Review Summary: Skrillex drops an impressive, powerful, and fun album that proves he's more than just a novelty act left over from his impressive days with From First To Last.
After Sonny Moore left From First To Last, it was hard to know what would happen to either party. From First To Last floundered without their commanding frontman, and Sonny went on to record and release some decent but awkward pop. And then he started DJing. When his first EP under the Skrillex moniker came out, a few eyebrows were raised as to the possibilities of what this new post-hardcore-turned-electro producer could do, and when he followed up with
Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites, it was awfully hard to ignore the young producer's talent.
Busting right out of the gates with a fun dance beat and some tasteful vocal samples, Skrillex leads in with a lighthearted track about rock and roll and simply enjoying music. But all of a sudden, the music takes a sharp left turn with the jaw-dropping title track. Starting off with an absolutely gorgeous synth melody, Skrillex brings in his trademark aching chopped up vocal samples (a la his remix of La Roux's 'In For The Kill'), before suddenly hitting listeners over the head with one of the heaviest dubstep drops this side of Borgore. But Skrillex manages to work so much melody and throbbing beauty into his dubstep, it's hard to think of his work on the same plane as his peers.
He continues the rest of the album in a similar fashion to the first two tracks, masterfully switching between the fun electro of 'Kill Everybody' and the oh-my-god insanely heavy dubstep of 'Scatta' with the pop sensibilities of 'All I Ask Of You' and the impossible to ignore beauty of 'With You, Friends (Long Drive).'
Now, this last track deserves a special mention of its own. Following up the darkness of 'Kill Everybody' and the ridiculous heaviness of 'Scatta,' 'With You, Friends (Long Drive)' is an absolutely magical track. Beginning with over three minutes of trademark Skrillex choppy vocal samples and simple, ambient keys, he works in a beauty unseen in any of his peers. The song is simply one long, gorgeous slow build, and even once the beat finally does kick in, it's pretty straight-up awe inspiring the amount of emotional weight Skrillex manages to give to electronic music.
The EP is finally closed out with two enjoyable remixes of the title track (with Zedd's version being particularly notable), and a fantastic remix of 'Kill Everybody,' which greatly expands on the original's dark party music to lend a bit more emotional power to the track.
So all in all, do yourself a favor--pick up a download of this EP. Even if you aren't a fan of electronic music or dubstep, this is a truly special release, and is not to be missed.
