The follow up of last year’s “Monsters Vol. 3” it’s finally here and Josh Gard, better known as Figure, will not let his fans down. “Monsters Vol. 4” it’s a little bit more atmospheric and dark, but maybe a little bit less aggressive and contorted as the previous release. Still, this is another classic “horror epics”, and eventually will grind you down before you even notice.
The atmosphere is fabulous throughout! The “Deaths Gospel” intro is suggestive and scary like a graveyard at midnight while the following “The Crypt feat. Khadfi Dub” explode in your speakers. It’s a perfect mix of post-industrial heaviness and contorted dub/EDM. “Center of Hell” continues in the same direction, contortions and drops are mixed up with solid synth riffs and powerful dance beats. “Nightmares” slow down only to be even more heavy and menacing. Love the psycho piano in it. “The Giant Eyeball” start with a kind of 8-bit/pinball feel, but turns into a real monster. Noisy and contorted it’s like an extreme space trip merged with a horror story. “The Blob” is a classy dubstep/drumstep butchery, the intense beat throughout it’s colored by noisy and contorted layers and synths.
“Symphony of the Damned” it’s another soundscape perfectly suitable for a movie, Figure like to play with this type of atmospheric breaks and interludes. “Living Dead” it’s a sick and noisy grinding, maybe a little bit less colorful, but still pretty aggressive. “Are You Afraid Of The Dark” (feat. Lexi Norton) it’s a nice little escape in a more smoother area, at least the verses singed by Lexi Norton are darker and chiller while the instrumental breaks are noisier and contorted. Another collaboration with Dirty Deeds bring to the surface “The Blob Returns” and EDM flavored modern dance track with some really heavy contortions and drops. “Ade Due Damballa” it’s another classy Figure monster made out of heavy synths, drops, noises and murderous beats. “The Devil” it’s a heavy and aggressive beat unleashed while the closing “Cocytus” it’s a little bit slower, but still intense track with industrial roots, reminding me of the original “Doom” game soundtrack.
Cool. Very good sound, some extreme synths and great beats, Figure definitively it’s one of the top producers of the genre. My only concern is that this genre/style becomes pretty predictable and I think some fresh blood, new ideas and approaches, eventually more adventurous and experimental spirit would open new perspectives, otherwise this will eat-up its own-self pretty soon. Already the scene it’s overpopulated with mediocre and sub-mediocre mainstream wannabes and they will bury the whole genre anyway…
Figure – Official Site
Figure @ Soundcloud
Figure @ Beatport
