Cloaks - Versus Grain

Cloaks - Versus Grain
Genre : Electronica, Noise, Experimental
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01 #00148 2:43
02 Junk 3:49
03 Against 6:17
04 #00162 1:38
05 Rust On Metal 4:38
06 Sixmenace Two 3:49
07 #00197 2:07
08 R.F.I.D. 4:10
09 Detritus 5:23

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This one's been festering in the pipeline for a while now, but it seems like the time has come for Cloaks' debut album 'Versus Grain' to infiltrate and snap at the ankles of a rather complacent dubstep scene. To say that Cloaks are swimming against the tide would be something of an understatement; as opposed to offering the listener 'a breath of fresh air', they have created a sound so dense, it's closer to giving them a boot to the face. Their 'Hi Tek' EP for Werk discs back in 2007 was just the sort of deadly mutant strain that we had hoped dubstep would produce, like the sweat bacteria from a 2005/6 era DMZ rave left to grow into a malignant and bastardized form of it's own. Cloaks use found sound and circuit bent instruments to articulate their noisier tendancies, while creating monolithic slabs of dubstep riddims reminiscent of old style Loefah, Pinch or Vex'd to drive the message home. Tracks like 'Against' or 'Rust On Metal' use relentlessly claustrophobic bass and squalls of industrial noise to pin you to the wall, while dancing is optional. 'SixMenaceTwo' is a darkened highlight, spewing forth sludgy streams of digitally hacked hardware, masking their techniques but making their intent perfectly clear. When a trace of melody attempts to rise about the din on '00197' it's quickly subsumed under a cacophany of billowing bass and shredded metallic klanks, leading to apt comparisons of Trent Reznor performing through Jah Shaka's stacks. This is the heavy heavy dubstep sound that fans of Pan Sonic, Distance, Ben Frost or even the Atak imprint will soak up like a mouldy sponge.