D.E.A.D. - S.T.I.L.L.D.E.A.D (12" vinyl)

This one’s interesting! It’s the latest mini-album from Dutch “doom-dub” practitioner D.E.A.D., a spacious, head-nodding journey through six tracks of sinister analogue constructions which take the melodic and structural templates of classic dub and turn it into a nightmarish soundscape of dark synth squiggles, throbbing bass and slow drifting electronic beats.

Things do liven up a little on closer ‘Black’, which heads into Rephlex-esque insomniac dystopian electronic territory with some bubbly arpeggios but the mood throughout is pretty bleak and weird, even when the melodies are fairly upbeat and reggae-informed, particularly notable on ‘The Root of All’. Although I’m finding it a little bit hit-and-miss, I can say I’ve never heard anything quite like it, and when he hits his stride there’s some excellent sounds, like Pye Corner Audio aping King Tubby’s darker moments maybe? Probably a bit crisper than that but you get what I’m saying. It’s really weird, and mostly good!