Statix - Mind over matter Review from "onethirtybpm.com"
http://onethirtybpm.com/2010/03/22/the- ... arch-2010/
The first time I heard “Mind Over Matter” I wasn’t sure exactly what the hell I was supposed to think. The track — part of the first release from Bristol’s Statix, on newish label Screw Loose — sounds like pitched-down dentist drills being dragged up and down your face, sadistically accelerating and decelerating as if in some sort of cruel game. “Right now you’re feeling helpless” indeed; it’s relentlessly brutal. Before you sigh, don’t get me wrong: this is sheer horror of the highest order, sounding meaner than anything in recent memory without stooping to camp or self-parody. There are points when the bass becomes so loud it’s almost unbearable, and after a while the initially monotonous synth starts to form a melody, something curiously catchy even as it’s being slowly carved into your skin, its jagged and fraught edges eventually forming some crudely-drawn pentagram. As the track nears its end the sounds become increasingly desperate, sounding like demonic flames voraciously devouring the knobby ends of some water-damaged log, crackling and snapping as if struggling to stay aflame. It ends with a simple dubby drum hit, cheekily acknowledging dubstep’s roots while everyone in the room fumbles around on the floor trying to get up. “Cataract” on the flip is much more beat-oriented, repurposing the drilling synths in between varied percussion that pops up like those plastic creatures in whack-a-mole games, always there to send the track wildly careening in another direction in search of something which it will never actually reach. It’s a frankly amazing first release, and certainly-attention grabbing. I was hooked from the first minute on, and I haven’t looked back since. Sure, it might leave a few scars, but at least it’s something lasting. [AR]