CD, Ad Noiseam, 2004
cdatakill.c8.com
After last year’s “Paradise”, Zak Roberts’ Cdatakill strikes again with his second CD release, “The Cursed Species”. The darkly abstract artwork and nihilistic titles pretty much give an idea of what mood one can expect, but the real treat starts soon after hitting “Play”.
Saturation levels of breakbeats that’d put jackhammers to shame collide with eerie samples and synths throughout the album, while slower and darker moments of ambience are spread among tracks, serving well the purpose of chilling you down (or creeping you out, for the fainter of heart). However, don’t expect 5-minute long interludes and such, since there’s just too many drumloops running around (or rampant) for the listener to have enough time to cool down.
My favorite characteristic of the album is that while there are enough differences between tracks to discern them as such, the album plays much better if you listen to it from start to end as a whole, a task easy thanks to Roberts’ unique blend of continuity and variety in sound. Indeed, the album plays out very smoothly, reminding me of a martial artist’s moves, the graceful flurry of rhythm and beats punching you around and giving you just enough breathing time to survive until the final blow, which is just how the final track, “A Death Worth Re-Living” can be described as: leaking with aural malice, this multi-layered wall of sheer noise is meant to cause aggravated ear damage and nothing less.
An album that’ll be adored by the breakcore and IDM crowds, but with enough aggression and “oontz” to appeal to the more powernoise oriented folk, “The Cursed Species” is a brilliant display of talent. Let us hope that Cdatakill keeps up the good work.
[8/10]
— George Mouratidis