Alexsander Vinter, better known to many whilst operating under the insanely prolific 'complextro' genius moniker Savant, has recently unveiled his 10th opus, entitled πρῶτος (commonly named 'Protos' for those of us that aren't adept at deciphering the Ancient Greek alphabet). Seeing as he has only been active in the music scene since 2011, the fact he has made so much music in this time suggests he is either an alien or a cyborg with synthesisers for arms. Not since Canadian prodigy Venetian Snares has someone been so prolific and consistent, albeit more accessible than Snares', whose sounds are intricate, spastic and near-nightmarish at times. Anyway, I digress; back to the album in question. First off, let's just take a step back to admire just how ridiculously bizarre and OTT the artwork is:
I could end this review right here, to be fair.
The bold Saturday Morning Anime feel of the album sleeve is a deliberate nod to the listener pertaining to what they are about to experience; a bold departure from his trademark sound, often wandering into early nineties electro-pop and beyond. In a scene that is starting to become incredibly saturated by similar sounding artists churning out familiar beats and drops, it was only a matter of time before someone pulled a musical 180. It was also a potentially dangerous move, seeing as some people (read: "hordes of internet trolls") seem to take exception to change.
The album's bio suggests that the inspiration was indeed the cartoons Savant watched whilst growing up; the influence is crystal clear from the get-go, with opener Man of the Law laying down a solid foundation of what's to come. Moving through the album, the ludicrously-yet-aptly titled Laser Sharks could easily be a theme to a Biker Mice from Mars style toon, in which Vinter sings about teenage sharks from outer space, "fighting the American dream", no doubt with tongue firmly lodged in cheek. Rider in Red and Super Sheriff follow a similar narrative vein, although it has to be said that the latter is skimming the fringes of overt cheesiness in place of nostalgic homage.
Of course, this being a Savant album, the entire tracklist is hardly samey, as the listener progresses they are treated to tracks such as Prototype, a track that wouldn't sound out of place scoring the film Drive, save for the oddly placed Hardstyle break at the end. The track Quest appears to be a six-minute-plus homage to early videogames, leaving the more nostalgically inclined of listeners wiping a tear or two from their glistening wide eyes. The only track on the entire album to hint at Savant's 'old' sound is Rise Up, which has a slight dubstep feel to it, but manages to stay within the theme of the album as a whole.
In summary, Protos is undoubtedly a fun, diverse and insanely catchy ride, but may be too drastic a departure from his earlier sound for some fans to digest. Also, and this is a minor gripe, it does seem to feel like it runs on a little long, even though it is actually shorter than his epic masterpieces such as Alchemist and the preceding album Orakel. This could be because it lacks the broad diversity of the aforementioned, seeing as this is more of a concept album than his previous efforts and is therefore more focused on telling a musical tale.
This leaves much speculation as to what Savant's next album will sound like, for now he has broken through the barrier of familiar EDM tropes there is no bounds to where his musical journey could end up. I once observed that, pertaining to an earlier album of his, it reminded me of a Gameboy that had been thrown into a rave entirely populated by various Pokémon. Well, it looks like something has happened; congratulations, Savant has evolved!
- S M
Buy πρῶτος here:
http://shop.savantofficial.com/album/protos
No comments:
Post a Comment