With his last solo multi-track Time Come EP releasing over two years ago, a new Critical Impact LP was announced this year with its first single “Pitch Black” featuring MC Coppa dropping in August. Interest has now reached fever pitch for the Soundboy Killa LP and the wait is almost over. With the first few singles predicting a huge diversity of sound and lots of dancefloor vibes, Bassrush has the last premiere of the track “Tired” before Soundboy Killa drops tomorrow on RUN Records.
The track roster on Soundboy Killa runs the gamut of sounds and subgenres. From the melodic and ravey vibes in “Pretty Girl” to the snare-heavy jungle style of “Pitch Black”, there’s something for everyone on this LP. That said, CI is still far from pandering to certain subgenres, as every track on this joint is classically, unmistakably his own unique style. Each track has eerie darkstep and techstep elements and complex throwback syncopation in the beats to hold up all that lovely sound design and those unique snares.
“Tired” closes the album out with a wonderful hybrid of classic and modern sounds. It’s clear Critical Impact isn’t on the foghorn bandwagon in the same way many artists have been this year but it’s pretty impossible to ignore the foghorn blasting throughout the track. It’s integrated in a different way, however, in that it doesn’t just sine wave in and out from nowhere. It’s sort of its own synth. At the beginning it announces another synth, a more melodic snippet which runs alongside the minimal drumline. There’s every little other audible ambient sound other than the foghorn echo and the classic darkstep intro and break.
When broken down, “Tired” is extremely minimal but because of the voracity of foghorn and super-clean darkstep snap beat, it seems just as full and robust as any dancefloor heater. Therein lies the genius of Critical Impact: the name is appropriate because he’s able to make such an impact with his vibes, sick as hell snares and subliminal sound design. No matter how diverse the flavors of each track on Soundboy Killa get, that “Critical Impact” is felt throughout the LP.
Soundboy Killa releases on RUN Records tomorrow, December 6. Check out the other tracks and pre-save the album on Spotify or pre-order now on Beatport.