Shades - Black Heart Communion EP

It would be hard to be unbiased on this chronicle because Shades represent one of my biggest influence in bass music, and I am very excited every time when they is new stuffs from this duo composed with Alix Perez and Eprom.

Black Heart Communion EP available on the label Deadbeats and itʼs composed of 5 tracks with a gliding intro and outro to start and finish on a dark and atmospheric mood.

Lurking

The first track is untitled “Lurking” and their is inside some cavernous sonorities with a lead song that remind me some minimal tracks.

Two One Six

The second track is “Two One Six”. Really slow bpm, this track is close to a dubstep rhythm with some trap elements (particularly the kick). This slow rhythm allowed to may way for various and massive bass sounds. Decorated with some vocal elements (male and female) and some FX that comes subtly thanks to a very fine sound design.

Iron Sharpens Iron

The following track is “Iron Sharpens Iron”. Probably the masterpiece of this EP, this tune mix hip hop with bass music for the best of the Halftime production. The secret of this beat is obtained by a nice drum kit on a boom/bap style (the snare is particularly infernal) with an incredible bassline which stays in head.

Add to this voice samples that seems to came from tracks like Ante Up from M.O.P. (probably not, but it reminds me this track) and also a Jamaican voice at the beginning. Like a syncopated guitar chord in reggae music, the short voice samples in this track do the same effect. Very particular from Shades sounds, the rise of this music, like The Saga on their last LP, use the process of amplify the lead progressively before sent all the power of this lead after the drop.

Black Heart Communion

The next track, that gave the name of this EP use also a slow rhythm. This tune use breakbeat elements with drum samples to counterbalance the binary aspect of the main drums. Another Jamaican sample in this track that says clearly “bloodclaat” and seems to illustrate this incredible bassline flood.

Womb

To close this EP, Womb, in a same manner like the intro, leaves the room to atmospheric sounds that are create by the use of delays and long reverb. Add to this a noise sound that come and go back to finish in the abyss of the silence.

To conclude, this is another wicked EP from Shades. We still find inside the secret tools of product that Alix Perez & Eprom love to use for our undisguised pleasure.