Seething Akira
Dubstep is one of those genres which kind of passed me by, I guess I was too caught up in my ‘I only listen to metal’ phase at the time, but of late I’ve been on a bit of a journey of discovery and have begun to check it out a bit more. In line with this, we were contacted by Seething Akira, a 3 piece electro/rap/dubstep group from Portsmouth, about their latest EP, Incoming Transmission. Ever the open minded chaps we are here at Loud-Stuff, I thought I’d check this out to see what’s going on!
Note – the order in which the tracks have been reviewed is the order in which they appeared on my computer, and don’t necessarily represent the order of the EP.
Opening the EP with Come Here…Chicken! there’s an immediate smack in the face from a heavy bass line, the dirty backing music forming under the loud and powerful vocals to create a sound which isn’t just bass heavy, it’s also funky and downright dirty. Spitting lyrics, hammering bass rhythms and synth effects fading in and out throughout the track, this is the sort of track which is going to get a venue pumping and people moving, the bass alone is going to shake people into moving whether they want to or not! What’s most striking throughout the track is the range of samples which have been included, gradually all coming together to the final moments of the track , adopting a drum and bass style tempo to finish things and leaving you with a solid shot of adrenaline to keep you going.
Dead Rabbits continues the EP, this time opening with a sample which fades the track into being, moving into a more stereotypical rap style beat with spat out lyrics over it. More conventional in form, the different layers of synth and sample are the key elements here, adding further depth to things to form a sound which is massively loud, deep and powerful throughout. Half of my issue with the likes of dubstep has always been the lack of musical depth, but that’s been disproven here for sure, the track is massive! Even Angels Break Hearts comes up next, opening with a syncopated beat which forms around the synth before ushering in the hard hitting vocals once again. Multiple layers of synth and effects form around the vocals on this track, keeping the main elements of the track alive and the sound varied. There’s something atmospheric about this track, the synth effects forming around to keep a sense of the ‘out there’ going through things, even going so far as to add in a lead guitar line just to add that rock edge.
Closing with Neil Buchanan (wasn’t he in art attack or something?) there’s one last chance to bear witness to the bass heavy rhythms of Seething Akira, opening as they mean to go on and holding no punches throughout the track. Lyrics wise there’s a lot of anger throughout this track, showing off their more aggressive edge and throwing in more rock samples to keep the track alive and moving. This track stands out as my own personal favourite from the selection, there’s just something about it which made me want to crank the volume up high and go mental to, an awesome finish to things.
Normally, Seething Akira would be a band I’d read up on and think no, but in this case I’m glad we set out with a more open mind. What’s on show here is a band that class themselves within one genre, but actually fall within numerous different ones, their tracks offering different takes on different styles of music whether they realise it or not, and each track coming as a showcase of what the band can do. If this is dubstep then you know what, I think I like it!
To find out more about Seething Akira, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Download their EP for FREE - HERE
Words: Dave Nicholls
Note – the order in which the tracks have been reviewed is the order in which they appeared on my computer, and don’t necessarily represent the order of the EP.
Opening the EP with Come Here…Chicken! there’s an immediate smack in the face from a heavy bass line, the dirty backing music forming under the loud and powerful vocals to create a sound which isn’t just bass heavy, it’s also funky and downright dirty. Spitting lyrics, hammering bass rhythms and synth effects fading in and out throughout the track, this is the sort of track which is going to get a venue pumping and people moving, the bass alone is going to shake people into moving whether they want to or not! What’s most striking throughout the track is the range of samples which have been included, gradually all coming together to the final moments of the track , adopting a drum and bass style tempo to finish things and leaving you with a solid shot of adrenaline to keep you going.
Dead Rabbits continues the EP, this time opening with a sample which fades the track into being, moving into a more stereotypical rap style beat with spat out lyrics over it. More conventional in form, the different layers of synth and sample are the key elements here, adding further depth to things to form a sound which is massively loud, deep and powerful throughout. Half of my issue with the likes of dubstep has always been the lack of musical depth, but that’s been disproven here for sure, the track is massive! Even Angels Break Hearts comes up next, opening with a syncopated beat which forms around the synth before ushering in the hard hitting vocals once again. Multiple layers of synth and effects form around the vocals on this track, keeping the main elements of the track alive and the sound varied. There’s something atmospheric about this track, the synth effects forming around to keep a sense of the ‘out there’ going through things, even going so far as to add in a lead guitar line just to add that rock edge.
Closing with Neil Buchanan (wasn’t he in art attack or something?) there’s one last chance to bear witness to the bass heavy rhythms of Seething Akira, opening as they mean to go on and holding no punches throughout the track. Lyrics wise there’s a lot of anger throughout this track, showing off their more aggressive edge and throwing in more rock samples to keep the track alive and moving. This track stands out as my own personal favourite from the selection, there’s just something about it which made me want to crank the volume up high and go mental to, an awesome finish to things.
Normally, Seething Akira would be a band I’d read up on and think no, but in this case I’m glad we set out with a more open mind. What’s on show here is a band that class themselves within one genre, but actually fall within numerous different ones, their tracks offering different takes on different styles of music whether they realise it or not, and each track coming as a showcase of what the band can do. If this is dubstep then you know what, I think I like it!
To find out more about Seething Akira, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Download their EP for FREE - HERE
Words: Dave Nicholls
