Split The Atom

A comment on the soundcloud for the single release of 'Machine Gun'
(on this album and a definite fave) says it all: 'So that's what a
melted face feels like.'

These fine Noisia chaps certainly have not let us down: it's
clinically arranged and produced d&b, funk and bass... just not in the places you may expect to find them. That's their thing. Skillz from hell just like the title suggests, as 'Split The Atom' is HEAVYWEIGHT in this department and is yearning for a good club system to test and probably smash to pieces. Opener 'Sunhammer' wades in with such an intention, and throws down the gauntlet immediately as it draws on the formidable talents of the man like Amon Tobin, that Ninja Tune maverick who doesn't simply 'perform gigs', he turns them into into an dizzying excuse for a 5.5 digital surround-sound battering. So he fits Noisia's agenda perfectly then. The signature Noisia smashers are here en masse, notably the heavy skanking smash from a few years back, Diplodocus', sick 4/4 belters such as the title track and 'Red Heat', the full-bore crackhead anthem 'Stigma', the Dylan/Therapy-esque 'Shellshock' and the GIANT-sized 'My World'... oh my days the list goes on and on. Fans of the Virus sound, of Pendulum's attack & of Spor's devious delivery will punch the air with glee.

It must be said that 'Split The Atom' is peppered with some
downtempo/oddball departures ('Dystopia', 'Leakage' and 'Square Feet' for example), ensuring that it's an engaging listen throughout as well. These are fractured times for d&b and 'Split The Atom' is a key document, perfect to satiate heads who love it all: the messy
crunchers, the glitch, the moody sci-fi paintpeelers ('Apha Centauri') and is easy going to figure high in many 'best of' lists when all's said and done. Class.