On 1 April this year, Eatbrain played a pseudo-April Fool’s prank on social media by introducing their new project, ‘Eatbrian’, complete with a cheeky explanation of the new format and a wild zombie Brian-from-family-guy image. The label had hoarde fans titilated and tittering away for a few hours, trying to decipher what was actually going on. Turns out it was half-real: this was the way Jade Venom’s imprint decided to announce their new sister label, Zomboss, and preview its first release, all of which they revealed in a later post. Thus, Zomboss and Pandaemonium were interoduced to the world. One can never accuse the Eatbrain team of not knowing how to create a buzz.
The label will have the same musical focus as Eatbrain, but we are making Eatbrain more ‘elite’, and Zomboss will be a sister
label. The quality of the music will be exactly the same as Eatbrain, but the main label grew so much, there is a lot of music we need to pass on just because there is not enough time to do them all. Later I see those tracks I passed on released on Blackout and other labels quite successfully. We want to expand because of this. – Jade Venom
Pandaemonium is a newly-formed duo with Czech artists Gexan and Raido, already making waves in the neuro world. They’ve won two remix contests for both Finalfix and Hanzom Music and released on Skamele Recordings, Darkshire and Eatbrain itself on their Divergence album series. With the new Zomboss imprint focusing on new artists and more experimental sound, Pandemonium’s upcoming EP Bomb Squad was in the right place at the right time to be the first release.
The Bomb Squad EP, due out next Monday, 13th April, is true to its name, showcasing Pandaemonium’s highly technical and ballistic style. The title track combines assaultive, percussive and surprisingly syncopated synths with a chugging bassline and a commanding vocal track whist ‘Heavenly Breakdown’ starts off with a sneaky, melodic opening before going into a heavy, almost rolling synth line with some interesting punctuation sounds. A metallic elephant? A sword being unsheathed? Whilst ‘Bomb Squad’ sounds like military precision, ‘Heavenly Breakdown’ sounds like a futuristic, anarchic, Mad Max-style motorcycle crew riding into bass battle.
Finally, the closing track and Kmag premiere ‘Dust’ feels like cresendo and end of the battle. The dust flies and then settles multiple times as the synth line almost tells the story of the clash between bomb squad and biker gang. This track is a roller but it’s also got a feeling of punctuated equilibrium as it stops and starts, parries and thrusts and chokes, punctuated by unexpected amens, crunchy breakdowns and angry pivots. It ends abruptly with one more sword strike, and the thought of a metal-clad, grief-mad Achilles slaying Hector comes to mind: the battle is over, but the dust won’t settle for long.