The latest premiere to land on Honey & Bass allows us to indulge in something that hasn’t occurred for a while – a first time feature on the blog for both record label and artist! Bristol’s Spektiv makes a return to Transparent Audio with ‘Pressure‘ EP this week, albeit in a different form compared to what the drum & bass specialists have become accustomed to. Experimenting at a different tempo, Spektiv produces three ‘Honey & Bass friendly’ tunes by bringing his big sounds to the 140 spectrum. He also takes the expertise of NoSine onboard for a killer collab and today’s premiere, ‘Empty Club‘.
‘Howler‘ leads this three headed beast and takes shape as one of Spektiv‘s creepiest creations. A flurry of shape-shifting modulated synths spiral into a dark and murky backdrop, whilst a prominent sense of tension is conjured by sharp rising FX as the synth chatters persist. The drums are tight and the lows go beyond tough, which thankfully translates into the following militant stomper, ‘Pressure‘. As the title track, ‘Pressure‘ is a beast of it’s own, a relentless barrage of stabbing bass growls and fearsome whirring SFX that captures the imposing sound that Spektiv has built at 140bpm. High quality dubstep fundamentals see off the EP with ‘Empty Club‘, a super naughty collaboration with NoSine dominated by gritty, larger than life LFO work. Although the rasping wubs and subs flood the track like a tsunami, the pair rely on well crafted minimalism for the most part, until an absolutely mind bending reese-laced second drop provides a gut busting finale!
Because of my tunnel vision regarding dubstep and their DnB pedigree, both Transparent Audio and Spektiv were understandably unknown to myself up until now. Dabbling in the world of 140, it’s obviously a great move for the label because there’s nothing better than a bit of variety, right? And clearly they know their tunes. But for Spektiv, this 140 move also comes as a raging success, showcasing his obvious talent for pulling off huge bass designs at any level with three of the hardest tunes you’ll hear all week/month/year.
‘Pressure‘ EP is out 08/04/2022 and will be available to download from the Transparent Audio Bandcamp.
Check out Spektiv on Soundcloud and Instagram.
Check out Transparent Audio on Soundcloud and Instagram.