harmony. The result of the intentional avoidance is a dark trip through deep basses and some occasional and rather sparse percussion. The whole thing feels quite brooding and sinister without being entirely sure if that is its intention. But the use of basses here is just top notch, especially as most come across as distorted and aggressive. A favorite example of this comes on “Sinewave,” a track that features some of this sparse percussion which in this case amounts to just a single closed hi hat being hit in perfect rhythm. The bass on this track is really where the action is at as it wobbles in its top end while providing this extremely deep and rumbling undercurrent of subsonic bass. With the right subwoofers, you can certainly rattle everything in your room or car, including your eardrums.

But an earlier track on the EP, “Tribe” takes an even more minimal approach by ditching any kind of percussion in favor of only the lower rumblings. There’s a little bit of higher pitched sounds but the come across as just wavy sound effects that accompany the deep rumbles. The track before it “Click” takes a similar approach but is far more aggressive in its tone, with some spectacularly deep hits and rumbles. I generally just love the aesthetic behind this album, especially just how heavy it feels despite also feeling very stripped down and minimalistic. It’s a fun, if not extremely dark ride that I would highly recommend you try.