DJ Nihilist Singles Reviews
From our interview with DJ Nihilist, it's no question that he is going to have great things lying in wait for him. The first and most notable of those is his most recent release, Outer World Bounce!
Outer World Bounce
Outer World Bounce is the first of DJ Nihilist's 2020 arsenal, and it's a worthy successor to his previous electronic and dubstep jams. Opening with an alien buzz, spaceship synth, and old sci-fi sample of a scientist on an unprecedented journey, Nihilist's grime-y beat kicks in and breathes and reverberates; its purpose to transport listeners into the deep recesses of our imaginations. Its vocal sample is heady, and the sound design boggles the mind when the bass makes waves and crawls and feels very much alive. Pulling out from this fuzzy and wobbly drawl and into a spontaneous groove, it makes its final syncopated motion playful before its pulse cuts out. The journey ends as it plays up the psychedelic sample that speaks alongside a buzzing machine that ultimately fades.
Voyager Lost
Voyager Lost, the second most recent single, follows close by for its August 2019 release. Opening with a spine-tingling set of computer bleeps and vocalized memories that echo from a dark and mysterious void, this track pulls listeners into a slow unfurling of electronic dance music that has become popularized in the EDM scene with its atmosphere of sensual waves and a steady approaching bass that washes over the listener. It doesn't take long for Nihilist's primal bass to wake up and flutter its grime-y form, sounding almost like a monstrous beast that is waking and stretching its limbs.After the unforgettable bass creeps through this first movement, Nihilist morphs its shape on the spot as radio signals beep and bloop, on a long and distant voyage to anyone who can hear them. The automation at play here swings like a pendulum and displays Nihilist's adept ability at crisp production and sound design. It's amalgam of almost-living bass effects, nostalgic piano chords, echoing synths and moaning female vocalizations make Voyager Lost the linchpin of modern dubstep.
Existential
Finally, Existential is a ground-pounding and head-banging piece of music. If there was only one way to describe its killer mixture of aggression and sonic assault, it would be full-blown, but we have an opportunity to dive deep into this track that poses a very existential threat to every DJ who spins it and listener who thrashes to it. Opening with just the right amount of eerie synths and horror atmosphere, its opening is short and sweet, as the man in the track delivers a warning to the wary, "better watch out!" The track pulls out from there into a lane all its own and full horrorcore dubstep burns up the track, littered with all the dark and foreboding effects that any fan would expect or want to hear. There's sinister laughs, reminders that you "cannot outrun death," and that if not careful you'll be taken out. Its a single that is the makings a producer on the search for perfection in song composition and design.Final Thoughts
Nihilist's final preceding releases pull from other diverse backgrounds of music. Night Terrors takes a melodic horror spin that almost verges into the style of hip or trip-hop before the super imposing bass tears the track up. His Space Highway EP show off his humble beginnings and yet more styles that Nihilist is willing to explore in his musical career, including that of reggae and danceable electronic goodness (Space Highway), a mix-up of big band/reggae/dubstep styles (Good Vibrations), and mind altering and reverb-soaked dub (Time).From each of these releases even dating back to his debut Space Highway EP, DJ Nihilist shows a magnitude of promise and focus, both in his willingness to veer into multiple grooves within a single track and to show his song structures and designs as they evolve over time. His upcoming DJ set at New Haven's Christ'y Pub on Tuesday, February 25 is a house set, which will be another avenue Nihilist is intent on exploring. Check out his singles, support local music, and check out his night this Tuesday!
