Rout - Spirit Of Humanity
8/10
Released: 5/4/10
Fans of Enter Shikari may recognise the name Rout, whether from his numerous remixes of Enter Shikari tracks, or because this is frontman Rou Reynolds’ sideproject.
This album is first and foremost, a dubstep album, but be warned Skrillex fans, this dubstep is more akin to Rusko, Benga and Skream, than to the American “brostep” made popular by Kill The Noise and Skrillex. If you’ve never heard of Rusko and the like, go do so now. As in, right now. Go.
The opening track on this album, “Anthemics” sounds like it was taken straight from a Caspa EP, with a literal “wubwubwub” bassline. The track “Why I Am Not A Christian” has a more Doctor P style sound, with a chunky bassline and an excerpt from a Terry Pratchet audiobook.
The 5th track on the album, “Troglodytes”, has, in my opinion, on of the best build-ups in dubstep, sounding like a hybrid of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name with the distortion of Justice’s Waters Of Nazareth.
However, it is with the last 4 tracks on the album that Rout really steps out of the other dubstep artist’s shadows. Ctrl C Ctrl V is a fast, uptempo drum and bass track, with vocals from Rou himself and some great layering with the bassline, drumbeat and melody.
Rid Of It is great, quite frankly, with a punchy bassline and a stomping drum beat. There isn’t actually anything more to say on the subject really.
Better Than We Be (my personal favorite from the album) is a collaboration with Matty P, who Enter Shikari fans may recognise from the live version of Hectic, found on the album Tribalism. A simple looping beat is the only thing that makes up this track, aside from the vocals, but this just adds more emphasis to Matty’s vocals.
And the final track on the album, Are You Lost?, which can be best described as “house-step”. A excellent track to round off the album, with it’s upbeat feel, wobbly bass and soothing vocals.
In Short:
Good - Excellent introduction to “proper” dubstep
Bad - May not entice fans of Skrillex and the like.
Favorite Tracks:
Rid Of It
Better Than We Be
Tracklisting:
Anthemics
Confusion
Why I Am Not A Christian
Understand - (Feat. Teef)
Troglodytes
Stagnant
Ctrl V Ctrl C
Rid Of It
Better Than We Be (Feat. Matty P)
Are You Lost?
not exactly shikari but the rout album is fucking fantastic and a must hear.
