Black Saturn vs subduxtion – Cosmic Sorcery EP
subduxtion writes futuristic electro / hip-hop and Black Saturn writes spacey meta-rap. They have worked together on other projects previously, including a full length album 'Ancient Kingdom' (Alrealon Music) and an EP on 'Future Noise' (BRAINSODOMY). This release is quite different in tone from the 'Future Noise' EP (which was darker and more sci-fi) having an almost pop feel with tinges of 8-bit lo-fi sensibility. It is also a concept EP, telling the story of “Metalman - the first afro-alchemist”, but don't hold your breath on that front though because I'm damned if I can discern any kind of story from whats going on. The beats are sparse but motive, giving plenty of room for the occasional synth stab and melodic flourish, but minimal seems to be the order of the day. This, in combination with the slightly retro feel of the production, has given the music a very original but slightly odd feel which is enhanced by restrained approach to vocals taken by Black Saturn, a talented rapper who is obviously influenced by the likes of Beans, Kool Keith et al. He has a nasal, high pitched delivery which is distinctive and unexpectedly appealing and also has a fondness for polysyllabic vocabulary which is frowned on in conventional rap but is one of the best features of so called “genius rap”. However, it feels like his vocals have taken second place to the music for this EP, and in my opinion there is almost too little going on at times.I enjoyed this EP but it seems to lack a little weight in some way. I really like “Metalman Speaks” and “Recluse” but the other tracks didn't leave too much of an impression . There is nothing I can point to specifically but the tracks fail to impress themselves on me as immediately as, say, tracks like 'My New Spacesuit' on the 'Future Noise' EP.
On the positive side, this duo are creating a strong and unique identity for themselves with neither artist resorting to tried and tested cliché. This kind of experimentation will give rise to unpredictable results, but it will also be a lot more likely to get them noticed in the morass of music on the internet.
Finally, I am happy to report that 'Metalman Speaks' will be played on BBC Radio 6 in the near future so it looks like they might already have won the first battle, if not the war.
