Who remembers “Tarantula”? A anthem drum & bass of the early 2000s, omnipresent in every social center and party with a minimum of sympathy for the riddim jungle. That song, capable of combining vocal ragga with amen break cybernetics, was a success and, for some, a generational voice.
Twenty years have passed since then, between endless tours and limited releases: the new album represents the fourth studio work, or the fifth if we consider “The Reworks”, a collection of remixes.
There were no expectations to be denied: the band continues in its predictable formula of jump-ups And drop constant on riff who flirt with alternative fashions, from the rock of “In Silico” in 2008 to brostep of “Immersion” in 2010, up to the contaminations alt-metal of “Inertia”, treated in their most form mainstream.
The sixteen tracks oscillate between drum & bass from dancefloorthe most spectacular one and punchylike Chase & Status or Netsky, and an industrial rock that looks more at the radio than at sonic research or nihilism.
The script is cliché: crescendoing verses and choruses, pumped synths and soon-forgotten vocal melodies. So much energy for nothing. What emerges is a disappointing work, which attempts to merge apparently distant worlds but of which it only captures the surface. Crescendo repetitions and exaggerated productions follow one another for fifty-four minutes that seem infinite.
23/10/2025
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
