Grooves Magazine: Valentine
Denver-based producer Zak Roberts is certainly no stranger to fans of all things breakcore, having released a slew of characteristically aggressive records since the early ’90s on a number of different labels including Zhark and Lo Res. Valentine represents a significant break from the rapid-fire breakbeats of 2004’s The Cursed Species and shows Roberts venturing into dub-infected downbeat atmospheric soundscapes—though all of his trademark menacing tension is definitely still present. Staccato metallic outings such as the densely polyrhythmic “You Are Mine” definitely carry more than a hint of early Skinny Puppy in the way that they blend eerie, gracefully reversed instrumental samples with sparse electro percussion, while Billie Holliday’s “Yesterdays” undergoes a serrated industrial dub treatment that sits somewhere between Techno Animal and Scorn’s forbidding soundscapes. While the predominant focus is distinctly upon sinister hard-edged atmospherics (brought into sharp focus particularly by the fusion of swirling snake-charmer flutes and chugging metal riffs of “Nefertiti Dub”), there are plenty of moments of undeniable beauty packed in amid the gathering tension. Like many of Skinny Puppy’s most evocative moments, with Valentine, Roberts has created a work that generates serious atmosphere through its judicious deployment of both sharpened aggression and fragile vulnerability. Special mention must also be made of the gorgeous sleeve art, which comes courtesy of Magnus Blomster.
