Last month Sydney hip hop duo Suburban Dark released their newest album, 'Death From Below'.
It features some of the country’s most sought-after emcees including Jeswon (Thundamentals), TELL (Mantra & Grey Ghost), P.Smurf, DJ Cost and Rapaport.
"Working with such an eclectic bunch of artists, 'Death From Below' seemed to make sense the more we added to it. It’s like a mutant beast with all our influences together," Chris Irvine (one half of Suburban Dark) says.
We asked the guys to breakdown the album into their favourite tracks, which they've done supplying us with quotes for the following 4 tracks… we're sure they love equally the other tracks, but parents always have their favourites. Always.
'Deathsport'
"As the first track of any album you want to make your mark and this track does exactly that. It starts with SD's iconic sinister Moog synth and leads the listener into a deep bass groove."The opener is accompanied by a foreboding monotonous sample: 'let the punishment begin' and trivially manages to loop through the entire track without raising too much attention.
"Funnily enough, the bass is actually a sample which has quite an obscure rhythm, which in turn heavily influenced the placement of the beat. The kicks remind us of punching combinations haha!"
'Supernova feat. Jeswon'
"This one takes the cake for us. 'Supernova' is a kind of a sequel to our previous collaboration with Jeswon ('Skeletonne'). It's powerful, relentless drum & bass crushes leaving nothing behind."Jeswon absolutely slays this track with prowess, making his technical delivery seem effortless. It’s no wonder he is considered one of the best emcees in country."
'Out Of Spite'
"This almost atonal disgrace of a beat is one of, if not our favourite instrumental beat of the album. It’s what we call a fully-blown anti-social anthem."The kick and snare drives its way through the sharp, grinding metallic jungle while the narcotic tones of the sampled voice ushers you through to the other side. Nothing on this track is nice."
'Contaminated'
"Apart from it being one of our most banger-ish tunes, 'Contaminated' has a number of defined sections. It starts with an eerie loop accompanied by a menacing monolog of a sociopath (taken from the classic 1968 horror classic 'Pretty Poison').
"The second section opens with a pounding onslaught of constant bass escorted by a sledgehammer-like beat taking a shot of adrenaline.
"The final instalment is a poisonous groove slipping through the hazy aftermath, with the return of our deviant narrator explaining the spread of a type of venom."
