Categories
Review

Dubmatrix: Rebel Massive

Rebel massive

I was afraid that Jesse King, the Mr. Dubmatix, would leave us towards the mainstream. After the somewhat lovely “System Shakedown” and the club-oriented remixes on “Clash of the Titans”, this assumption was not so far off. But no! The opposite is the case. His new album “Rebel Massive” (Echo Beach), due out April 19th, is just like us Dubheads want it: uncompromising, pure, honest, solid and above all: rebellious and massive. Dubmatix not only stays true to its powerful sound, it even goes a step further. Instead of dancehall fun and lovers comfort, it seems Dubmatix - in the best rebel manner - wanting to kick the globe hard in the buttocks with powerful bass waves (where exactly that is, everyone can decide for themselves). There is something very militant about the music - even if Tenor Fly is toasting from the showdown in the dancehall, there is no doubt that Dubmatix thinks of a completely different showdown with his heavy beat. Horace Andy, on the other hand, seems to have intuitively understood the heavy rhythm of his song when he sings about the end of the world. It is unmistakable: "Rebel Massiv" is not a "beautiful" - it is rather a "shocking" album in the truest sense of the word.

Dubmatix plays virtuously with the steppers sound without falling into the worn clichés of this genre. He is a virtuoso of building rhythms that are concentrated and to the point as well as rich and full of details. The irrepressible power of the is always breathtaking Dubmatix beats. The timing of his tracks is so perfect that the effectiveness of each individual instrument is discharged in absolute synchronicity with the others. The upright, highly dynamic one Dubmatix-Groove is simply unique. And that also explains why his albums, despite all the singers involved, are very well in the drawer of the Dub are canceled. Because unlike “normal” songs, where music fulfills the function of a “backing”, it works Dubmatix always focuses on the music first. Voice and vocals are only instruments of equal rank here - which is also due to the mix, which never puts the vocals in the foreground.

In the second half of the album, the DubMasters from Toronto are a bit more conciliatory, the beats sound a bit softer and vocalists like Manchez, U-Roy and Cornell Campbell have their say in more detail. Instead of taking a beating for eleven tracks, the listener can come to their senses on the last few meters, listen to the sounds of a lovely flute on the Luciano track "Seeds Of Love" and gain some hope. If, yes, if it weren't for the final track “Liberation”, which, like a boxer who is just dropping his fists with a hopeful smile on his lips, gave him a brutal straight right and took him straight to the track 1 promoted back. Okay, fine with me.

Audio sample at Soundcloud

Leave a Comment

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked with * marked

This website uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn more about how your comment data is processed.