Going back just a couple of years, an up and coming band by the name THE QEMISTS emerged from Brighton, UK, grabbing the attention of rockers and ravers alike. Having already been around for a couple of years prior, even finding themselves supporting the likes of ENTER SHIKARI on tour, they were still a project looking to find their place, looking for their own glass slipper so to speak and that search, led them to 2015's "Warrior Sound". The album, released through Amazing Record Co. was 45mins of some of the freshest, crisp crossover electronic rock you could ask for, combining their original rock band idea with their fondness of DJ sets and Breakbeat...finding themselves sounding like latter-day PENDULUM in some aspects with a heavy grime influence. Collaborations helped too, with the likes of HACKTIVIST and Kenta from CROSSFAITH getting involved only further backing up this groups credibility...they found themselves signing to FiXT over in the US for American distribution, alongside artists such as CELLDWELLER and THE ALGORITHM. Now settled in, they've treated their fans State-side to a brand new EP "Warrior Soundsystem"...an add-on so to speak following up from the last album...let's check it out!
We open up with brand new track "Stepping Stones" and we're greeted with a pretty guitar-driven introduction...from the word go this track is fueled by riffs, a strong hard rock / metal influence at the core of this track, but it's brilliantly balanced with some classic drum & bass, the beat driving the track forward alongside Bruno Balanta's grimy, hip-hop vocals, while Oliver Simmons utilizes the grittier approach for a genuinely catchy chorus; it's ballsy and authoritative and the electronic breakdown rounds the track off well. Immediately after this, well holy shit...it's only a cover of "Blind"...yes...that blind...by KORN. We all know Korn, the godfathers of nu-metal haven't exactly been shy when it comes to dabbling in dub-step, but what happens when a predominantly dub-step outfit does a bit of role reversal? Can they do such an iconic track justice? Yes and no...while the electronica adds some truly dark atmospherics to an already disturbing track; freshening up a track over twenty years old, it's just not quite Jonathan Davis is it...ambitious though, credit to them.
Sticking to new tracks, the EP includes "Find My Way" and it opens up with some slick, UK underground rap / hip-hop, again channeling that grime-influence which we've seen emerge as one of the hottest genre's in the UK right now thanks to the likes of STORMZY and SKEPTA...musically the electronica is a little stripped back for the most part, as are the guitars; it's darker overall, yet it's spiritual, personal soul-searching again, touching on my earlier comment on them looking for their place in the world, it's a solid track ending with a climatic key-change sequence. The rest of the EP consists of remixes and a single live track...five in total...three of which are "Jungle" (-_-) first off, the live track is "Jungle" and it's really not necessary here, it really isn't, this belongs on a proper live album, it doesn't bring anything to the EP and the EP doesn't benefit from it being here, it's essentially filler. The first remix is by masked Venezuelan DJ ZARDONIC, the garage/trance qualities injecting life into the track, picking up in pace over it's run time with an interesting solo to boot, while the other, a remix by German drum & bass artist VOICIANS; taking the track literally, utilizing a rich jungle style with softer synths; the more aesthetic of the two.
Overall, the new tracks are good and provide great additional content to the previous album, making their mark on the FiXT roster in the process, the Korn cover, again, it has to be said fair dues to them, far from the easiest track to work with...the rest of the EP isn't exactly bad, the other two remixes ("Warrior Sound" and "Run You") had their place, but the inclusion of three versions of "Jungle" was just a bit much, two of them could have been different tracks entirely, there are better tracks on the album that deserve revisiting to be honest, a "Let It Burn" remix for example would have been a much better choice than that live track...even though all remixes are different, they could have given American listeners more variety here on their first release for the label in terms of their back catalog...other than that, a decent EP. Now I'm off to check out the new Jumanji...oh for fuck's sake...more jungles...[6]
We open up with brand new track "Stepping Stones" and we're greeted with a pretty guitar-driven introduction...from the word go this track is fueled by riffs, a strong hard rock / metal influence at the core of this track, but it's brilliantly balanced with some classic drum & bass, the beat driving the track forward alongside Bruno Balanta's grimy, hip-hop vocals, while Oliver Simmons utilizes the grittier approach for a genuinely catchy chorus; it's ballsy and authoritative and the electronic breakdown rounds the track off well. Immediately after this, well holy shit...it's only a cover of "Blind"...yes...that blind...by KORN. We all know Korn, the godfathers of nu-metal haven't exactly been shy when it comes to dabbling in dub-step, but what happens when a predominantly dub-step outfit does a bit of role reversal? Can they do such an iconic track justice? Yes and no...while the electronica adds some truly dark atmospherics to an already disturbing track; freshening up a track over twenty years old, it's just not quite Jonathan Davis is it...ambitious though, credit to them.
Sticking to new tracks, the EP includes "Find My Way" and it opens up with some slick, UK underground rap / hip-hop, again channeling that grime-influence which we've seen emerge as one of the hottest genre's in the UK right now thanks to the likes of STORMZY and SKEPTA...musically the electronica is a little stripped back for the most part, as are the guitars; it's darker overall, yet it's spiritual, personal soul-searching again, touching on my earlier comment on them looking for their place in the world, it's a solid track ending with a climatic key-change sequence. The rest of the EP consists of remixes and a single live track...five in total...three of which are "Jungle" (-_-) first off, the live track is "Jungle" and it's really not necessary here, it really isn't, this belongs on a proper live album, it doesn't bring anything to the EP and the EP doesn't benefit from it being here, it's essentially filler. The first remix is by masked Venezuelan DJ ZARDONIC, the garage/trance qualities injecting life into the track, picking up in pace over it's run time with an interesting solo to boot, while the other, a remix by German drum & bass artist VOICIANS; taking the track literally, utilizing a rich jungle style with softer synths; the more aesthetic of the two.
Overall, the new tracks are good and provide great additional content to the previous album, making their mark on the FiXT roster in the process, the Korn cover, again, it has to be said fair dues to them, far from the easiest track to work with...the rest of the EP isn't exactly bad, the other two remixes ("Warrior Sound" and "Run You") had their place, but the inclusion of three versions of "Jungle" was just a bit much, two of them could have been different tracks entirely, there are better tracks on the album that deserve revisiting to be honest, a "Let It Burn" remix for example would have been a much better choice than that live track...even though all remixes are different, they could have given American listeners more variety here on their first release for the label in terms of their back catalog...other than that, a decent EP. Now I'm off to check out the new Jumanji...oh for fuck's sake...more jungles...[6]
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