Fronted by label boss man Dub Killer, Subline Audio has continued to fly the Dubstep flag over Eastern Europe for a while now, particularly in it’s home country of Ukraine. The imprint have anchored into the deep dark side of the genre over eight releases and for it’s latest instalment, Subline heads stateside and welcomes little known producer Sling Wave to the label with his debut EP, ‘Time Machine‘. An introduction to many Dubstep fans I’m sure, Sling Wave delivers four dark tracks with a focus on floor shaking sub frequencies and sharp percussion, plus two heavyweight remixes. One of which features as today’s premiere – a remix of the title track ‘Time Machine’ by the experienced Dub Killer.
Easing in with the laid back sounds and moody tones of ‘Downstem‘, Sling Wave introduces his percussive expertise with large snare hits and super slick fills. That clear and precise, with the right system, it’s like the young producer is playing it live in your room. He sticks with the stripped back, streamlined vibe for the title track ‘Time Machine‘, however this one delivers a more powerful punch through the thudding kicks and tough, resolute wubs throughout. As were the case on the previous ‘Downstem‘, Sling Wave opens up his crate of effective leading tones, where a natural vivid flute is seamlessly worked in. On the final solo track ‘Repertoire‘, Sling Wave homes in on the space ‘n bass aspect of his sound, focusing on clever percussive breaks alongside monster low and mid range incisions. The lengthy, breathy chords certainly guides the track into the realms of deep mediation for the duration, adding welcome variety to the record’s ambience. Amongst the percussive precision and ominous leads, Sling Wave also teams of with label boss man Dub Killer on the mighty ‘Minotaur‘. You can certainly identify Dub Killer‘s antics on this one, plunging the EP into the deepest darkest depths on the record with a mean floor shaking low end.
As I’ve noted previously on H&B, a great EP is always rounded off by a heavyweight remix and Sling Wave‘s ‘Time Machine‘ is given an effective over haul not once, but twice. Also representing Ukraine, Sniper FX doesn’t shy away from the original drum lead composition and enhances the track into an intensified, rapid fire composition with added low end rumbles and powerful mid range snarls. Whereas today’s premiere sees Dub Killer make his mark on the ‘Time Machine‘ by importing a breezy, classic sound to the release, including a smooth yet stomping ‘dubby’ low end and vibrant chord stabs to match. Possibly my favourite out of the six alongside ‘Minotaur‘.
A solid and satisfying listen, ‘Time Machine‘ EP sees Sling Wave get a strong foot in the door of the genre and sets a good marker on his potential. Looking forward to seeing more from the US based producer and indeed the continuing growth of Subline Audio.
SUBLINE009 is out this Thursday (13th August) and available to download from the Subline Audio Bandcamp.
Check out Sling Wave on Soundcloud.
Check out Dub Killer on Soundcloud.
Check out Subline Audio on Soundcloud.
